The jazz language is a specialized form of communication within the world of music. To be able to express himself fluently, the jazz musician must have a good grasp of the grammar, vocabulary and structures of this language.
The book is not intended to be either an arranging or improvisation text but merely a reference providing the information a musician needs to pursue any activity he wishes.
A musician in any idiom of music must be thoroughly grounded in a solid understanding of intervals in the following ways: 1. He must know how to spell (construct) them in any key. 2. He must be able to identify them both visually and aurally when he sees or hears them. 3. He must be able to conceptualize the intervals by singing, either vocally or internally. 4. He must be able to play them anywhere within the range of his instrument.
Harmonic intervals can be generally arranged on a scale from consonance to dissonance. Thirds and 6ths tend to be more consonant, 2nds and 7ths tend to be more dissonant, while 4ths and 5ths are somewhat neutral depending on the context in which they are found.
there are four excellent ways of conceiving the various modes which are as follows: 1. Find the location of the major key signature from which the mode is derived. 2. Locate the two half steps in the mode. 3. Alter a major or pure minor scale to create the mode. 4. Make adjustments to a major or minor key signature by adding or subtracting a sharp or flat.
To use the modes effectively in composition or improvisation, it is essential to understand which tones (if any) are dissonant and need to resolve.
I. Ionian - The 4th scale step is dissonant and should resolve to the 3rd. II. Dorian - Any scale degree may be stressed though some are more dissonant than others. III. Phrygian - The 2nd and 6th scale steps are dissonant and should resolve downward by a half step. IV. Lydian - Any scale degree may be stressed though some are more dissonant than others. V. Mixolydian - The 4th scale step is dissonant and should resolve to the 3rd. VI. Aeolian - The 6th scale step is dissonant and should resolve to the 5th. VII.Locrian - The 2nd scale step is dissonant and should resolve to the 1st.
It would be very unwise to arbitrarily decide to always use Lydian with major chords or Dorian with minor chords.
The relatively bland Ionian or Aeolian modes can sound extremely beautiful in many harmonic situations.
chords assume a function because of their location in a key.
Major Key Functions
Some general conclusions may be drawn from the previous summaries of functions. They are as follow: 1. Major, minor and half-diminished 7th chords (min7♭5) have more then one normal function. 2. Dominant and diminished 7th chords commonly resolve to key center. 3. Many chords commonly progress either down a 5th or down a half step.
Since a major 7th chord is found built on the key center of a major scale, it can always assume a tonic (I) function regardless of its location in a key. In other words, it is relatively stable and doesn’t need to progress to another chord.
Following is an explanation of the usual form of a II-V-I progression in both major and minor keys. Major Key - II min7 to V7 to I Maj7 Minor Key - II min7♭5 to V7♭9 to I min7
Practice with a metronome. a. Use it as record of progress by keeping track of the most recent tempos at which you practice various problems. b. Use it to determine the evenness of running notes by setting it to “click” at the speed of various subdivisions of the beat such as triplets or sixteenth notes. c. Use it as an aid to gradually increasing the speed of technical passages. d. Use it to improve your time by having it “click” on various beats of the measure; for example, in 4/4 time, try setting it to beat all four beats, or just 1 and 3, or 2 and 4, or only the first beat of the bar, or in 3/4 set it for 2 against 3 (1 and the end of 2). e. Use it in all of your practice session: literature, technique, scales and arpeggios, improvisation, etc.
Practice slowly! Only play something as fast as you can play it perfectly every time even if that means 1/4 tempo or 1/10 tempo. Then after satisfying yourself that you can play the problem, move the metronome up one notch at a time until you reach a particular tempo-goal. Be patient!
Practice at least 2 hours a day but spend as much time as you need to on various parts of your practice session. For instance, you may require 20 minutes for warm-up, 30 minutes for scales, 45 minutes for etudes, 45 minutes for patterns, etc.
Devote serious attention to classical literature on your instrument. Every new piece you play presents technical problems which, when conquered, will help you gain more control of your instrument, thus more ease in improvising.
Practice technical etudes which focus attention on a limited number of special problems.
When choosing each successive chord in the harmonization of a melody, consider the following points:
Will the bass note (root?) of that chord contribute to a melodic flow in the bass line?
harmonic monotony?
The Jazz Language is used by the author as a text for a two-semester jazz theory course which he teaches at North Texas State University. This course, which is called Jazz Fundamentals, is required of all jazz majors.