Taking you from “I Can’t Get Started” to “Easy Melodies”: Jazz Teaching Tips and Resources
Tony Caramia is Professor of Piano at the Eastman School of Music, where he is Director of Piano Pedagogy Studies and Coordinator of the Class Piano Program. In May 2004, he served as a judge, along with Kenny Barron and Hilton Ruiz, at the 6th American Jazz Piano Competition for the American Pianists Association. In May 2003, he was a guest on Marian McPartland’s “Piano Jazz” on NPR.
Mr. Caramia was featured in the November 2006 issue of The American Rag magazine. He reviews for American Music Teacher Magazine, and he has written for the web site The Piano Pedagogy Forum. His solo piano compositions are published by the Hal Leonard Publishing Corporation, for whom he is also a Keyboard Clinician and Consultant.
Throughout 2005 he presented a multi-media tribute to composer Harold Arlen, on the occasion of his 100th birthday. Mr. Caramia is a member of the Arlen Centennial Committee.
In January 2007 he presented a paper on legendary pianist Cy Walter for the International Association for Jazz Education National Conference in New York City. In March he will discuss “The Art of Modern Recital Programming” at the MTNA-CFMTA Collaborative Conference in Toronto. And in June he will perform at the Rochester International Jazz Festival.
Mr. Caramia’s new solo jazz piano CD, called Tribute , features the music of Ellington, McPartland, Brubeck, as well as original compositions. His other jazz recordings include: Upstate Standards , with Mark Kellogg on trombone, a concert of well-known popular songs by Harold Arlen, Jimmy Van Heusen, and Alec Wilder; and a solo jazz piano release called Tony Caramia, Live! These are available exclusively through Mr. Caramia at tcaramia@esm.rochester.edu
Welcome to the inaugural article in our new Jazz and Pop Department! We’d like this feature to be very useful and inspiring for teachers. This genre of music is motivating and fun for our students, but many of the important stylistic, theoretical, and technical issues that arise in jazz and pop music are often not addressed in “traditional” music training.
It is our desire that the teacher who confesses to know relatively little about how to perform or teach jazz and pop repertoire can come away from these discussions with a clearer picture of the nature of this unique style of music, and feel enabled to teach it with more authentic and stylistically accurate results.
Jazz resources on the internet
We live in an age of information, and for those interested in learning more about jazz the internet offers a multitude of resources. In fact, there are so many sources of information these days, it is hard to know where to begin!
Informal: http://www.youtube.com/
On this fast growing and popular site (ask your students about it) anyone can post videos of almost anything. While you can find many interesting videos here, be advised that the quality and content can vary. Type in “jazz piano” in the search for box. You’ll be amazed, delighted, amused, and overwhelmed at the diversity of approaches. Recently I found over 2900 ‘teaching demonstrations’ on this topic alone!
Specific: http://www.berkleeshares.com/
Berklee Shares offers individual self-contained music lessons developed by Berklee faculty and alumni. It is free and open to the music community around the world and contains a library of MP3 audio, QuickTime movie, and PDF files, as well as a glimpse into the educational opportunities provided by Berklee.
Educational: http://www.42explore.com/jazz.htm
This educational site provides a comprehensive lists of links to jazz sites, as well as educational information and projects for your students to complete. If you want to learn more about people from Louis Armstrong to Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald, or Lena Horne, you can link to the eduScapes companion webpage, Biographies of Jazz Musicians. The amount of information is astounding and the possibility for weekly assignments for students to do is endless.
Visual: http://www.jazzvideopodcasts.com/
This site includes performances and interviews with the “giants” of jazz, including Denny Zeitlin, Sonny Rollins, Duke Ellington, and many others. It also provides a valuable glimpse into the minds and perspectives of these jazz musicians, as they discuss various issues related to jazz. Of special importance is Dr. Billy Taylor’s description of jazz and its relevance to American society titled Conscience of Jazz .
Informational: http://www.allaboutjazz.com/
This amazing site offers a virtual (pun-intended) cornucopia of information, links, historical perspectives, podcasts, CD reviews, and artist interviews.
Of course there are innumerable other links to jazz information, as well as traditional text books, method books, fake books, sheet music, recordings, videos, and more (a list of text resources will follow later in this article). It is daunting and certainly difficult to decide what source is perfect for one’s specific needs. Some typical questions might include:
- Which site, book, or recording will help a student perform William Gillock’s New Orleans Jazz Styles in a more authentic style?
