Outside Shore Music
A Jazz Improvisation Primer

by Marc Sabatella

Copyright 1992-2000 Outside Shore Music

This is the online version of my text, A Jazz Improvisation Primer. Here you can find information on almost every topic relating to jazz improvisation, from jazz history to music theory to practical advice on playing in a group.

Portions of this text are now available in Italian, courtesy of Roberto Betti. It is available at http://www.geocities.com/brittu.geo/Jip/JIPmain.html.  A German translation, by Edgar Lins, is also online, at http://msjipde.uteedgar-lins.de.  And there is a Hungarian translation at http://w3.enternet.hu/mbha/primer_hu/primer.htm, provided by Makrai Balázs.  Finally, there is a Portuguese translation by Cláudio Brandt, at http://www.jazzbossa.com/sabatella/.

A Jazz Improvisation Primer is brought to you by the Outside Shore Online Music School, providers of educational products and services for jazz musicians.

While this text is freely browsable, there is no downloadable version of this material. If you would like a printed copy, you can order it as A Whole Approach To Jazz Improvisation.

Contents

• Preface
• Goals
• A Brief History Of Jazz
• Jazz Fundamentals
• Chord/Scale Relationships
• Applying The Theory To Improvisation
• Accompanying
• Playing With Others
• Listening Analytically
• Breaking The Rules

Appendices

• Annotated Bibliography
• Annotated Discography
• Jazz Standards

Detailed Table of Contents

• Preface
• Goals
• A Brief History Of Jazz
  • Early Jazz
  • Big Band Jazz and Swing
  • Bebop
  • Cool Jazz
  • Hard Bop
  • Post Bop
  • Free Jazz and the Avant Garde
  • Fusion
  • Post Modern Jazz
  • The Present
• Jazz Fundamentals
  • Structure
  • Swing
    • Definition
    • Practicing Swing
  • Creativity
    • The Creative Process
    • Playing
• Chord/Scale Relationships
  • Basic Theory
    • Intervals
    • Major And Minor Scales
    • Chords
    • The Circle Of Fifths
  • Major Scale Harmony
    • Major Scale
    • Dorian Mode
    • Phrygian Mode
    • Lydian Mode
    • Mixolydian Mode
    • Minor Scale
    • Locrian Mode
  • Melodic Minor Harmony
    • Phrygian #6
    • Lydian Augmented
    • Lydian Dominant
    • Fifth Mode
    • Locrian #2
    • Altered Scale
  • Symmetric Scales
    • Whole Tone Scale
    • The Diminished Scales
  • Pentatonic Scales
  • Derived Scales
    • The Blues Scale
    • Minor Scales
    • Bebop Scales
    • Synthetic Scales
  • Chord/Scale Chart
• Applying The Theory To Improvisation
  • Melodic Development
    • Pacing
    • Phrase Construction
  • Playing Changes
    • ii-V
      • Major Keys
      • Minor Keys
    • Blues
    • Rhythm Changes
    • Coltrane Changes
  • Modal Improvisation
  • Chromaticism
  • Non-tonal Improvisation
  • Free Improvisation
• Accompanying
  • Chordal Instruments
    • Chord Voicings
      • 3/7 Voicings
      • Quartal Voicings
      • Polychord and Upper Structure Voicings
      • Close Position and Drop Voicings
      • Other Scale Based Voicings
    • Reharmonizing
    • Comping Rhythms
  • Bass
    • Walking Bass Lines
    • Pedal Point
    • Counterpoint
    • Other Bass Patterns
  • Drums
  • Other Instruments
• Playing With Others
  • Organization
  • Dealing With Problems
• Listening Analytically
• Breaking The Rules
• Annotated Bibliography
  • Fakebooks
  • Instructional Books
  • History And Biography
• Annotated Discography
  • Basic Recommendations
  • Listing
• Jazz Standards

Thanks To:

• Ed Price (edp@panix.com), for the conversion of this resource into hypertext!
• Joe Germuska (jazzweb@wnur.nwu.edu), who housed the primer on his WNUR-FM JazzWeb server until I found space for it myself.
• Gertjan van Oosten (gertjan@West.NL), for various suggestions and the circle-of-fifths image.
• Richard M. Metzger (rmm4@lehigh.edu)
• Scott A. Lehman (slehman@mit.edu)
• Roger Chaplin (chaplin@keithley.com)

All content copyright © The Outside Shore

Marc Sabatella / marc@outsideshore.com
P.O. Box 147151, Edgewater, CO 80214-7151