How Does Jazz Improvisation Work?

Summary

In this video, trumpeter Bobby Spellman demystifies the mechanics of jazz music, explaining the roles of different instruments and how musicians improvise together without chaos. Joined by Julian Smith on bass, Evan Hyde on drums, and Julia Chen on piano, Spellman demonstrates a 12-bar blues form and discusses scales and modes used in jazz improvisation. The video also covers trading solos and drum solos, offering insights into the spontaneity and interaction in jazz. Spellman encourages viewers to explore jazz records, attend live performances, and practice improvisation with friends.

Takeaways

• 🎺 Jazz music involves both improvisation and written components.
• 🎼 The bass plays a crucial role by keeping time with a walking bass line and establishing harmony.
• 🥁 The drummer embellishes time, interacts with soloists, and adds excitement, often varying the groove.
• 🎹 The piano provides chords, helps with harmony, and can also play solos and melodies.
• 🎷 Horns, including trumpet and saxophone, play melodies and solos, relying on the rhythm section for rhythm and harmony.
• 🎵 The 12-bar blues form is a common structure in jazz, consisting of specific chord progressions.
• 🎶 Improvisers use scales or modes that align with underlying chords to create harmonious melodies.
• 🔄 The turnaround in a blues progression typically involves a 2-5-1 chord sequence to return to the start.
• 🎸 Jazz allows for personal expression through the choice of consonant and dissonant notes, making each musician's sound unique.
• 🪘 Drum solos can be unaccompanied or involve trading fours with other band members, showcasing individual skills.

Q & A

What is the main purpose of the video 'Theory with Bob'?

The main purpose of the video is to demystify the mechanics of jazz music, explain how improvisation works, and shed light on the roles of different instruments in a jazz band.

What are the two primary responsibilities of the bass player in a jazz band according to the video?

The bass player's two primary responsibilities are to play the time, usually in the form of a walking bass line, and to establish the harmony by playing root notes and connecting them with chord tones and passing tones.

How does the drummer contribute to a jazz performance?

The drummer embellishes the time, interacts with the soloists and melody to drive the music forward, and provides excitement. They have the freedom to play around with the groove, creating a variable pattern to interact with other musicians during improvisation.

What is the role of the piano in a jazz ensemble?

The piano's role is to play chords and help with harmony, as well as to play solos and melodies, especially in a Piano Trio. The pianist also has the opportunity to improvise with rhythms as long as the chords fit the underlying form.

What is the typical structure of a blues in jazz music?

A typical blues in jazz music consists of a 12-measure form with four chords: the one chord of the key, the four chord of the key, back to the one, and then a turnaround that goes two, five, one.

How does a musician relate to the underlying chords during improvisation in jazz?

A musician relates to the underlying chords by using a scale or mode that is most consonant to each chord in the form, allowing them to create harmonious melodies even while improvising.

What is the 'mixolydian mode' and how is it used in jazz improvisation?

The mixolydian mode is a major scale with a flatted seventh. It is used in jazz improvisation to match the chords and create a harmonious sound, often used on the one chord and the four chord in a blues progression.

What is the significance of the 'turnaround' in a blues progression?

The turnaround is the last four bars of the blues progression and it serves to transition the music back to the top of the form. It typically follows a 'two-five-one' chord progression, which is common in many jazz tunes.

What is the role of the horn section in a jazz band?

The horn section, which may include instruments like trumpet, trombone, or saxophone, is responsible for playing the melodies and solos. They rely on the rhythm section for rhythm and harmony, creating a symbiotic relationship within the band.

How does the use of consonant and dissonant sounds contribute to a musician's individual sound in jazz?

The use of consonant and dissonant sounds allows a musician to develop their own personal sound. Dissonant notes and intervals can be used creatively to add character to their improvisations, making their sound distinctive and identifiable.

What is 'trading fours' in the context of a drum solo in jazz?