- Does the printed score provide all the interpretive clues?
- Haven’t I heard somewhere (you might ask) that a good jazz pianist doesn’t try to play what’s on the page?
- Do I instruct my student to avoid the markings on the page?
- If so, then why are there markings on the page if I’m only going to change them?
In this article and future articles we will try to provide answers to questions like these as we explore this unique and popular body of repertoire.
As with any style of music, choosing the right piece for your student is an important step in leading to a successful experience. Before we discuss aspects of jazz as they relate to specific pieces, there are a few general items to consider when selecting pieces for your students to play:
- Sound : Is it “jazzy”? Does the piece sound idiomatically accurate and would it appeal to students, teachers, parents, and an audience?
- Feel : Does the music fit the hand at the appropriate level? Is it pianistic?
- Technic : Does the music involve unnecessary or unwarranted technical problems? Is the student prepared to handle all the technical challenges, or will new techniques need to be learned for this piece?
- Style : Does the music teach something about a form or style (such as swing or blues?) What will the student learn from the piece? Is the piece contrived or musical?
In addition to the above parameters, I try to be mindful of other factors when choosing jazzy repertoire:
- What does the music teach about jazz? Does it evoke the sound of a particular artist or recording?
- Does it employ such jazzy elements as blue notes, grace notes, blues form, walking bass, etc.?
- Does the fact that it is a jazz piece contribute unnecessary or unwarranted technical problems, simply because it’s in the jazz idiom?
As with all music, playing jazz well is all about sound. After choosing a jazz piece for a student, it is important to become familiar with jazz performance practice, as defined by performances of jazz by great artists such as Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Oscar Peterson, and many others. It is these artists who created the ‘rules’, and they did so not from written scores, but from aural experiences. It is these performances that jazz teaching repertoire tries to capture. Jazz inescapably comes from an aural tradition, creating a different source to consult when teaching a jazz piece – not the printed page, but the actual performances and/or recordings.
Most of us are familiar with traditions of performance practice, style, tempo selection, and overall sound in the various style periods (Baroque, Romantic, etc..) of the “traditional” piano repertoire. In jazz, the approach is often very different. You’ll see that these next points about jazz differ considerably from classical repertoire and must be understood if one is to create authentic jazzy performances.
Tempo
You can and should use ANY tempo, from very slow to very fast. There are no tempo indications or metronome suggestions in Ellington’s Prelude to a Kiss. Tempo markings and especially metronome markings in a jazz teaching piece are, unfortunately, misleading. To illustrate this point, try an experiment: Find a student who has downloaded iTunes, or download it for free to your home computer (Mac or PC).
- Click music store
- In the Search Music Store box, type in the song title, Autumn Leaves
- You’ll see that over 30 albums containing the song appear; and far more single recordings are available (you can listen to 30 seconds for free; for a small fee you can purchase the entire selection). The point is, if you were to listen to even half of these recordings of Autumn Leaves, you would not hear the same version, the same tempo, or even the same key.
If you were able to attend several jazz concerts in which Autumn Leaves was performed, the same phenomenon would occur: we would find a variety of approaches. Instrumentation might vary from solo to small combo, big bands, vocals, and many other combinations of sound; interpretations might explore multiple keys or several tempi and moods; and rhythmic treatments could range from bossa nova to waltz to ad lib.
There is no urtext in jazz . We are not obliged to follow the composer’s wishes when interpreting jazz-and this performance practice aspect of jazz is the same when interpreting a jazz teaching piece. This doesn’t excuse poor musicianship; rather, it enhances musicianship, as it invites creative and personal approaches that might possibly change what a composer such as William Gillock or Philip Keveren had in mind. This is not only good, but is actually expected and encouraged in the jazz world.
Swing Rhythms
These are often written as straight 8th notes, dotted 8ths and 16ths, or triplets (quarter note + eighth note) . Unfortunately, there is no accurate way of notating swing. It simply boils down to a long sound followed by a shorter sound. It must be felt and performed in a relaxed manner, with an articulation that incorporates a smooth melodic line occasionally interrupted by accented sounds. The best aural models for students to learn how swing should sound are the recordings of John Lewis and Bill Evans.
