Download Jazz Theory and Practice Introductory Module: Introduction, program

IntroductionA
Jazz Theory and Practice
Introductory Module:
Introduction, program structure, and
prerequisites
A. Introduction to the student
A number of jazz theory textbooks have been written, and much
of the material in this program has been drawn from them. A
survey of these sources reveals two things in particular: every
one of them draws on the performing experience of the author,
and secondly, no two books are similar in almost any way. This
is not true with traditional “classical” theory (harmony and
counterpoint) textbooks, which come from hundreds of years of
pedagogical tradition, and, significantly, come from composition,
not performance. Models for traditional theory—vocal
polyphony from the Renaissance, the Chorales and Fugues of
J.S. Bach—really have no parallel in the jazz repertoire. In many
cases the notated score, so important in the study of traditional
theory, is not important at all in jazz theory, especially since
many jazz musicians hardly use notated music at all.
Many jazz theory textbooks assume that the student has little or
no knowledge of written music, so a portion of the textbook is
dedicated to music rudiments. There are countless ways and
means to learn music rudiments (see list at the end of section
C), so there is no need to include that material in this program.
There is a rudiments test at the end of this module that will
indicate whether you are really ready to pursue the material in
the jazz theory program, or not.
The idea for this program began as a supplementary study for
students pursuing the Contemporary Idioms syllabus offered by
Conservatory Canada. “Contemporary Idioms”, as well as jazz,
includes a broad sampling of blues, rock, musical theatre, and
other music where performance usually involves a loose
interpretation of a printed score: reading from chord symbols as
Copyright © 2012 Peter J. Clements
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well as standard notation, improvisation, providing a bass line,
etc. The development of these skills is an important feature of
the Contemporary Idioms Syllabus.
Pursuing the Contemporary Idioms Syllabus is not a prerequisite
for this jazz theory program. Others who might find the
program beneficial could well include:
(a) Music teachers who want to expand their background
in this area.
(b) Students who are studying traditional theory, and
wish to find out more about jazz theory
(c) Anyone interested in jazz who wishes to expand their
musical background.
B. What’s the focus of the program?
A subtitle for the program could be “The Harmonic Language of
Jazz”: this course really is about harmony! Not just “textbook
harmony”, but harmony under the fingers as well, which is why
some basic keyboard background is essential as well as the
rudiments background. Jazz really is a performer’s art, which is
why the Practice must run in parallel with the Theory every step
of the way. Learning the harmonic language of jazz really is an
exciting voyage of discovery, and hearing and feeling those
chords under the hand is part of the voyage.
Thousands of aspiring jazz musicians, especially keyboard and
guitar players, have learned the language by listening and
imitating (“by ear” in other words), often simply by performing
with other musicians (“jamming”). Although this is a truly
exciting activity it is also very time-consuming; for most
musicians it takes years to gain a comprehensive knowledge of
jazz harmony doing it only this way. This knowledge will likely
reside mostly in aural memory, which means that writing it
down, or communicating harmonic ideas to other musicians is
difficult at best. In the end, the well-rounded musician needs to
have an earful of jazz harmony, but should be also able to read
and interpret the chord symbols, and understand common
relationships among them. This is what this program is about.
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C. Structure of the program
The program is divided into a number of modules, and it is assumed
that the student will begin with the first module and follow the order in
which the materials are presented, although a student with some jazz
background could easily move freely among the various modules. The
modules are as follows:
Introductory Module: self-administered rudiments test
PART A:
Module 1: The basic melodic resources: scales(modes), tetrachords,
melodic patterns.
1a
1b
1c
Tetrachords; trichords
The Major Scale Family
The Minor Scale Family
Module 2: The basic harmonic resources: added 6th and 7th chords,
and the common harmonic pattern: II V I
2a
2b
2c
Chord Labelling; the Dominant-7th Chord
Added-6th and Minor-7th Chords
Major-7th, Half-diminished-7th chords; II V I
Module 3: Review, practice test and term test.
PART B:
Module 4:
4a
4b
4c
Building a repertoire of essential harmonic patterns.
The turnaround
Circles of 5ths
The basic blues
Module 5: Expanding the harmonic resources
5a
5b
5c
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Dim 7th, 9th chords, some new scales
Extensions: 11th and 13th chords
Other harmonic structures
Module 6: Putting it all together; adding the bass line.
6a
6b
6c
Beyond basic blues
Counterpoint in jazz
The bass line
Module 7: Review, practice test, and final test
Within each module there are a number of topics; topics are
assembled under three headings (like chapters), each starting with an
exposition of the material, a recommended listening list (all found on
YouTube), followed by a PLAY/SING and WRITE sections that both
require the student to use a music editor. (see D. required software
below). Modules typically use the following plan:
Module 2: The Basic Harmonic Resources
Module 2a The Dominant-7th chord
Section (1)
Section (2) …
… Last Section
Listening list
Module 2a PLAY/SING
Exercise (1)
Exercise (2)…
…Exercise(n)
Module 2b WRITE
Exercise (1)
Exercise (2)…
…Exercise(n)
Module 2b: Added 6th and Minor 7th chords
etc.