Trading fours is a technique where each band member takes a four-bar improvisation, trading solos with the drummer throughout the form. It's a way to highlight individual musicians while maintaining the structure of the music.

Outlines

00:00

🎷 Introduction to Jazz Mechanics

Trumpeter Bobby Spellman introduces the concept of jazz improvisation and the roles of instruments in a jazz band. He explains the balance between written and improvised music, and how musicians create harmonious music spontaneously. The video features a jazz quartet, with each member demonstrating their role: the bass as the backbone providing rhythm and harmony, the drums adding excitement and interacting with soloists, and the piano supporting harmony and playing melodies. The script sets the stage for a deeper exploration of jazz performance mechanics.

05:00

🎼 Understanding Jazz Chord Progressions and Modes

This paragraph delves into the specifics of jazz chord progressions, focusing on the blues form as a common structure in jazz. It explains that each chord in the progression has a corresponding scale or mode that improvisers use to create harmonious melodies. The video demonstrates the use of F mixolydian, B flat mixolydian, G dorian, and C mixolydian modes with their respective chords in the blues progression. The importance of understanding these relationships for effective improvisation is emphasized.

10:17

🎵 Exploring Improvisation and Personal Sound in Jazz

The script discusses the individuality of each musician's sound in jazz, highlighting how personal tones, rhythms, and melodies contribute to a musician's unique style. It touches on the use of consonants and dissonants in improvisation, showing how these choices can define a musician's sound. The video includes a demonstration of improvisation using the blues scale and how musicians can 'take it outside' the standard modes for a distinctive sound. The importance of personal expression in jazz is underscored.

15:18

🥁 Drum Solos and the Structure of Jazz Performances

This section of the script describes the process of a drum solo in a jazz performance, including the concept of 'trading fours,' where each band member takes a four-bar improvisation turn with the drummer. It also mentions the option of an unaccompanied drum solo that still follows the song's form. The script concludes with a return to the head out, the final statement of the melody, to close the tune. The video aims to illustrate the collaborative and structured nature of jazz improvisation.

20:19

🎶 Conclusion: The Essence of Jazz Improvisation

The final paragraph wraps up the video by summarizing the key points about jazz improvisation. It reiterates the importance of the blues form, the role of each instrument, and the unique chord progressions of jazz tunes. The script emphasizes the excitement of jazz as musicians spontaneously take on the role of composers, interacting closely to create beautiful music. It encourages viewers to explore jazz records, attend live performances, and try improvisation themselves, concluding with an invitation to engage with the channel for more educational content.

📚 Additional Resources and Closing Remarks

In the closing paragraph, the script provides information about additional musical education resources, including the Ridgewood School of Music, which is accepting new students for both online and in-person lessons. It invites viewers to follow the host on Instagram for more musical content and to subscribe to the channel for future videos. The script ends with a reminder to practice and enjoy the journey of musical self-expression.

Keywords

💡Jazz

Jazz is a musical genre characterized by its improvisational nature and complex harmonies. In the video, Bob explains the spontaneous creation of music in jazz and its excitement both for players and listeners. The video aims to demystify the mechanics of jazz, highlighting its dynamic and interactive aspects.

💡Improvisation

Improvisation in jazz involves creating music spontaneously within the framework of a tune's chord progression. The video demonstrates how jazz musicians improvise melodies and rhythms, showcasing the unique personal expression of each player. It is a core element that distinguishes jazz from other musical genres.

💡Harmony

Harmony refers to the combination of different musical notes played or sung simultaneously to produce a pleasing sound. In the video, Bob discusses how the bass and piano players establish and support the harmony by playing chords and chord tones that align with the underlying structure of the tune.

💡Walking bass line

A walking bass line is a style of bass playing where the bassist plays a steady sequence of quarter notes, often moving stepwise through the scale. This technique is fundamental in jazz, providing both the rhythmic foundation and the harmonic structure, as demonstrated by Julian Smith on the bass in the video.

