DARREN LLOYD

JAZZ
IMPROV
HAND
BOOK
COMPLETE GUIDE FOR
BEGINNER & INTERMEDIATE
JAZZ IMPROVISORS
 The Jazz improvisors hand book (for beginners)

Do you get frustrated not being able to create good sounding jazz solos?

I used to too!

Could it be that you don't know what to practice or maybe you're practicing the

wrong things?

This method doesn't ask you to remember countless licks in different keys.

It simply develops your jazz vocabulary in a musical, fun and progressive way. All

you need to do is practice. By practicing the material outlined in this book I can

confidently say

YOU WILL GET BETTER AT IMPROVISING!

Give it a go, what have you really got to lose?

In this book you will learn (through doing)

• What makes a solo sound melodic?

• How you can make your solos melodic!

• Create beautiful long flowing lines that holds the listeners interest.

We are going use a F blues for this handbook but remember, you can use this

approach for almost any jazz standard you wish to. I will create a handbook for treble

and bass clef!

All the sections in this handbook have an accompanying video on YouTube. If you

have this book, I will have sent you the links for them! Let's get started.
 • My story

• Chords

• Rhythms

• Approach tones

• Wrap around enclosures

• Motif exercises

• Space

• Articulation

• Transcribing

• Putting it all together

 My Story

I am a 51 year Trumpet player living in the UK. As a young trumpet player I had a

few records of Dixieland bands such as Chris Barber, I also had a great record (which

mainly featured the British trumpet star Kenny Baker). I loved listening to these

records and often copied and learnt the solos from heart (not even knowing about

transcribing back then).

A couple of years later I bought a record called 'I love jazz' which had tracks by

Miles Davis, Woody Herman band, Louis Armstrong, Art Farmer with Gerry

Mulligan, Charles Mingus band, Billie Holiday....

I loved this record and this inspired me to add more records to my collection.

It wasn't until I was in my early 20's that I was introduced to the Trumpet playing of

Cuban star, Arturo Sandoval! I simply couldn't believe that the Trumpet could be

played in such a way. Listening to Arturo inspired me to become a professional

player.

It was at this time that I started to sit in with a couple of local jazz bands! At first, I

only knew a blues in C. I thought I was great, playing all the licks I'd copied and

playing as fast as possible. It wasn't until, one day being asked to get up with the

band and play a blues in D (gasp, I didn't know what to do) that I decided there was a

bit more to this improvising than meets the eye!

Over the years I had lessons with many great players here in the UK. Along with

these lessons, I also studied from many books.

I served in the Royal Marines band from the age of 16 – 23. I then studied at a music
college for one year before turning professional. Since that time I have played

Trumpet with many of the top ensembles in the UK and at many of the top venues

and jazz clubs including – Ronnie Scotts, 100 club, Pizza on the park, The Bull at

Barnes....

After working in London for a few years, I went on tour as a lead Trumpet player on

Saturday Night Fever, around the UK. It was on this tour that I met my wife and

moved to Manchester. It was in Manchester that I studied for a Master of Arts in jazz

performance and a PGCE metropolitan University that led to becoming a fully

qualified teacher.

Putting together my teaching and 30 years performance experience, I decided to

create Jazz etudes and the resources/books on the site. I have developed a love of

melodic jazz and the players that perform it. I love the playing of Chet Baker, Bobby

Shew, Art Farmer & Allan Botschinsky, as well as many others. The reason I love

their playing is because they rarely play licks over and over. They just create endless

melodic solos that seem to come from nowhere!

It is this type of playing that I have studied and come up with my own formula for

practicing it.

There is no trying to remember different licks in this method, it is a simple approach

to developing your jazz language and vocabulary skills.

So, without further a do! Let's get on with the exercises that WILL take your

improvising to the next level.

 Chords

I don't want to go too much into the theory of jazz in this book. If this is an area that

you think you need to develop some knowledge, I highly recommend Mark Levine's

'The jazz theory book'. It explains everything very clearly.

Available from all good book shops, Amazon, E bay......

So, I'm going to assume you know what a chord is.

The blues can be very simple and slightly more complicated regarding the chord

changes. As you are interested in developing your jazz improvising skills I have gone

for a slightly more challenging sequence, simply because it has more chords in than a

regular rock 'n roll type which sometimes only has three!
Set out below is the sequence we will approach and exercise that we will try first.

