JAZZ IMPROVISATION MASTERCLASS - with Julian Bradley

Download my FREE JAZZ PIANO SHEET MUSIC:
jazztutorial.com/sheet-music
Watch my FREE EAR TRAINING VIDEO SERIES:
www.TheMusicalEar.com/
LESSON NOTES:
In this Jazz Hero 'Masterclass' I share my thoughts on improvisation.
I start by revealing what I would consider to be the keyword when approaching improvisation (or melody writing in general). That word is 'variety':
To create an interesting and engaging musical solo, aim to VARY as many different aspects of your playing as you can think of.
These aspects could include:
Dynamics - playing loudly, quietly, crescendos, diminuendos, and so on.
Range - vary the range that you play in - spread you playing out into the bass range, the mid range, and the high range.
Pedal - no pedal. Complicated - simple. Fast - slow. Moving by step - moving by leap, and so on.
Next I explain several techniques which you can use to embellish any melody.
Identify the resolution notes of the chord that you're playing - these will always be the root, the 3rd and the 5th (1 3 5) of whatever the chord is. Only these notes will sound resolved where they are. So if there's a C minor chord in the chord sheet, the notes that will sound resolved are C Eb G (1 3 5 of C minor). All other notes in the scale are tension notes - tension notes want to resolve by moving the nearest resolution note.
You can embellish any of these 3 resolution notes using a range of 'ornaments' (melodic decoration) borrowed from classical music:
1. The 'appoggiatura' - precede any resolution note with a dissonant tension note a step below or above the resolution note. Play the tension note on the down beat that the chord is played on, then immediately resolve that note to the resolution note on the next beat.
2. The 'turn' - play the resolution note - tension note above - repeat the resolution note - tension note below - end on resolution note. For example, over a C minor chord, you could decorate G with a turn - G Ab G F G.
3. The 'double appoggiature' - preceded any resolution note with a tension note below, then the tension note above, then the resolution note. So in C minor, you could apply a double appoggiatura to G, by playing F Ab G. Or you play the same shape upside down - Ab F G.
Practice using these types of embellishment over any chord. Play any chord, major minor or dominant - identify the 3 resolution notes (1 3 5) and practice embellishing those 3 notes with any of these ornaments.
Finally I take a look at one of my own solos, which I play over my own composition 'Blue Lotus'.
My solo starts with a 'musical quote' - which means to take someone else's well known melody, and to incorporate it into your solo. When playing a musical quote, just make sure you know where you want to go to next.
On one occassion, over a Bb dominant 7 chord (Bb D F Ab) I play Bb whole-tone scale, to create a dreamy / impressionist sound. You can always play the whole-tone scale over any dominant 7 chord - just reharmonize the chord so that you play a #5 (to fit with the new whole-tone harmony) - or just omit playing the 5th, and just play the root, 3rd and 7th of the chord.
Melodic embellishment features heavily throughout my solo (embellishment of 1 3 5), and towards the end, I double the melody in 6ths, again - to add VARIATION.

[@Niels596]

What I not only admire is not just the clarity of Musical Thought but the ability to Teach!

[@nfijef]

This fine fellow and teacher (and musician) has cleared up every theoretical gap I have been missing for years, Cant say enough. BUY his books and donate:)

[@cavanmccann2134]

This is the best tutorial I’ve seen on jazz piano improvisation. Awesome. Thanks so much

[@aaron-hk3ce]

I am auditioning for jazz band next year and i can not tell you how much these helped. Thank you so much!

[@hisky.]

How's jazz band going

[@davidchristian8139]

my god.. i think i've watched enough improvisation videos til i saw THIS.. what an eye opener! god bless you, old sport!

[@jazztutorial]

Thanks so much David! In the past I've always cut down my videos, but with this one I just thought I'd keep it all in and see what people think. Really pleased this helped you :)

[@lazzacharlie]

probably the best inprovisation class on KZbin. Awesome!

[@jazztutorial]

Thanks so much Charlie! Really appreciate you saying so :)

[@ryanconway5314]

The confident/timid analogy is superb!

[@Hexspa]

Ya, I liked that and recognized it immediately. I will also say that stepwise motion also creates an intimate and romantic feeling as well.

[@CrimeFit]

Really enjoyed that Julian...lesson was good for ear training..because of you I'm off to buy an digital piano tomorrow..thanks again!!

