Jazz Improvisation I

Catalog description

This course is an introduction to improvising in the modern jazz idiom. Students will address basic tools for developing a command of the harmonic, melodic and rhythmic elements necessary for improvising authentically in the language of modern jazz, including scales, arpeggios, licks and practice strategies for incorporating these into the student’s improvisations. Topics for discussion will include, but not be limited to, common song forms in mainstream jazz, the blues, performance practice, rhythmic, style and “feel” elements. The improvisations of important jazz artists will serve as a reference. This course is the second of a four-semester sequence in improvisation.