Suggestion:
- Go to www.allmusic.com
- Click Jazz
- In the GO box, type in John Lewis; underneath that box, click Artist/Group
- Click the top name, John Lewis
- Continue reading, but eventually click Discography
- You should see a range of recordings from 1956-2006, with several available as short (10 second) excerpts. My recommendations for students (and teachers) as an aural guidance for swinging are Evening with Two Grand Pianos (1979), Evolution (1999), and any recording with his seminal group, The Modern Jazz Quartet, especially Beginnings (1952), The Wonderful World of Jazz(1960),Kansas City Breaks (1982), and The Complete Last Concert (1992).
Doing the same for Bill Evans will yield many wonderful sounds:
- Go to www.allmusic.com, and follow the procedure above, substituting Bill Evans for John Lewis.
- I recommend all of his recordings, but especially The Solo Sessions (1963), Bill Evans with Symphony Orchestra (1965), Alone (1969), The Tony Bennett/Bill Evans Album (1975), and New Conversations (1978) as prime examples of a truly personal jazz that swings.
Track Listing:
A Child Is Born
In A Mellow Tone
Ambiance
It's A Raggy Waltz
Over The Rainbow
Here’s That Rainy Day
Homage To Chick
Whimsical
S’Wonderful
Time Remembered
Somebody Loves Me
Adagio Cantabile
For Pat
Please include a check or money order to:
Eastman School of Music
26 Gibbs Street
Rochester, NY 14604
Grace Notes
A cursory listening to the samples from the two artists mentioned above will also give the listener many examples of the jazzy use of grace notes.
The important point here is: jazz artists don’t add grace notes because the score tells them to; they add grace notes because their ear tells them to and the style they’re using, like swing,
dictates grace notes. You’ll hear that jazz musicians automatically add grace notes before roots, major 3rds, 5ths, and 7ths - especially if the note that is
‘graced’ is a longer duration, or on the beat. Grace notes are also common if the principle note is a white key and the grace note is a black key. This facilitates the sliding sound
guitarists or singers often employ. Students can freely add grace notes before these principle scale degrees whenever the ‘spirit moves them’, as long as it doesn’t interfere with the
tempo or cause a technical problem. And students should feel free to add grace notes even if the composer hasn’t written them.
Finally, we come to perhaps the most important point of all:
Correct interpretation and articulation of swing rhythms in a jazz piece-whether notated or improvised-is dictated by the rhythms one uses, not the editor, not the edition, and not what is notated. This is often the most difficult aspect for classically-trained musicians to understand. Jazz performance comes from an aural tradition, not a notated one. Those who compose jazz teaching literature: William Gillock, Christopher Norton, Philip Keveren, Bill Boyd, Walter Noona, Glenda Austin, Melody Bober, Catherine Rollin, Lee Evans, et al., are influenced directly or indirectly by jazz musicians who attempted to create a different interpretation each and every time they played the same song. Duke Ellington never played his Satin Doll the way he wrote it or the way he performed it the previous night! It is that world of constant experimentation that permeates jazzy repertoire, whether it is Take the A Train or New Orleans Nightfall. It must be different from the score; the idiom of jazz allows - even demands - that we alter the performance each and every time - that we seek yet another way of playing the notes.
Now let’s answer a few basic questions:
Question: I can teach students the notes and rhythms to notated pieces (like William Gillock’s New Orleans Jazz Styles or Christopher Norton’s Microjazz), but what do I need to know about style and interpretation in these works?
Answer: You do need to know something about style and interpretation. You wouldn’t want to play Mozart in the style of Prokofiev, so you want to approach a jazz piece with a good sense of what is appropriate for that particular style or genre. As explained above, the printed score in jazz is a point of departure - not the goal to be realized faithfully, as in a Chopin Prelude. Aural support, from listening to recordings, attending jazz concerts, and watching videos (such as those found on http://www.jazzlegends.com/ and http://www.legendsofjazz.net/) can help immeasurably in understanding how to interpret the various jazz styles represented by these pieces. These and other videos can help shape the sound as you watch the hands of jazz artists and hear how they approach a song or solo.
Question: What are some of the basic jazz styles that my students should be aware of, and how do I apply them to pedagogical pieces?
Answer: A majority of the jazz teaching repertoire can be placed into the following categories: blues, ballads, swing, and Latin jazz. Each has its own particular style and approach, but there can be some overlapping characteristics.
Blues is, of course, a form (12 measures in length, with an adherence to placing the I, IV, and V chords in key points within the 12 bar framework). Blues can also rely heavily on grace notes and minor 7ths. The classic blues sound and mood is created by mixing minor 3rds in the melody against major 3rds in the accompaniment.