The PLAY/SING section is most important; jazz, above all, is a
performing art, and studying a topic on the printed page must
only be part of a learning process that includes hearing, playing,
writing, and understanding. The student might assess his/her
own progress in the PLAY/SING section, or work through it with
a teacher. Often there will be duets that can be performed with
computer backup or with another performer, and some exercises
have both easier and harder versions. As well as being a
performing art, jazz is also mostly ensemble performance, and
the ensemble experience, even with just two people playing
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together, is essential to develop good rhythmic playing and
improvisation skills.
Registration in the program provides the student with feedback
for all WRITE components. After the WRITE assignment is
complete and has been submitted online, an expert assessor will
go over the assignment, provide comments and return the
results to the student.
D. Required Software
All the PLAY/SING and WRITE components of the course are all
contained in MUS (Music notation) files, so that music examples
can be played back, edited, and created. There are countless
opportunities to play along with the MUS files, so playing back
the files with a keyboard close by is a big advantage. Most
computers (especially laptops) have very small speakers, so a
plugin sound system with larger speakers is highly desirable.
There are lots of good low-cost plugin speaker systems.
The software required for the course is FINALE Songwriter, 2010
version or later, which is available for US$49.95. There are
several FINALE products available; look for a review of the
products with a link elsewhere in the Introduction Module.
If you have never used FINALE software, don’t be intimidated!
A page of printed music is a complex document, and a really
well-designed music editor requires hundreds of commands, but
we won’t be using most of them! Embedded in the PLAY/SING
and WRITE pages are step-by-step instructions for using the
FINALE editor, with new concepts introduced as they are needed
for making music.
By the time you finish the course you will have a good working
knowledge of FINALE, so that you can create quality printed
music of all kinds. You will also be able to grow into the larger
more complex versions of the software.
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E. Recommended prerequisites
1. Keyboard: This is not only a program for keyboard players,
but some basic keyboard skills really are essential for the
PLAY/SING exercises. As a minimum the student should be
able to read and play two-handed chords at some steady
tempo (any tempo can be set for the PLAY/SING exercises).
2. Rudiments: Many existing jazz theory textbooks assume that
the student is starting with virtually no prior knowledge of
written music, and a portion of the book is spent on music
rudiments. This program assumes that the student comes to
the course with a thorough grounding in music rudiments,
therefore rudiments is not part of the course. A “thorough
grounding” means that this body of musical knowledge must
be as familiar to the student as his/her native spoken
language. This knowledge is, in fact, the basic vocabulary
and syntax of the musical language; the language of jazz,
classical music, and much other music.
MUSIC RUDIMENTS
1. Pitch identification, and fluent reading in at least two clefs
(treble and bass clefs)
2. Common time signatures, including compound time, and an
understanding of rhythmic note values.
3. Key signatures for all major and minor keys; relative minor and
tonic minor; the circle of fifths.
4. Structures (whole step/half step) of major and minor scales, and
the seven diatonic modes.
5. Musical interval identification, inversion, compound intervals.
6. Basic triad identification: major, minor, diminished, augmented,
with inversions.
7. Transposition
8. Basic chord movement; cadences.
Elsewhere in the program you will find a link to a music
rudiments test. Before you decide to pursue and pay for the
jazz theory program, and if your knowledge of music rudiments
is limited, it is essential that you try this test. Record the time
it takes you to complete each page, and check your answers
with the solution pages given at the end of the test. If you
don’t score 75% or more you are not ready to do the jazz theory
program.
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If you are below the mark, the following resources are recommended
for further preparation:
a. Conservatory Canada: Theory 1 through Theory 4
b. Royal Conservatory of Music: Basic, Intermediate, and
Advanced Rudiments (formerly Preliminary Rudiments
+Theory 1 & 2). Text: Mark Sarnecki: The Complete
Elementary Music Rudiments. (Frederick Harris, 2010)
c. Self-instruction textbooks: here is a sampling:
John Clough, Joyce Conley, and Claire Boge. Scales, Intervals,
Keys, Triads, Rhythm and Meter, a programmed text. 3rd Ed.
(New York: W. W. Norton and Company, 1999).
Paul O. Harder and Greg A. Steinke. Harmonic Materials in Tonal
Music; A Programed Course. Part I. 8th Edition. (Toronto: Allyn
and Bacon, 1994).
Robert Ottman and Frank Mainous. Programmed Rudiments of
Music. (Englewood Cliff, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1995).
d. Internet resources.
http://www.conservatorycanada.ca/exams-courses/online-theory-course
http://suite101.com/article/five-free-websites-to-help-with-music-theory-ormusic-rudiments-a225651
Not sure about how much you know?
and try the rudiments test… it’s free!
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