Exercise one will be to play chord notes, four notes per bar. If this it too tricky at

first, try maybe two notes or even one per chord!

Remember for a chord note you can play the root, 3rd, 5th and the 7th (if it has one).

You should try as many variable as possible for this exercise, don't just play the one

below from memory (maybe at first).

We are trying to internalize the chord changes by playing through them in as many

ways as possible. Before moving on to the next exercise you would hopefully be able

to do this without looking at the chord changes or music. If you can't do it, maybe

just look at the changes!

 JAZZ IMPROVISATION HANDBOOK
For beginner & intermediate improvisors!
Darren Lloyd
Exercise 1 - Playing the chord notes
B b7
Exercise 1
F7 F7 C -7 F7

bœ
& b 44 œ œ œ œ œ bœ
œ bœ œ n œ œ œ œ bœ
œ
B b7 B dim7 F7 A -7 D7

&b œ œ bœ œ nœ nœ œ bœ œ œ nœ #œ œ
œ bœ nœ
G -7 C7 F7 D7 G -7 C7

œ œ
&b œ œ nœ œ œ œ œ œ #œ œ œ
œ œ œ
F7 B b7 F7 C -7 F7

b nœ bœ œ œ œ bœ
& œ bœ œ œ b œ œ
œ nœ œ œ
B b7 B dim7 F7 A -7 D7

&b œ bœ nœ nœ nœ œ œ nœ œ
bœ nœ œ #œ œ
œ œ
G -7 C7 F7 D7 G -7 C7

&b œ œ nœ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ #œ œ œ œ œ
œ
B b7
Chord changes if needed
F7 F7 C -7 F7

&b ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’

B b7 B dim7 F7 A -7 D7

&b ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’

G -7 C7 F7 D7 G -7 C7

&b ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’
©jazzetudes2020
 Rhythm

The next exercise is a natural progression from the chordal exercises and I think

you'll be amazed at how jazzy it makes you sound.

We are going to take what we can already do but apply syncopated rhythms to the

notes. I will add some examples of rhythms before the exercise starts but you could

add any rhythms you feel like. You could take the rhythm of a phrase by your

favourite player, you could take a rhythm from a famous bebop head (the tune) and

apply that to the chord notes in the exercise.

What ever rhythm you feel like adding will work. I suggest keeping it simple at first

though! Maybe try one rhythm for a chorus. When you're really confident with that,

then try maybe two! The more you do this exercise the more you will realise how

important rhythm is to the success of a good or great solo. If we just run 8 notes or

quavers over and over for a whole chorus, the listener will soon get bored, no matter

how great you think it might be or, how long you've been working on putting together

the skill to play all those quavers (we will cover this later in the handbook)!
 JAZZ IMPROVISATION HANDBOOK
For beginner & intermediate improvisors!
Darren Lloyd
Exercise 2 - Adding syncopated rhythms
1 Exercise 2 2

& b 44 Û Û Û Û ‰ ‰ Û Û Û Û Û Œ Û Û Û Û Û Û. Û Ó
J J J
3 4

& b Û. Û Œ Û Û Û Œ Û Œ ‰ Û Û Û Û Û Û Û Û Û Œ
J J
Above you can see I've added 4 syncopated rhythms over 2 bars (each). Remember, you don't have to
use these, it's just a starting point if you need one!

Below, on chorus 1, I've shown how to use rhythm number 1. You can try and prctice this too but you
should try to make your own choice of notes too!

The second chorus has a mixture of all the rhythms. Maybe you could try and come up with your own
1, 2, 3 or 4 bar rhythms add use this exercise to practice them.
B b7
jœ jœ ‰ ‰ j
œ b œ œJ œ ‰ ‰ œ b œ œ œ œ Œ
F7 F7 C -7 F7

& b œ œ œ bœ œ œ œ Œ

B b7

& b œJ œ œj œ ‰ ‰ œ œ œ b œ n œ Œ œ œ œ œ ‰ ‰ œ œ #œ Œ
B dim7 F7 A -7 D7

J J œ œ

œ Œ œ œ j ‰ ‰
& b œJ œ œj œ ‰ ‰ œ œ œ œ
G -7 C7 F7 D7 G -7 C7

J œ #œ œ œœœ œ Œ

B b7

&b œ œ œ œ œ j ‰ œ b œJ œ œ œ b œ
F7 F7 C -7 F7

œ. œ Ó œ œ œ
Œ

B b7
j œ œ œ
B dim7 F7 A -7 D7

& b œ. œ Œ bœ œ œ Œ œ
Œ œ œ œ. œ
jÓ

jœ œ œ œ œ œ œ Œ œ œ œ #œ ‰ ‰ œ œ œ œ
G -7 C7 F7 D7 G -7 C7

&b ‰ J J œ Œ
œ œ
©jazzetudes2020
 Approach notes

If we think of everything we've been doing so far, the chord notes are a very

important part of making a solo sound melodic. I would like you to think of the

chordal notes as 'target notes', approach notes are the notes that come before them,

either from below or above.