Examples:
- “Blues Prelude” by Bill Boyd, from Jazz Starters I (Hal Leonard) (see Excerpt 1).
Look at measures 1, 2, and 3: beat 3 in each measure has a RH Bb over a LH B natural, creating a typical bluesy sound. - “Midnight Blues” by Sharon Aaronson, from Daytime/Nighttime (Alfred) (see Excerpt 2).
A superb piece that requires syncopated pedaling, appropriate grace notes, a smooth swing feel, and careful attention to the syncopations.
Ballads showcase the rich harmonic world of jazz, without necessarily observing a specific form (one can find ballads in blues style or other forms). The use of complex rhythms like swing is usually not prevalent in Ballads.
Examples:
- “Lullaby in Blue” by Carol Klose, from Fanciful Waltzes (Hal Leonard) (see Excerpt 3).
- “Song for the Moment” by Larry Minsky, from Patterns of Jazz, Level 6 (Kjos) (see Excerpt 4).
Swing refers to both a rhythmic component in jazz as well as the prevailing style of jazz in the 1930s as played by Teddy Wilson, Benny Goodman, and Count Basie. In the jazz teaching world, one encounters swing rhythms in many compositions - it is the friction between what this rhythm looks like and what it sounds like that frequently frustrates teachers.
Example:
- “Over Easy” by Bill Boyd, from Jazz Bits (Hal Leonard) (see Excerpt 5).
This is a good piece to develop an easy, relaxed sound so necessary to proper swing. Be sure to lightly emphasize each syncopation.
Latin Jazz in the form of bossa novas, tangos, or rumbas are a welcome change from swing and other more common forms in jazz teaching pieces and can add vitality to a student’s repertoire.
Example:
- “Mango Moon” by Edwin McClean, from Jazz Nocturnes (FJH)
(see Excerpt 6).
This excellent, well-crafted piece has much to teach about style and jazz harmonies, especially the extensive use of E7(#9). Also, pay special attention to the accent in m. 5 - this is stylistically accurate because the chord occurs before a silence. In swing or latin jazz, any sound (chord or single note) that is on an off beat and precedes a rest, must be accented whether notated or not.
Question: Do some of the same style issues of “traditional” music like articulation, voicing, dynamic range, and rubato apply to jazz playing?
Answer: Yes: good sounds at the piano (voicing top notes of chords, judicious pedaling, a strong sense of proper articulation, and steady pulse when indicated) are part of jazz as well as classical literature.
Examples:
- “Shenandoah” arr. by Mike Kocour, from Cool Folk - 7 Tunes in Jazz Styles (Belwin Mills) (see Excerpt 7). This wonderful arrangement is jazzy because of the harmonies, not the rhythms. A successful performance needs a thoughtful ear, a sensitive touch, careful attention to pedaling, much like any Chopin Prelude.
- “A Touch of Blue” by Tony Caramia, from Six Sketches (Alfred) (see Excerpt 8).
No jazzy swing rhythms here!
Question: Are there any rules about when to swing and when not to swing?
Answer: I presume this question comes from a piece in which the composer has not specifically indicated that rhythms should be swung. In this case one’s ear comes into play. Some pieces can sound good either played straight (not swung) or swung, but no, there are no rules.
Example:
- “Boogie-woogie Choo-choo” by Melody Bober, from Tunes in Transit (FJH) (see Excerpt 9). This is a great example of when to swing and when not to swing. Even though Melody writes no swing, I hear this train a-shufflin’ along at a nice slow groove. So if you want to treat this piece with a swing feel, then you must slow down the tempo considerably. This wonderfully written piece has a great sound if it’s swung in a chugging-along, medium groove; and it “cooks” at the metronome marking of 152. The point is: as long as the train moves steadily along, the train can go at any tempo the mood suggests.
Question: How would you teach “swing” to a student for the first time?
Answer: The first aspect of swing is that, no matter how it is represented on the page, it must sound long-short and smooth. It must NEVER sound as a 
, but more like 
.
I divide each beat into 3, with a slight emphasis on 3; the students count 1-2-3-1-2-3-1-2-3. Think of a song like “I’ve Been Working on the Railroad”: it has a natural ‘swing’.
Another song to study for its ‘swing’ potential is ‘Row, Row, Row Your Boat”: if you compare how it is usually written with the way everyone sings it, you’ll see that we ‘swing’ this song even though it is notated with ‘straight’ eighth notes.
