The Classroom Guide to Jazz Improvisation

Book excerpt: "You don't have to be a jazz expert to give your students a great start improvising. The Classroom Guide to Jazz Improvisation provides what music teachers have been seeking for decades: an easy, step-by-step guide to teaching real jazz improvisation in the classroom. Drawing on their shared 54 years of teaching experience and extensive work as professional jazz musicians, authors John McNeil and Ryan Nielsen show you how to walk your students through the process of learning to improvise, removing the guesswork and mystique along the way. "We turned a corner in our teaching when we realized that the brain wires itself differently for improvising than it does for rote memory," write the authors. The resulting lesson plans are flexible, easy to use and quickly give your students access simple choices that create effective jazz lines. Beyond the nuts and bolts of improvising, this book contains carefully curated listening lists, honest (but short!) discussions about the meaning of the music and talking points to help you advocate for your jazz program to administrators and parents. Simple rhythm section materials (Bass, Drums, Piano, Guitar) give clear steps to keep everyone involved, included to make sure you have everything you need in one convenient place. Delightfully conversational in tone, this book is an essential resource for music teachers everywhere, written by two musician/teachers who remind you throughout, "We're just an email away.""--