💡Comping

Comping, short for accompanying, involves playing chords and rhythms to support soloists and the overall musical performance. Julia Chen on the piano demonstrates comping in the video, showing how the pianist interacts with the rest of the band by providing harmonic and rhythmic support during improvisations.

💡12-bar blues

The 12-bar blues is a common chord progression in jazz and blues music, consisting of 12 measures that follow a specific pattern of chords. In the video, Bob explains and demonstrates the 12-bar blues form in the key of F, highlighting its importance as a foundational structure in jazz improvisation.

💡Mixolydian scale

The Mixolydian scale is a type of musical scale with a major tonality but with a lowered seventh degree. Bob explains how the Mixolydian scale is used to improvise over dominant seventh chords in jazz, providing a harmonious fit with the underlying chord structure.

💡Dorian mode

The Dorian mode is a type of minor scale with a natural sixth degree. In the video, Bob uses the Dorian mode to improvise over minor seventh chords, demonstrating its characteristic sound and its application in jazz improvisation over the G minor seven chord.

💡Trading fours

Trading fours is a jazz practice where musicians take turns playing four-bar solos, often alternating with the drummer. The video shows the band members, including Evan Hyde on the drums, engaging in trading fours, illustrating how this interactive soloing technique adds excitement and variation to a performance.

💡Turnaround

A turnaround is a sequence of chords that leads back to the beginning of a chord progression, often used at the end of a section. In the video, Bob describes the turnaround in the blues form, typically involving a ii-V-I progression, and how it helps transition smoothly back to the top of the form.

Highlights

Introduction to the mechanics of jazz and its exciting style.

Role of the bass as the backbone of Jazz groups, establishing time and harmony.

The drummer's role in embellishing time and interacting with soloists.

Piano's function in chords, harmony, solos, and melodies in a jazz ensemble.

The concept of 'comping' in jazz, where pianists improvise with rhythms.

The horn section's responsibility for melodies and solos in a jazz group.

The symbiotic relationship between the rhythm and horn sections in jazz.

Explanation of the 12-bar blues form, a common structure in jazz.

Chord progression in blues and its significance in jazz and other music genres.

How improvisers relate to underlying chords using scales and modes.

Demonstration of F mixolydian mode as an example of improvisation with chords.

Use of B flat mixolydian scale for improvisation on the four chord in a blues progression.

Turnaround in blues and its common chord progression of two-five-one.

G Dorian mode as an option for improvisation on the G minor seven chord.

C mixolydian mode for improvisation on the five chord, C7, in the turnaround.

The freedom in jazz for musicians to explore beyond traditional chords and modes.

Importance of individual sound and the use of consonants versus dissonance in jazz improvisation.

Demonstration of 'taking it outside' with dissonant sounds and creative improvisation.

Process of a jazz performance, including solos and trading fours in a band setting.

The drummer's options for solos, including trading fours and unaccompanied solos.

Conclusion of a jazz piece with the head out, summarizing the performance.

Encouragement for viewers to explore jazz, attend live performances, and try improvisation.

Invitation to like, subscribe, and engage with the channel for more jazz education.

Transcripts

Theory with Bob

hey what's happening beautiful Geniuses

Trumpeter Bobby Spellman here and if

you're just getting into listening to or

playing jazz music or you're interested

in learning how to improvise on your

instrument you may be asking yourself

how does all this Jazz business work how

much of the music is improvised versus

written down what are the roles of each

of the instruments in a jazz band and

how is it possible that a bunch of

musicians can all be creating music

spontaneously without it sounding like

total chaos well today I'm going to try

to demystify the mechanics of jazz and

try to shed some light on why it is such

an exciting style of music to play and

to listen to but in order to do so I'm

going to need a Little Help from My

Friends

Julian Smith on the base

Evan Hyde on the drums

and Julia Chen on the piano

and we're going to do a little

demonstration of some of the mechanics

of how a jazz performance works and

plays through a little tune for you and

have some fun so let's get started we're

going to start out with the bass

[Music]

