I finally finished my first book on jazz improvisation. After years of practice journals and outlines for the ultimate
jazz tome, I finally realized that I'm not Mick Goodrick or Hal Crook (no matter how much I practice) and in general, I always liked a music book with a fairly narrow focus; with "baroque
counterpoint" for example, you know what to expect. After much deliberation, I decided to take one concept
that inspires me constantly, that I really enjoy practicing, and write a book about that. After digging through my practice
logs, and organizing boxes of semi-legible manuscript, I found a lot of material about creating an original, non-cliched,
modern vocabulary, as well as a lot of melodic examples from the harmonic major scale (an Ionian scale with a b13).
So, I ended up writing a book on how to develop an original melodic vocabulary for improvisation using specifically
the harmonic major scale.
The book outlines the various ways I've come up with to practice scales, melodies and harmonies while focusing on developing
an original melodic vocabulary. Included are not only a lot of lines, melodies and "licks" (if you will), but
the methodology I used to create them. This workbook leaves a lot of space for musical exploration and creation, although
there's plenty of written material if you just want to play through it and glean a few new ideas that speak to you.
The following table of contents will give you an idea of just how comprehensive this publication is. I've put a lot of time
and thought into this book and I really believe my work can benefit other musicians. At $11.95, I think you'll
find it a good investment!
To get a copy of the book click here or the picture below.
~Table of Contents~
Chapter 1: Modes and Chords
Chapter 2: Arpeggiated Voicings
Chapter 3: Rhythmic Displacement
Chapter 4: ii-7 - V7 - I (Major)
Chapter 5: V7 - i (Minor)
Chapter 6: Melodic Sequence
Chapter 7: Random Intervals
Chapter 8: Diatonic Cycles
Chapter 9: Triad Pairs
Chapter 1o: Combination