Students need to hear swing, so duets are a good start. Bill Boyd’s Jazz Prelims(Hal Leonard) and Lee Evans’ Razzle Dazzle, Jazzmatazz and Jazz Pizzazz (Hal Leonard) are good examples. Students can hear the swinging teacher part and then mimic the sound of those rhythms in later pieces.
Question: Where should I place emphasis when rhythms are syncopated?
Answer: In jazz all syncopations are to be emphasized or accented, whether notated as such or not. If a chord or single note is syncopated, it is articulated with more weight than a note that is on the beat. Also of extreme importance: if a note ends on an off-beat and before a silence, it must be strongly articulated whether it is notated with an accent or not.
Examples:
- Carefree by Tony Caramia (Hal Leonard) (see Excerpt 10). Measures 1, 5, 8, and 9 have a two-note slur ending on the ‘and’ of beat 1 and preceding an eighth rest: the second note of the two-note slur must be emphasized.
- “New Orleans Nightfall” by William Gillock, from New Orleans Jazz Styles (Hal Leonard) (see Excerpt 11). In the “Faster” section, measures 2, 4, and 6 have a note ending on the ‘and’ of beat two and a chord on the ‘and’ of beat three: both must be accented or stressed or emphasized by virtue of their rhythmic placement.
- “Once Over, Lightly” by Bill Boyd, from Jazz Delights (Hal Leonard) (see Excerpt 12). All two-note slurs ending before a rest must be accented or stressed or emphasized. Notice they are not indicated in the score; however, their rhythmic placement dictates that they be articulated in a short, emphatic way.
Question: Are there other rules or conventions for accenting (or not accenting) specific beats?
Answer: In general beats 2 and 4 are emphasized in a swing environment.
Example:
- “Jivin’ Around” by Glenda Austin, from Feel the Beat (Willis) (see Excerpt 13). Even though there’s nothing written to indicate a stress on beats 2 and 4, this piece would sound more authentic and ‘groove’ better if those beats had a slight emphasis in measures where a note occurs on the beat, such as in the RH in measures 1 and 3, and in the LH in measures 2 and 4.
Question: Is it ever appropriate to use rubato in jazz repertoire?
Answer: Of course! Jazz is not defined only by swing. Jazz pianists’ approach to ballades can be a sublime listening experience. I recommend the following albums as superb examples of the kind of gentle and sensitive musicianship jazz pianists are capable of producing:
Example:
- Quiet Now (1969)
- You Must Believe in Spring (1977)
- Evanessence (1990)
- Dancing in the Dark (1992)
- Live at Maybeck Hall (1993)
- Plays Rodgers and Hammerstein (1995)
- The Duo Album (1997)
- Songs and Lullabies (2003)
Here are some Jazz Piano Methods worth exploring:
Jazz Works , by Ann Collins; Alfred, 2000
Ann has crafted a superb book, one of the best on the market for teaching beginning jazz techniques for intermediate to advanced pianists. She writes “this text attempts to bridge the gap between traditional piano study and advanced level jazz instruction” and she does this very successfully. There are CD arrangements (with trio accompaniment: drums, bass, piano); 7 chapters that cover material including triads; 6th and 9th chords; dominant 7ths and diminished chords; and ii-V-i progressions. The appendices include a list of jazz melodies, chord spellings, and a glossary. Highly recommended!
Play-a-Long Recordings, Jamey Aebersold; Aebersold Jazz, Inc.
One of the 1 st of its kind (first published in 1967), it is extremely user-friendly , with more than 130 volumes currently available. Recommended order for study:
Vol. 24: Major and Minor. Covers all major and minor keys in comfortable tempos.
Vol. 1: How to Play Jazz, 1992, 6th ed. Thorough in its preparation of the player to improvise.
Vol. 2: Nothin’ But the Blues. Beginning-Intermediate level. 11 blues tunes in various keys and tempos.
Vol. 3: The ii-V progression. Intermediate level. This is the most important musical sequence in jazz.
Vol. 54: Maiden Voyage. 14 jazz standards at easy tempos. Includes Autumn Leaves and Satin Doll.
Vol. 70: Killer Joe. 13 Easy standards for beginning improvisers.
Vol. 76: How to Learn Tunes. Memorize melodies and chord changes for any tune, any key.
For further study, explanations, and to order online, visit www.jazzbooks.com.