now the bass is the backbone of most

Jazz groups

the base has two very important jobs

simultaneously

first base player's job is to play the

time usually in the form of a walking

bass line

consisting of mostly quarter notes and

some Embellishments

and the other thing the bass player does

is establish the harmony by playing the

root notes and connecting them with the

chord tones and passing tones so the

bass player is going to be playing the

time while also holding down the harmony

for the rest of the band

and it's a big job

but Julian's capable of it he's the guy

are we gonna bring the drums now all

right Evan come on in with the drums

the drummer's job

is to embellish the time and to interact

with the soloists and with the melody

in order to drive the music forward and

give it a little bit more excitement

Evan here is playing a typical swing

pattern on the ride cymbal

and holding down the two and four on the

hi-hat

that leaves his left hand and his foot

to Accent the music

in any way he would choose

improvisationally

throughout the piece

now unliking Rock and pop music the

drummer has a lot of freedom to play

around with the groove so it's not a

strict drum beat but it can be a

variable pattern in order to be able to

interact with the other musicians while

we're improvising all right with that

we're going to bring in Julia on the

piano

and here we go

the piano's job

the chords

and help out with the harmony as well as

play solos and play melodies especially

in the case of a Piano Trio

[Music]

now once again in jazz unlike in rock

and pop music there isn't a set Rhythm

that The Pianist or other harmonic

instrument player needs to play but

rather they have the opportunity to

improvise with those rhythms as long as

those chords fit the underlying form

now this is called accompanying which we

shorten to comping so Julia what I've

been talking now has been comping and

she will accompany me when I play the

trumpet or play uh you know solos play

The Melody etc etc alright that brings

it to me in the horn section

now the horn section in a typical Jazz

combo or our jazz quartet or a jazz

group of any kind May consist of a

number of instruments including trumpet

trombone

tenor saxophone

saxophone any

clarinet flute sometimes you might have

a harmonica or a recorder or melodica or

some kind of other thing but uh our job

in the horn section is to play The

Melodies and to play solos

we in the horn section rely on the

Rhythm Section for the Rhythm and for

the Harmony and the Rhythm Section

relies on us in the horn section for a

tenuous sense of existential

reality for a for a sense of purpose in

all this music and together it's a

symbiotic relationship all right

so moving along the band as we've been

talking has been playing

a very common 12 measure form known as

the blues a blues typically consists of

12 measures and uh it can change a lot

there's a lot of variability in the

Blues form but very typically we will

have

four chords and they go like this the

one chord of the key the four chord of

the key back to the one

you stay on the one for another bar then

it goes to the four chord four

back to the one and the last four bars

of the Blues is called the turnaround it

goes two

five

one now this is a Blues in the key of f

so the chords are going to be F7 to B

flat seven to F7

[Music]

going on to B flat seven

flat seven

back to F7

once again to turn around we get G minor

seven

C7 back to F7 again

now most jazz tunes have a unique chord

progression based on The Melody of the

tune the atmosphere that the composer is

trying to create but a blues is one of a

number of forms that can be uh used for

a number of different tunes and provides

the basis for a lot of different tunes

that we play so Blues is the most common

form that you run into in jazz there are

a couple other ones that you see that

are common forms but certainly uh the

blues is a great one to start with

because we're dealing with a relatively

simple chord progression and it's really

the basis for what we do not only in

jazz but in rock and Funk and just about

all of American popular music alright so

now we're going to talk about how we

relate as improvisers to these

underlying chords

so for each chord in the form there is a

scale or mode that is most consonant to

that underlying chord so if we can learn

these various scales and how to

improvise with them how to invent

Melodies using these scales we can

relate to the chords in such a way that

the whole thing sounds harmonious even

though we're all improvising at the same

time so we're going to go over each

chord one at a time in the Blues and

talk about some of these scales that I

might choose to use so let's start with

the F7 so this is the one chord we're

just going to hang out on F7 we've

abandoned the form we're going to hang

out on F7 for a minute

on that F7 chord the F7 is an F major

Triad with a flat seventh on top so an E

flat

so that's going to sound like this

there it is

now I'm going to play generally speaking

on that F7 chord I'm going to play an F

mixolydian scale an F mixolydian mode

mixolydian is a major scale but with a

flatted seventh and that flattened

seventh is going to match with what's

going on in the chords and that scale is

going to sound a little something like

this

[Music]

hahaha

[Music]