[@hyperbolemasterkerry1307]

I love this lesson and enjoy listening to it over and over again. Fabulous and so interesting to learn the techniques. Thanks.

[@testeteste-gd8kh]

Great lesson, it opened up my mind!

[@zoofiliaconsofia]

Thanks Julian, you´ve been helping me a lot to understand jazz language

Great tutorial. I've disvovered you're channel this week and it's great. It really helps and encourage a lot to keep practising and learning. Thank you

[@jazztutorial]

Alex Serrano Martínez Thanks so much Alex, really happy to read this comment. Glad this video helped!

[@msldsd211048]

Excellent tutorials. I have learnt more in a few lessons than years of trial and error.

[@ossieclarke6207]

First class and so very useful, thank you

[@abh7449]

Thanx for all your efforts! Great tutorial; very clear and helpful. Al

[@chrisparreno9375]

I absolutely love your tutorials - I actually get them and can never wait to get home and try it out.

[@jazztutorial]

Thanks Parreno! I know the feeling - I used to take music theory books on holiday for reading, and come back dying to try everything out. Glad you have the same thing!

[@12Tutankhamon12]

Julian thank you for these breakdowns and know how to make a solo! I'm a trumpet player and these are helpfull videos. Subbed! Keep up the good work!

[@markfelts6511]

Great channel Julian, I'm a guitarist and will get a lot from these videos. Thanks

[@MARXISTuniteHERE]

Best piano tutorial I have ever seen on KZbin incredibly helpful!

[@jazztutorial]

Thanks so much Michael - this means a lot to me! Really pleased you enjoyed it :)

[@kwakuappiah5691]

great lessons, thanks.

[@stevenshapiro7332]

These tutorials are SO helpful in difersifying my jazz playing....AND....a REAL British accent too! (I think)

[@leahanyango1456]

Super stuff!!!!

[@christobailar]

What a wonderful, wonderful set of ideas are encapsulated in this video. One of the best yet, Julian. Appoggiaturas. That particularly lit up the old brain. I knew the concept, never knew the word. Know the word isn't that important, but it helps me to hold the thing in view and to focus on what I've been doing and stumbled across just because it sounded good. But this particularly video is just brimming over with such good ideas that are so simply presented and explained that I must contain my enthusiasm. All the best, Julian.

[@jazztutorial]

Thanks so so much Chris - I love reading this comment. Really pleased you enjoyed all the material in this one. I usually edit these videos down into smaller videos, but this time I just thought I'd try posting the entire lesson without much editing and see what people make of it. Thanks again for your lovely comment!

[@yokyu2lea]

Super lesson. And that is a lovely song....didn´t know the name....María! Thanks so much!

[@rolandgerard6064]

Thanks Julian, great tutorial...

[@MrZaerdna]

holy smokes that´s a masterclass. cant wait to come home again and start to practice. Thank you so much for this Julian. Happy new years!

[@jazztutorial]

Haha thanks so much - really pleased to hear this one inspired you, hope you enjoy using these techniques in your playing! And Happy New Years! Julian

[@matteocomellini]

Thanks Julian. So far I've never found anyone explaining things so clearly as you do. Thanks for all your videos. Thinking about subscribing to your ear training course!

[@amosasante4962]

Hmmm Julian you are something else u are really great

[@Elm0m0]

You defenitely deserve more than 3000 views!

[@jazztutorial]

Thanks so much Elm, glad you enjoyed this one! I feel like this is my best video yet but it's only been posted a week so far. Time will tell :)

[@vahanmekhakyan9147]

thanks guys!

[@dfaria1000]

Very we'll done....great concept for the Christmas Season.

[@jazztutorial]

Thanks so much Dr Dee! Glad you enjoyed this one :)

[@JohnPaulRiger01]

This is an outstanding tutorial! Thank you Julian.

[@jazztutorial]

Thanks so much John! Really pleased you enjoyed this one :)

[@ghoulzmusic9694]

Man, I feel it :)

[@amytdattaofficial]

cool explanation

[@zu0832]

thank you!

[@joonaikonen6423]

Very nice tutorial. One important thing in jazz that can´t be emphasized enough, is phrasing, syncopation and accents. And playing in legato. Learning Bebop first could be a very good advice. At least that´s the way i´m approaching jazz.

