November 21, 2012 by Leave a Comment

The ‘Concept’ Practice Method for Improvisation

1. CONCEPT ► 2. METHOD ► 3. PRACTICE ► 4. INTEGRATION + CONSOLIDATION ► 5. EXPRESSION I often find when considering the ways in which we learn how to play jazz, that the notes we choose are not always the most important element of our playing, nor the phrasing or rhythms used. In fact upon discussing the jazz-learning-pathway with some of the great musicians who have inspired me, I’ve found that the biggest catalysts in their own musical development were often moments of ‘conceptual’ enlightenment; at a gig or clinic, during a lesson or even in a non-performing environment, … [Read more...]


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September 7, 2012 by 2 Comments

Kurt Rosenwinkel and Jonathan Kreisberg Transcription Study: Part 3

Here is part 3 of my studies on Kurt Rosenwinkel and Jonathan Kreisberg. I extracted 8 concepts for improvisation from my transcriptions of these two great players and then composed the concepts into my own lines (as written 'soli') over newly composed harmonic progressions. The effect that this had on my playing was massive! I really struggled with playing the same ideas over and over and so this approach helped me think of new ways of playing my (rather stale!) vocabulary, rhythmically, harmonically and melodically. Please feel free to download the PDF of my studies (Transcription, … [Read more...]


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August 31, 2012 by Leave a Comment

Kurt Rosenwinkel and Jonathan Kreisberg Transcription Study: Part 2

Here is part 2 of my studies on Kurt Rosenwinkel and Jonathan Kreisberg. I extracted 8 concepts for improvisation from my transcriptions of these two great players and then composed the concepts into my own lines (as written 'soli') over newly composed harmonic progressions. The effect that this had on my playing was massive! I really struggled with playing the same ideas over and over and so this approach helped me think of new ways of playing my (rather stale!) vocabulary, rhythmically, harmonically and melodically. Please feel free to download the PDF of my studies (Transcription, … [Read more...]


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August 23, 2012 by Leave a Comment

Kurt Rosenwinkel and Jonathan Kreisberg Transcription Study: Part 1

While studying at Auckland University, I studied and transcribed both Kurt Rosenwinkel and Jonathan Kreisberg, two of today's heaviest modern jazz guitarists. In essence I extracted 8 concepts for improvisation from my transcriptions - not the actual notes these great musicians played in their solos, but the underlying ideas or principles - polyrhythmic groupings, chordal super imposition, patterns, displacement etc - and then composed the concepts into my own lines (as written 'soli') over newly composed harmonic progressions. The effect that this had on my playing was massive! I really … [Read more...]


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May 25, 2012 by Leave a Comment

How to create effective Jazz Solos using Spacing and Pacing

Two very important techniques for improvising that can be useful in building dynamic, structure, solo arc, contour and giving ‘breath’ to a solo are ‘SPACE’ and ‘PACING’. Spacing Few students who work on improvising play with space as a big consideration. I think it’s because we get very ‘cerebral’ as jazzers, learning so much about harmony and rhythm that we forget to leave the space which makes a line or melodic idea beautiful in the first place. Space gives your playing effectiveness. It gives your phrases and lines more shape and it gives you time to listen to and … [Read more...]


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March 25, 2011 by 4 Comments

Lesson 30: Improvisation Concepts 2: Thematic Development [CL30]

This lesson continues on from the first improvisation video (lesson 15 on static vamping) in our core lesson series – which dealt with methods for learning how to play the basic sounds of one particular scale or grouping of notes. In this video, we deal more specifically with applying themes (that may come from extensive positional playing, static vamping and personal exploration etc) to a moving series of chords – or modulating progression (where the chords are quickly moving and not all from the same tonal centre or key centre). In the video, we have examples over a common … [Read more...]


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March 12, 2011 by Leave a Comment

Lesson 15: Improvisation Concepts 1: Static Vamping [CL15]

One of the best ways of learning how to improvise freely and fluently with new scales is the ‘Static vamping’ method. There are many elements to this, not all of which may be taught in one lesson – so we will only cover the basics here. Definition: A ‘vamp’ is usually a single chord groove that is repeated over a set measure of bars. It can be harmonically complex, although this is not common. In this first improvisation lesson we will deal with ‘vamping’ over ONE sound or scale, rather than a progression of sounds. This lesson is divided into … [Read more...]


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