The next exercise will focus on developing this skill and ability.

Once you've played through the exercises, you may notice that you are playing the

scales (most of the time) for the chords but I have found it an easier way (personally)

than trying to remember endless amounts of scales! As long as you are in the key

centre of what ever chord sequence you're playing over, you'll be hitting notes that

sound great!
 JAZZ IMPROVISATION HANDBOOK
For beginner & intermediate improvisors!
Darren Lloyd
Exercise 3 - Approach notes
Exercise 3
F7 B b7 F7 C -7 F7

& b 44 œ œ œ œ bœ œ œ œ nœ œ œ œ bœ œ œ œ
B b7 B dim7 F7 A -7 D7

&b œ bœ nœ œ œ œ œ œ œ #œ œ
œ œ œ bœ œ

G -7 C7 F7 D7 G -7 C7

&b œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ #œ œ œ œ
œ œ
B b7
bœ
F7 F7 C -7 F7

& b nœ œ bœ œ bœ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ
œ
B b7 B dim7 F7 A -7 D7

& b œ œ bœ œ bœ œ œ nœ œ œ bœ œ nœ œ #œ œ

œ nœ œ
G -7 C7 F7 D7 G -7 C7

&b œ œ œ œ œ œ œ #œ œ œ œ œ œ
B b7

œ bœ œ œ œ
F7 F7 C -7 F7

b œ œ œ b œ n œ œ
& nœ œ œ œ bœ œ œ nœ bœ œ
œ œ nœ œ œ œ bœ œ œ œ œ

B b7
bœ œ œ bœ œ œ œ œ
B dim7 F7 A -7 D7

& b œ œ bœ œ œ bœ œ b œ b œ n œ n œ œ n œ
œ nœ œnœ nœ œ œ #œ œ œ nœ

bœ œ œ bœ œ
G -7 C7 F7 D7 G -7 C7

& b nœ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ nœ œ œ œ #œ nœ œ œ nœ œ œ œ œ œ
œ
©jazzetudes2020
 Enclosures

Enclosures are notes that wrap around the target note! To be honest it doesn't really

matter what they are, as long as you hit that target note! But, you'll find it easier (I

think) if you practice the Finger buster exercises first. They only go from the root to

the 5th of the chord but 1. They are a great technical workout (especially the tricky

keys) and 2. They will really help you develop the enclosure feel and hearing the note

you are going for (this may take days, weeks or months depending on many factors

too numerous to go into here)! The following exercise firstly does an enclosure just to

beat one of each measure (again, try to create your own). The following chorus

encloses beats 1 and 3, which means, you are playing quavers (or 8th notes)

throughout the whole chorus, remember to breathe where you feel you need to

through!!!!
 JAZZ IMPROVISATION HANDBOOK
For beginner & intermediate improvisors!
Darren Lloyd
Exercise 4 - Enclosures
Exercise 4

& 44 .. œ œ œ # œ œ œ b œ # œ œ # œ n œ # œ œ n œ ..
˙.
Πb
œ œ

& b .. œ œ œ # œ œ œ # œ n œ œ nœ bœ #œ œ nœ
œ
.
œ . ˙. Œ bb

b bbb
& b .. œ œ # œ n œ œ n œ b œ
.. Œ
œ œ #œ œ #œ œ œ nœ œ ˙.

b bbbb
& b b .. œ œ œ # œ œ œ n œ n œ œ n œ b œ # œ œ œ n œ œ .. ˙ . Œ

b bbb . .. Πbbbbb
& . œ
œ œ œ nœ œ nœ nœ œ nœ bœ nœ œ œ bœ œ ˙.