[Applause]

[Music]

all right from our F7 chord we're going

to move on to the next chord the four

chord in the F major scale

and that is going to be the B flat 7

chord and we will come in right

here all right that's the four chord now

just like with the F7 is an f mixolydian

scale for the B flat seven I will tend

to use a B flat mixolydian scale which

once again is going to be the B flat

major scale for the flat seven and that

is going to sound like this

foreign

[Music]

now typically in the Blues form we go

back to the F7 but we're going to skip

ahead to the last four bars of the Blues

which is called the turnaround and the

turnaround gets us back to the top again

now the turnaround consists in this

particular jazz blues of a very very

common chord progression that we know as

the two five one and that is because it

starts on the second chord of the key of

f goes to the V chord and then we're

back to the one again so two five one

this is a little chord progression that

makes up a lot of different tunes that

you will hear but for now we're going to

stick to one chord at a time so we're

gonna go with G minor seven to start

it's going to be right here all right

now for the G minor seven

my tendency is going to be to use a g

Dorian mode which is going to be uh G

minor scale with a natural six flat

three flat seven but natural six and

that sounds a little something like that

[Music]

from there we move on to the five chord

coming to the end of the turn around

here and that's going to be your C7

chord and that's gonna sound like this

and for that just like with the F7 and

the B flat 7 I'm going to use the C

mixolydian mode and that's gonna sound

like this

[Music]

all right so those are the four modes

the four chords and corresponding

consonant modes that we might use on a

blues such as this and we're going to

return to the blues form now we're back

in the 12 Bar form known as The Blues

and we're going to take a little time

now to play a Melody that I wrote for

this occasion to avoid any copyright

strikes on my YouTube channel and then

I'm going to take a one chorus solo a

chorus is one time through the whole

form it's gonna sound like

hahaha

[Music]

hahaha

[Music]

now our option is to use some of those

more consonant modes that you've heard

but there's also a number of different

kinds of scales that you can use and

that's up to the improviser to decide so

one very common alternate scale I could

use would be the blues scale that's a

very common one and that's going to

sound a little something like this

foreign

[Music]

now one of the things that makes jazz

music so much fun is that each

individual musician has their own

personal sound and oftentimes you can

hear the way that a musician you can

identify a musician by just one or two

notes now a part of that musician's

individual sound is their tone on the

instrument uh you know what instrument

they're playing as well as what kinds of

rhythms and Melodies and what their

influences are any number of different

things that will make up a musician but

one of the things that you can also hear

in a musician sound is the way they

choose to use consonants versus

dissonance so very commonly you know you

would think of uh dissonant notes we

might have traditionally heard dissonant

notes as being referred to as wrong

notes but in our post Eric dolphy world

it's just another Choice any kind of uh

creative musician can choose to use more

dissonant sounds dissonant scales

dissonant intervals in his or her

improvisations and that's going to be a

part of his or her characteristic sound

so I'm going to show you a little bit

about what happens if I Take It Outside

of those chords that we played in those

regular modes and take it into a

different realm and that's going to

sound a little something like this

[Music]

all right so anything's possible here in

the world of jazz music or taking it out

we're having a good good old time here

all right so usually you will play the

head in the head in is the melody so we

played that already and then everybody

in the band will take a little solo

we'll trade around it could be any

length but for now we're gonna stick to

one chorus and we're gonna start with

Julia Chan on the piano

[Music]

