A Jazz Improvisation Almanac

This is a preview of the educational program A Jazz Improvisation Almanac which is under development for the Outside Shore Music Online School. Feel free to browse this preview and learn what you can from it. For a more completed product, though, check out the original freely browsable jazz textbook, A Jazz Improvisation Primer.

Purpose of the Almanac

This program is designed to serve two complementary purposes: to help the performer play jazz more effectively, and also to help the listener to better understand the performance of jazz.

Jazz, like any other style of music, is a form of communication between the performer and the listener. The language of that communication is the subject of this program. It is the language in which jazz musicians think when they are performing and the language in which listeners think about jazz. While there may be some aspects of the language that are of concern primarily to performers - technical details of harmony and so forth - much of the language is common to both performers and listeners. The more of the language one understands, the the more levels on which a performer can reach the audience, and the more levels on which a listener can appreciate the music.

While there exist books and programs that deal with either jazz appreciation, history, or theory, it is the integration of all these elements, along with some practical and philosophical discussions of topics that are rarely covered elsewhere, that makes this program unique. It is my belief that this integration is essential in order to fully understand the language of jazz.

Organization of the Almanac

The Almanac is organized like a reference book. Unlike an ordinary book, however, this program takes advantage of the facilities of your computer to allow you to easily explore different paths through the material. The computer is also able to play musical examples, including some "play-along" performances. The name "Almanac" is designed to reflect this flexible structure and the incorporation of such a wide variety of types of information.

The Almanac is divided into Units, which are listed above and below. The Units are, for the most part, independent. Within each Unit are several Chapters; within each Chapter are several Sections. In most cases, a section will contain a single page of text, although some sections may comprise several individually titled pages. All of this content is accessed from this main browser window. There are also tools that are displayed in separate windows; these are listed at right.

The first two units of this program speak most directly to listeners, while later units speak more directly to performers. Of course, most performers are listeners as well, and many listeners curious enough to check out this program may find the more technical discussions enlightening as well. The use of multimedia allows anyone to follow all the discussions without the need to be able to read music or play an instrument or have access to an extensive library of recordings - simply click on any example to hear it. All users of this program are therefore encouraged to check out the entire content.

While the order in which the units, chapters, and sections are laid out is intended to be logical, it is not necessarily the best order in which to actually learn the material. For example, there is no reason you should read the entire unit on Jazz Styles before any of the unit on Music Theory. You can decide for yourself which parts to study in detail and which to perhaps skim over and return to later if you like. This goes for performers as well as listeners. Some sections may be too advanced, or too basic, or simply not of immediate interest. Feel free to go through the material at your own pace, concentrating your study on whichever sections you like.

If you prefer a more structured approach, there is also a Workbook that provides a guided tour of the program. The Workbook is organized like a textbook, with individual lessons and exercises that can form the basis of a daily or weekly course of study. The Workbook provides a suggested path through the book in which each lesson contains some general discussion, some listening, some theory, and some applications. It can be customized for use in teaching situations.

Browsing the Almanac

This program uses hypertext to allow you to further explore areas that interest you as you encounter them in the text. The user interface should be familiar to anyone who has surfed the Web, and indeed, you can access this material using any of the popular Web browsers.

With most browsers, you simply click on any highlighted phrase or icon to load the corresponding page of information. The "Back" and "Forward" buttons allow you to revisit pages you have previously viewed. For more on using your particular browser, see the online help that came with it, which usually accessed via a menu at the top of the screen.

The workbook, table of contents, index, and other tools are viewed in separate windows. When you click on an item in any of these windows, the corresponding page is loaded into the main browser window. Depending on your browser, this might not cause the main window to make itself visible again if it was obscured by the tool window. You may have to find and reopen the main window yourself.

For more information on the organization and browsing of the Almanac, see the online help, which you can access via the Help tool at right.

Enough about the program. Let's get on to the music!

Copyright 2000 Outside Shore Music
Authored by Marc Sabatella

A Jazz Improvisation Almanac