b #### #
& b b b b .. œ œ œ n œ œ œ n œ n œ œ n œ b œ n œ œ œ b œ œ .. ˙ . Œ #

#### # .
& # . œ œ œ ‹ œ œ œ ‹ œ # œ œ # œ n œ ‹ œ œ œ # œ œ .. ˙ . Œ

#### # . n#####
& # . œ œ œ n œ # œ œ n œ n œ œ n œ œ n œ # œ œ œ œ .. ˙ . Œ

#### . .. Π####
& # . œ nœ nœ œ nœ œ nœ #œ œ n
œ œ œ nœ #œ œ œ ˙.
©jazzetudes2020
 #### . n###
& . œ œ œ nœ #œ œ nœ #œ œ #œ nœ nœ #œ .
œ œ œ . ˙.
Œ

### . .. Œ
n##
& . œ nœ #œ œ #œ nœ nœ #œ
œ œ œ nœ #œ œ œ œ ˙.

## . .. n#
& . œ œ œ nœ #œ œ #œ #œ œ #œ nœ nœ #œ
œ œ œ ˙.
Œ

# œ n
& .. œ œ œ b œ n œ # œ # œ œ #œ nœ bœ nœ
œ œ œ .. ˙ . Œ

& .. œ œ œ # œ œ œ b œ # œ œ #œ nœ #œ œ .. Œ
œ nœ œ ˙.

& .. œ œ œ # œ œ œ b œ # œ œ #œ nœ #œ œ .. Œ
œ nœ œ ˙.

& .. œ œ œ # œ œ œ b œ # œ œ #œ nœ #œ œ n œ
..
˙.
Œ
œ œ

& .. œ œ œ # œ œ œ b œ # œ œ #œ nœ #œ œ .. Œ
> > > > > > œ nœ œ ˙.
> >
 B b7
Exercise 4a
F7 F7 C -7 F7

& b 44 œ œ œ b œ n œ œ # œ œ n œ œ b œ b œ n œ œ œ œ œ œ n œ b œ œ œ œ œ nœ
œ bœ nœ œ nœ nœ œ

B b7 B dim7 F7 A -7 D7

& b œ œ bœ œ bœ œ œ nœ œ œ bœ œ nœ œ bœ œ œ œ œ #œ œ nœ œ bœ nœ œ œ œ #œ œ œ œ

G -7 C7 F7 D7 G -7 C7

& b œ œ bœ #œ œ nœ œ bœ nœ œ nœ bœ œ œ œ œ nœ œ œ œ #œ œ œ œ œ œ œ nœ œ œ œ #œ

F7 B b7 F7 C -7 F7

bœ
& b œ œ œ nœ œ œ #œ œ nœ nœ œ bœ bœ nœ nœ œ bœ œ œ œ œ nœ bœ œ œ bœ nœ nœ œ œ
nœ

B b7 B dim7 F7 A -7 D7

& b œ œ œ œ bœ œ œ #œ nœ bœ œ œ œ nœ œ œ œ œ œ bœ nœ œ bœ nœ œ œ bœ œ œ œ œ œ

G -7 C7 F7 D7 G -7 C7

& b œ œ œ œ nœ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ # œ œ œ nœ bœ #œ œ œ œ nœ
œ œ œœ œ œ œ œ œ

©jazzetudes2020
 Motifs

A motif in jazz, is a phrase (short or long) that is repeated syncing with the harmony.

Look at the examples shown on the next page.

Again, the way (I think) to approach this, is from a rhythmic point of view and adjust

the notes accordingly to what ever the chords are.

It can be really effective and is used countless times in jazz solos.

You wouldn't normally use this technique for a whole chorus but maybe 4 bars.

You'll easily be able to see and hear what the motifs are.

Try to make up your own and insert them into the blues sequence. The more times

you do this, the better you'll get at it (as with the whole of this handbook).
 JAZZ IMPROVISATION HANDBOOK
For beginner & intermediate improvisors!
Darren Lloyd
Exercise 5 - Motifs
Exercise 5
B b7

& b 44 œ œ œ œ œ
F7 F7 C -7 F7

Œ Ó ∑
œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ
B b7 B dim7 F7 A -7 D7

& b œ b œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ n œ b œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œj ‰ Œ Ó

j j j j j j
& J J œ œ œ œ œ œj œ œj œj œ œj # œj œ œj œ œ œ œj ‰ Œ
G -7 C7 F7 D7 G -7 C7

b œ œ œ œ

B b7
j j j
F7 F7 C -7 F7

& b œ. œ Œ œ œ œ Œ œ. œ Œ œ. œ Œ ∑

B b7 B dim7 F7 A -7 D7

& b œ œ bœ œ œ œ œ bœ nœ œ œ
œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ ∑