foreign

[Music]

for Mr Julian Smith

[Music]

all right and once everybody takes a

solo of their own chosen length whatever

the however much they they want to say

in the whole grand scheme of the form

comes time for the drum solo now there's

a couple different options that we have

with the drum solo but one option is

called trading fours and in trading

fours what we're gonna do is each of us

will go around in the band and take four

bar improvisations trading with Evan

over here on the drums throughout the

form so we're gonna stick with the form

but we're just each gonna take a little

four of our solo now you could trade

eights you could trade 16s you could

probably trade 32s or 64s but it might

get a little unwieldy so we're gonna

stick to Fours for now and that sounds a

little something like this

foreign

[Music]

now that's one option for a drum solo

the other a very common option is for

the drummer to take an unaccompanied

solo and even though the drummer is

going to be playing by himself without

any kind of accompaniment by any of the

harmonic instruments he's still gonna

follow the form so he might play one

chorus two chorus three choruses however

many courses that's gonna sound like

this in this case we're just going to

take one chorus of drum solo here we go

Evan hide

[Music]

all right now typically after the drum

solo we'd go right back into the head

out just like the melody in is called

the head in the melody on the end of the

tune is called the head out so we're

going to play the head out now for you

and close out this tune

hope you had a little fun here we go

[Music]

and that's a little introduction on how

Jazz improvisation works we got the

instruments in a regular Jazz combo

there may be many other different

instruments that we haven't covered here

and anything it goes but for now this is

a very standard instrumentation after

that we've got the chords of the tune

once again the blues is just one of a

number of different forms usually jazz

tunes will have their own unique chord

progressions but it's a good place to

start with the blues because it's a

common one that you will run into

regularly we got four chords in this one

each of those chords has a scale that is

most consonant to that chord that we can

use to create Melodies at any given time

any one of us in the band becomes the

composer so it's always a very exciting

it's an exciting style of music because

all of a sudden the job of the

individual musician becomes the job of

the composer in a spontaneous fashion

and we all will interact with each other

we all have the opportunity to listen in

very closely to what the other one is

playing and to try to interact in such a

way that we can make beautiful music and

have a good old time after that we're

able to expand on what we're doing

beyond the normal chords that we have

and really try to capture some

interesting rhythms and and in the whole

process of the thing really try to

capture our own view of the very essence

of The Human Condition and try to convey

that through sound to the adoring fans

in the audience all right gang and that

is a little bit on how to Jazz

all right gang and there you have it a

little rundown on the fundamental

mechanics of how jazz music works hope

that clears up a little confusion

surrounding what's going on while we're

playing and I hope it inspires you to go

check out some great records go check

out some live music and pick up your own

instrument go hang out with your friends

and try some of these ideas out for

yourself if you like this video be sure

to give it a like And subscribe to the

channel for more videos on jazz music

improvisation and music theory going

forward also if you have any questions

on any of the topics that we covered in

this video be sure to leave them in the

comments below and I'll do my best to

get back to you and clear up any

residual confusion on the topic at hand

alright gang well until next time be

sure to go check out some great records

and have a lot of fun with it and I'll

catch you on the next one see ya

Theory with Bob

all right friends thanks so much for

checking out this video I hope it helped

in your understanding of the musical

world and in your pursuit of the Majesty

of musical self-expression if you like

this video you can let us know by giving

it a like and be sure to subscribe to

the channel for more musical education

videos going forward you can also follow

me on Instagram at Bob Spelman for some

more musical fun the Ridgewood school of

music is now accepting new students

online as well as in person in the

Brooklyn Queens and greater New York

City area you can find us on our website

at

www.ridgewoodschoolofmusic.com or you

can send us an email at Ridgewood

schoolofmusic gmail.com and we'll get

back to you as soon as we can try to set

you up with a great teacher for the

kinds of music that you're looking to

study all right gang well thanks again

and until next time happy practicing

foreign

[Music]