Jazz improvisation is an important aspect of jazz

Jazz

Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...

. Basically, improvisation

Improvisation

Improvisation is the practice of acting, singing, talking and reacting, of making and creating, in the moment and in response to the stimulus of one's immediate environment and inner feelings. This can result in the invention of new thought patterns, new practices, new structures or symbols, and/or...

 is composing

Musical composition

Musical composition can refer to an original piece of music, the structure of a musical piece, or the process of creating a new piece of music. People who practice composition are called composers.- Musical compositions :...

 on the spot and coming up with melodies

Melody

A melody , also tune, voice, or line, is a linear succession of musical tones which is perceived as a single entity...

 off the top of one's head. Traditionally, jazz improvisation was distinguished from other forms of music improvisation by its chordal complexity, often exhibiting ii V progressions in multiple keys. However, since the release of Kind of Blue

Kind of Blue

Kind of Blue is a studio album by American jazz musician Miles Davis, released August 17, 1959, on Columbia Records in the United States. Recording sessions for the album took place at Columbia's 30th Street Studio in New York City on March 2 and April 22, 1959...

by Miles Davis

Miles Davis

Miles Dewey Davis III was an American jazz musician, trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. Widely considered one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, Miles Davis was, with his musical groups, at the forefront of several major developments in jazz music, including bebop, cool jazz,...

, jazz improvisation has also come to be associated with modal harmony and improvisation over static key centers. The connotation of jazz improvisation changed again with the emergence of the late period work of John Coltrane

John Coltrane

John William Coltrane was an American jazz saxophonist and composer. Working in the bebop and hard bop idioms early in his career, Coltrane helped pioneer the use of modes in jazz and later was at the forefront of free jazz...

, which featured jazz improvisations that are arrhythmic, "out-of-key," formless, and avant garde. There are several techniques that jazz improvisers utilize, many of which apply to multiple types of jazz:

Modes

Modes are the all the different musical scales derived from various chords. Musicians can use these "modes" as a pool of available notes. For example, if a musician comes across a C7 chord. The natural mode to play over this chord is a "C mixolydian" scale.

These are various chord derivations:
C7 → C mixolydian
C-7 → C dorian

Dorian mode

Due to historical confusion, Dorian mode or Doric mode can refer to three very different musical modes or diatonic scales, the Greek, the medieval, and the modern.- Greek Dorian mode :...

Cmaj7 → C Ionian

Ionian mode

Ionian mode is the name assigned by Heinrich Glarean in 1547 to his new authentic mode on C , which uses the diatonic octave species from C to the C an octave higher, divided at G into a fourth species of perfect fifth plus a third species of perfect fourth : C D...

 (natural major)
Cmaj7#4 → C Lydian mode

Lydian mode

The Lydian musical scale is a rising pattern of pitches comprising three whole tones, a semitone, two more whole tones, and a final semitone. This sequence of pitches roughly describes the fifth of the eight Gregorian modes, known as Mode V or the authentic mode on F, theoretically using B but in...

Csusb9 → C phrygian

Phrygian mode

The Phrygian mode can refer to three different musical modes: the ancient Greek tonos or harmonia sometimes called Phrygian, formed on a particular set octave species or scales; the Medieval Phrygian mode, and the modern conception of the Phrygian mode as a diatonic scale, based on the latter...

C- → C Aeolian mode

Aeolian mode

The Aeolian mode is a musical mode or, in modern usage, a diatonic scale called the natural minor scale.The word "Aeolian" in the music theory of ancient Greece was an alternative name for what Aristoxenus called the Low Lydian tonos , nine semitones...

 (natural minor)
CØ/C-7b5 → C Locrian

Locrian mode

The Locrian mode is either a musical mode or simply a diatonic scale. Although the term occurs in several classical authors on music theory, including Cleonides and Athenaeus , there is no warrant for the modern usage of Locrian as equivalent to Glarean's Hyperaeolian mode, in either classical,...

Targeting

One of the first concepts of jazz improvisation is targeting. The main idea of targeting is basically landing on the important tones of a chord. A chord is built up of the 1,3,5,and 7th degree of the scale. These are the "most important" tones in the chord. There are a number of ways to target a chord tone. The first is by ascending or descending chromatic approach. This means playing the note above or below one of the chord tones. In the key of C, the notes in the chord are C(1),E(3), G(5), and B(7). So by playing an E flat at the end of a line then resolving to an E, this would be one basic example of targeting and would be targeting the third of the chord(E).

"Flat 9" theory

Another approach to improvisation is known as the three to flat nine theory. This is a very Be-Bop approach to improv, just like targeting. This technique is just using the third of the chord (in c it would be E), and playing the flat nine of the chord with it in various ways (in c the flat nine would be D flat). This technique has a very distinct and unique sound to it.

Pentatonics

Pentatonics are a more advanced method to improvisation. John Coltrane used pentatonics extensively. Most scales are made up of seven notes: (in the key of C – the major scale) C D E F G A B). The pentatonic scale comprises only five notes of the major scale (C pentatonic scale is C D E G A). Pentatonics are useful in pattern form and that is how they are usually played. One pattern using the pentatonic scale could be 3 6 5 2 3 5 (in C: E A G D E G).

Cells and lines

Lines (also known as licks) are pre-planned ideas the artist plays over and over. Lines can be obtained by listening to Jazz records and transcribing what the professionals play during their solos. Transcribing is putting what you hear in a record onto music paper. Cells are basically the same things as lines, but they are shorter.

Phrasing

Phrasing is a very important part of Jazz players set of improvisational skills. Instead of just playing a collection of notes that would work based on the chords, harmony, etc., the player builds an idea. The player makes a melody. Great examples of this are found in classical music. In Beethoven's fifth symphony the first idea is played and then again with a slight variation.

External links

• Philosophy and Jazz Improvisation