G -7 C7 F7 D7 G -7 C7

&b œ œ œ œ œ ‰ œ œ œ œ œ ‰ œ œ œ œ œ ‰ ‰ œ Ó ∑

B b7
Chord changes if needed
F7 F7 C -7 F7

&b ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’

B b7 B dim7 F7 A -7 D7

&b ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’

G -7 C7 F7 D7 G -7 C7

&b ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’
©jazzetudes2020
 Space

Something to bear in mind is the use of space in your solos. It can (at first) seem like

we are leaving huge gaps in between phrases when we first start trying to incorporate

space in our solos. Something that will help with this could be found in the 'Rhythm'

section. When applying this technique to your solos, it forces us to use space.

Try not to get caught in a trap of just running quavers or 8th notes continuously! It's

fine in your practice but not in a solo!

'Don't play what's there, play what's not there!'

Miles Davis

I suppose Miles' quote could be used for a number of topics relating to creating the

perfect jazz solo but for now, let's think of it as, leave some space in your solos!

A way you could do this is to force yourself to start a phrase on beat 2, or 3, or 4 and

only allow yourself to play a 4 beat phrase.

Another great way to use space is to use long notes (common tone) that may work

over a number of different chords. For example, if you hold a G over C7, G7, Am-7 it

will work really well, as G could be a target note in all of those chords!

Sometimes you might find a long note might not fit a chord very well, but if it's only

2 beats and then moves to a chord where it does fit, it will sound fine! Try it.

Check out the sample and then try it yourself with your own ideas. Remember you

have all the previous sections of this book to draw upon for creative ideas now!
 JAZZ IMPROVISATION HANDBOOK
For beginner & intermediate improvisors!
Darren Lloyd
Exercise 6 - Leave some space!
Exercise 6
B b7 E b7 B b7 B b7
b
F -7

& b 44 Œ œ œ œ Œ Ó Œ
œ œ œ Œ Ó
œ bœ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ
E b7 E dim7 B b7
b Ó
D -7 G7

b œ œ bœ œ œ nœ Ó Ó Ó
3

& œ bœ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ
B b7
b
C -7 F7 G7 C -7 F7

&b Ó Œ
œ œ œ œ œ Œ Ó Œ
œ œ œ œ œ œ Œ
œ œ œ nœ œ
B b7 E b7 B b7 B b7
b
F -7

&b Œ
w Root
w 5th
w ˙.
Root 4th Root
E b7 E dim7 B b7 D -7 G7

b b Œ
& w w w ˙.
3rd 3rd 6th 4th Root

B b7
b
C -7 F7 G7 C -7 F7

&b w w w ˙.
Œ
9th 6th 3rd 5th 9th 6th

Chord changes if needed

B b7 E b7 B b7 B b7
bb
F -7

& ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’

E b7 B b7
bb
E dim7 D -7 G7

& ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’

B b7
bb
C -7 F7 G7 C -7 F7

& ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’
©jazzetudes2020
 Articulation

Articulations are what many jazz musicians sound unique (along with their sound of

course). By studying your favourite players way of articulating and emulating this,

will go a long way to help you sound a more authentic jazz player. Even by just

playing the heads (a great way to practice your articulations by the way). Before I

even get into my exercises I suggest you hunt out the Charlie Parker omni book and

practice playing the heads (solos too if you can) with the articulation of your

favourite players! If you don't know how tour favourite player articulates, don't

worry, there is some great exercises here that will help you develop this.

Problems – When students first start trying to sound jazzy, they sometimes go in to a

triplet swing type feel. This is great but only works at a slow to medium tempo! As

the tempo increases, you need to start playing the quavers or 8th notes in a more

straight fashion. With the proper articulation, you will sound more jazzy! I suggest

playing the exercises slurred first and then try to emulate that sound but with the

added articulations. It is quite easy (at first) to clip the 2nd and 4th notes in each group

of 4! If this happens to you, simply slow right down until you are playing very

smoothly with no gaps in your sound.