IAJE/MTNA Jazz Study Guide
The IAJE-MTNA Jazz Studies Guide was designed as a resource for studio teachers who already teach jazz and as an aid to those teachers who would like to add jazz to their studio curriculum. The Jazz Studies Guide has already generated widespread interest in developing greater student participation in the art of improvisation and jazz. The release of the guide also has revealed the need to provide training and assistance to teachers who would like to teach or play jazz, but need some help getting started. Available through either MTNA or IAJE on their websites (www.mtna.org or www.iaje.org )
Classical Approach to Jazz Piano Improvisation by Dominic Alldis (Hal Leonard).
This keyboard instruction book is designed for the person who is classically-trained and wants to expand into the world of jazz improvisation. It provides clear explanations and musical examples of pentatonic improvisation; the blues; rock piano; rhythmic placement; scale theory; major, minor and pentatonic scale theory applications; melodic syntax; the language of bebop; left-hand accompaniment; walking bass lines; thematic development; performance tips; and more.
The Complete Jazz Keyboard Method by Noah Baerman (Alfred).
This series from Alfred and the National Keyboard Workshop reveals secrets to playing jazz keyboard. It provides a fun way for the player with intermediate-level or above note-reading and keyboard experience to gain valuable playing and improvisational skills. Three books – Beginning, Intermediate, and Mastering – cover a multitude of topics from basic through advanced levels. The optional CD demonstrates examples and gives the student an opportunity to play along. The optional Beginning DVD offers instruction so any keyboardist with basic keyboard skills can dig right in and begin learning jazz right away.
Hal Leonard Keyboard Styles Series . Book & CD (Hal Leonard).
The Hal Leonard Keyboard Styles Series consists of a variety of books by different authors for the keyboardist at the early-advanced level or above. The books related to jazz are:
BeBop Jazz Piano by John Valerio provides essential, detailed information for bebop and jazz pianists on the following topics: chords and voicings, harmony and chord progressions, scales and tonality, common melodic figures and patterns, comping, characteristic tunes, the styles of Bud Powell and Thelonious Monk, and much more. The accompanying CD features many of the examples in the book performed either solo or with a full band. Also included are combo performances of five of the tunes featured at the end of the book.
Stride and Swing Piano by John Valerio focuses on styles such as classic ragtime, early blues & boogie woogie, New Orleans jazz, stride and swing. It teaches left and right-hand techniques including chords, bass runs, patterns and more. Key players of these styles - Scott Joplin, Jimmy Yancey, Pete Johnson, Jelly Roll Morton, James P. Johnson, Fats Waller, Teddy Wilson and Art Tatum - are prominently referenced. Includes 14 full songs to play, and an accompanying CD.
Blues Piano by Mark Harrison explores scales and chords, left-hand patterns, walking bass, endings and turnarounds, right-hand techniques, how to solo with blues scales, crossover licks, and more.
How to Play Chord Symbols in Jazz and Popular Music by Lee Evans & Martha Baker (Hal Leonard). This book instructs the student on playing chord symbols simply and effectively more than any book available. It only deals with keys up to one sharp or four flats in a key signature. Divided into two parts, the first part outlines basic chords, from triads up to and including 7th chords and altered chords, one key at a time. Part two covers extended chords: 9th, 11th, 13th chords and additional altered chords. This book is intended for the intermediate level pianist looking for a way to learn chords, improvise, play by ear, and read lead sheets.
The Jazz Piano Book by Mark Levine (Sher Music Co.)
Over 300 pages with complete chapters on intervals and triads, the major modes, ii-V-I, 3-note voicings, suspended and phrygian chords, adding notes to 3-note voicings, tritone substitution, left-hand voicings, altering notes in the left-hand, stride and Bud Powell voicings, block chords, comping and more.
Essentials of Jazz Theory by Shelton Berg (Alfred)
Alfred's Essentials of Jazz Theory is designed for jazz enthusiasts and musicians who want to have a better understanding of the language of jazz. To successfully navigate this all-in-one jazz theory course, one should be versed in basic music theory concepts. Concepts covered in Book 1 include: swing feel, swing eighth-notes, syncopation, chord changes, voice leading, modes, pentatonic scales, grace notes, blue notes, blues scales, and more. Includes a glossary and index of terms and symbols.
Before reading any text (and before teaching any jazz), I urge you to find aural examples to listen to and study. They are readily available on the Internet, on recordings, on the radio, in a library, and best of all, in live concerts and clubs. Happy listening and happy teaching!