[Music-Theory]---Jazz-Harmony---Redux

ForewordandAcknowledgmentsHowtousethisbook:ThistexrreflectsthebasicwayinwhichIhavetaughtmyjazztheoryandimprovisationcoursesatavarietyofprimarilycollege-levelinstitutionsoverthepasttwentyyears.Thestateofjazzpedagogyhaschangedradicallyduringthattime,ashavemyper-sonaleducationalperspectiveandexperience.Thistextconstitutesanupdated,hopefullymoreclearlyorga-nizedversionofmy1983rext/azzTheoy,reflectingthechangesinmyteachingstyleandorganizationalmethodwhichhavebeenaresultofthisevolvingexperience,bothmusicallyandpedagogi-cally.Itisdesignedinatopic-by-topicformat,includingbiblio-graphy,discography,andrelevantsuggestedassignmentsattheendofeachchapter.Thediscographyisquitespecificallyrelatedtothemusicalexamplesreferencedinthetext,andalltherecord-ingsarelistedintheircurentlyavailableforms,sothatevenaninstitutionorindividualwishingtostartfromscratchinreachingsuchacoursecoulddoso.Likewise,Ifeelthatthebibliographyisquitecomprehensive,relevant,anduptodate.WhenIbeganwritingJazzTbeovynearlytwenryyearsago,jazzpedagogywasatamuchmoreformativestage,andmyownteachingexperiencehadbeenprimarilydefinedbymyexperiencesininstitutionswithwell-establishedjazzprograms.Havingspentagooddealoftimesinceinliberalartsinstitutions,orinothereducationalandmusicalsituationswheretheprimacyofthejazzidiom(orevenitsvalidityasafieldworthyofseriousacademicpursuit)wasnottakenforgranted,Ihavehadtoreassesstheassumptionsonemakesinstructuringsuchacourseofstudy.Thetext,then,canberegardedasafleshed-outsyllabus,reflect-ingthemannerinwhichacoursecanbetaughttodayinaliberalartsorundergradeinstitution,wherestudentsneedfirstofalltobeacquaintedwiththebasiclanguageofjazzharmonictheory,‘,,,thentakenprogressivelythroughanexaminationofthevarioustopicsnecessarytoachievinganunderstandingofjazzharmony&dimprovisation.Thetext’sorganizationisalsodesignedtoShowtheteacherandstudentalikehowtointegratethevarious,xxcellencpedagogicalresourcesavailabletodayintoastructuredstudyofmusic.Theorderinwhichthesetopicsareexploredhasbeencarefullyorganizedsothatthestudentcanproceedfromthemostaccess-ibleconceptsinharmonyandimprovisationtothosewhicharemostcomplex.Onceafoundationofbasictheoreticallanguagehasbeenestablished,thetopicsofmodalplaying,melodicembel-lishmentandimprovisation,form,andtheBluesarepresented.MorecomplextheoreticaltopicssuchastheusesofsecondaryandsubstituteDominantharmonies,key-of-the-moment,inter-polatedchords,modalinterchange,andBluesand“IGotRhy-thm”variationsarethenintroduced.Thisorderoftopicaldiscus-siondoesnotmirrorthehistoricalevolutionofthemusic,rather.7itintroducestheconceptsinanorderwhichhasprovenmosraccessibletostudents,movingfromthesimplerimprovisationalconceptsthroughthemostcomplex.Icannotoverstatetheimportanceofdoingmany,many,in-classperformanceprojectstoreinforcewhatisbeingstudiedinthetext.Everyassignmentorexercisewhichisdoneshouldreflectthefactthat,firstandforemost,jazzisanauraltradition.Tostudymelodicvariation,listentoandtranscribeseveralinterpretationsofthesamemelody.TostudyBlues,writeone!Severaltranscrip-tionsshouldbeundertakenoverthecourseoftheyear,per-formedbythetranscriberandcollectivelyanalyzedbytheclass.Whenstudying“RhythmChanges,”writeone!Eartrainingandkeyboardvoice-leadingexercisesshouldbearegularpartofthein-classroutine.Havingestablishedartistsmakeguestappearancestospeakwith,coach,andorhenvisesharetheirexperienceswiththestudentsisaninvaluablemethodofenliveningandenrichingthecourse-work.GuestartistshavehadaterrificimpactontheprogramsIhavedeveloped.Iwelcomeanycommentsorsuggestionsonhowtheorganizationofthistextworksforyou,orhowitmightbeimproved.Iwouldalsobehappytocommunicatewithanyonewhomightwantsomehelpinsettinguporimplementingthissortofcurriculum.Finally,IwouldberemisswereInortothankthevariouspeoplewhosebehind-the-scenesworkhelpedromakethistextwhatitis.ThomasM.ZentawerandMichaelEbert,whoseexpertiseingraphiccalligraphybroughtthemusicalexamplestolife,DanRichterforhiseditorialassistance;AnnMaggs,whoseattentiontodetailandknowledgeoftherecordedjazzrepertoirecreatedourbibliographyanddiscography,FredTillisforbeinganinspi-ration,mentor,androlemodelforanaspiringjazzadvocateforovertwentyyears,andofcourseHansGruber,formakingourworkavailabletoyou.Thisbookisdedicatedtothegreatmastersofthejazztradition,themostimportantartformtohaveevolvedinthe20thcentury,inhopesthatinsomesmallwayitwillhelpgivesomethingbackIOthiswonderfultraditionwhichhassoenrichedallofourlives.