 JAZZ IMPROVISATION HANDBOOK
For beginner & intermediate improvisors

Exercise 7 - Articulations Darren Lloyd

Exercise 7
b 4
&b 4 œ œ # œ œ œ œ œ œ bœ nœ œ œ œ œ nœ
œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ

b œ œ œ œ œ
& b œ œ œ œ œ œ œ #œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ
œ œ

b
&b œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ
œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ

b œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ
&b œ œ œ œ œ Œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ

b
&b œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ Œ
œ œ œ œ œ

b
&b œ bœ nœ œ œ œ œ œ œ nœ œ œ œ #œ œ
bœ
œ œ œ œ œ nœ œ œ

b œ #œ œ œ nœ nœ œ œ
& b œ bœ nœ œ œ Œ bœ œ œ œ œ bœ nœ œ

b
& b œ #œ œ œ nœ nœ œ œ bœ œ œ œ œ #œ œ
œ

b œ œœ œ œ œ œ œœ œ œœ œ
&b œ œ œ œ œ œœ œœ
œ œ œ œ nœ œ œ œ œ

b
&b œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ Œ Ó
œ œ œ œ
©JAZZETUDES2020
 b
&b œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ
œ œ œ
œ œ œ œ œ œ

b œ œ œ
&b œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ

b œ œ œ
&b œ œ œ œ œ œ Œ Ó

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©JAZZETUDES2020
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Articulations are a tricky topic to cover as all the great players play them in a different way, even down to
how long they may hold thier quavers for (that's why they all sound so different).

My advice to anyone trying to improve their jazz articulation would be to -

1. Listen to your favourite player A LOT (I'm sure you already do)

2. Transcibe YOUR favourite solo of theirs

3. Try and work out how they are using articulations in their playing

4. Use these exercises but put in your own articulations - There is a copy of these exercises with no
articulations added, simply print off and add your own. Get practicing!!
 Transcribing

'It's OK to be a copy cat – as long as you copy the right cat!'

Clark Terry

As I said at the start of this book, we don't want to be trying to copy endless licks

from other players. But, there's nothing wrong in copying others players' licks or

phrases practicing them, finding out how and why they work and sound so good and

then applying the language we have learnt to our playing. Maybe it could be a great

rhythm, motif, choice of notes over the harmony. What ever it is, try to make it your

own by practicing it over and over and subtly changing it!

Transcribing is very important for really getting into the music. It makes you listen in

a different way. Rather than having some jazz on while you are cooking dinner or out

raking the dog for a walk (nothing wrong with either by the way), to develop your

playing through listening you should

1. Listen to a solo so much you can sing along with it

2. Break the solo up into manageable chunks and work it out on your instrument

– A great app I use is amazing slow downer, ideally you want something that

you can create small loops of part of the solo. This will prove especially

valuable when transcribing a solo that is fast or has lots of semi quaver passage

runs.

3. Keep working on the solo until you can play it flawlessly along with the

original. Try not to write down anything.

 Putting it all together

So, we have covered a lot of material in this book. This book should and could (if

used wisely) see you make fantastic progress in many areas of your playing. This will

only happen if you really work at them though. In my years as a teacher I have found

lots of students that come up with bizarre excuses as to why they are not practicing!

I remember seeing this on a wall of a school where I teach (something like it anyway,

I'm sure you'll get the point)

'If you don't want to really do something – no one can make you

If you really want to do something – no one can stop you!'

It's really up to you, in this day of YouTube and the internet, the resources available

is simply ming boggling!

The areas we've covered in this book are chords, rhythms, approach tones, wrap

around enclosures, motif exercises, space, articulation and transcribing.

By practicing these areas on improvisation systematically and individually (at first)

you will gradually be able to combine things in a musical way. Maybe you can

practice the enclosures whilst also practicing the articulations.

Keep revisiting these different aspects of playing. The book is in an order of how you

should approach developing your playing.

An important thing to remember is that this approach and handbook will help you

with any jazz tune!

Here is a list of tunes that I recommend you try, in order of difficulty.

Autumn leaves

Blue bossa

Look for the silver lining

Bernie's tune

My Secret love

Just friends

I've got rhythm

All the things you are

Cherokee

Giant steps

Good luck with the use of this handbook – If you need any support with any part of

the book, simply comment in the YouTube comments for the video and I'll get back

to you as soon as possible.

As with all published music and books – Please do not share or lend to friends and

colleagues.

Thank you

I sincerely hope this handbook improves your playing in some way.

Darren Lloyd.