[@bizzzisa]

Thanks a lot for your videos- wonderful!!! Isa from Switzerland

[@jazztutorial]

Thanks so much Kine! Really happy to hear that these help you, lots more to come so stay tuned :)

[@dcturner1880]

Superb video, thankyou. Also: it cracks me up to see someone else doing vibrato fingers on a piano :)

[@Hexspa]

Lmao why do pianists do this? As a guitarist, I can't help but be like, "Ya bro, you wish."

[@arckanon13]

You are truly the best! It was nice to watch again your lessons. More power to educating the world with jazz! Any way, can you do a video on advance improvisation? :)

[@rolandgerard6064]

I would like to suggest to the people enjoying the tutorials of Julian to buy some stuff from his website to support his work... And keep jamming...

[@Elintasokas]

Yeah, I agree. He deserves it.

[@jazztutorial]

Thanks so much Roland and Elintasokas, I really appreciate your support and kind words.

[@adessell]

this video rocks! Its funny because I've been studying David Bakers BeeBop 1 book. And this tutorial helps me to solidify some of the concepts presented in that book! thanks Julian. Love your videos!! keep em coming!

[@jazztutorial]

Thanks Fonsod! Sounds like you watched this at just the right time :) Really glad it helped you!

[@localpm]

Great Julian Many Thanks again.

[@jazztutorial]

Your welcome Paul - thanks for the comment! Happy Christmas :)

[@localpm]

Same to you Julian and a Happy and Prosperous 2014

[@TheElwinC]

please dont stop making these excellent excellent videos of you sharing great musical ideas and playing them so fluently and concisely

[@wimkerkhoven9726]

Hi Julian, Thank you very much for this excellent video on improvization. I wonder is it possible to compile your educational videos on oneCD for sale ? I will be the first to buy such a CD. Can you please tell me whether triplets and quavers are more or less the same as appopggiaturas. Thanks Wim Kerkhoven

[@jazztutorial]

Wim Kerkhoven Hi Wim, thanks for your suggestion - I have decided that I will put my best videos onto DVD for people to own, since it's been requested many times. I will make sure you know about it when I do that. And to answer your question - quavers and triplets are not related to appoggiaturas. Quavers and triplets are to do with rhythm (they are note lengths, just like quater-notes, half-notes, etc), whereas the appoggiatura is to do with notes (harmony) - you can play an appoggiatura to any rhythm, it does not specify how fast to play the resolution - just that you start on the tension note, and follow with the resolution note. Does this make sense?

[@jazztutorial]

Thanks Elwin C! Don't worry I won't stop making videos, I'm just getting started. I just wish I could make them more quickly - there are so many ideas I have that I want to cover in video form, but it's like wading through treacle sometimes to record, edit and upload. I'm getting much better at it however, I have my basic style down now, so it's becoming much quicker to make. Expect a lot of deep content from me this new year - I will try to post on a weekly basis :)

[@mrsimh1733]

thx !

[@Hexspa]

Good stuff, Mr. Bradley. As a fellow Angelino transport who does some tutorials, I commend your work.

[@Hexspa]

RE: musical quotes. I was in San Francisco some years back listening to a Jazz/R&B group. Suddenly the bassist replaced his regular line with that from "Too High" by Stevie Wonder. Not sure if anyone else noticed it but I was giddy. Ok, maybe it wasn't a quote as much as a transplant but it was still tight.

[@agimkola2171]

Very impressive tutorial, great job! Any idea why the link for downloading music sheet is not working?

[@souldreamer9056]

Excellent video. I was wondering if you felt up to the challenge of explaining the harmonic structure of Chick Corea’s Slippery When Wet. I can’t make any sense of it.

[@chopper84a]

The key is to balance the need for variety (to prevent boredom) with unity (to give a sense of cohesiveness). This is the challenge in extended forms within all genres of dynamic (as opposed to static) art.

[@noahweinberg6393]

You are a god of teaching.

[@TheRealisticNihilist]

Julian Bradley's a fucking badass!

[@jazztutorial]

Haha thank you Nihilist! As I went to sleep last night this comment stood out as a nice end thought to my day - it made me smile thanks!

[@TheRealisticNihilist]

Think nothing of it... I calls it like I sees it. Who else does something as comprehensive and helpful as this? Nobody, that's who... just a badass.

[@ujdgmail]

I want to give 1000s of thumb up, but there is no option to do that. Very impressive job!

[@nfijef]

Maria is how I learned to hear the flat 5:)

[@Hexspa]

The b5 is a crazy sound.

[@stevehenry9826]

So Julian would you say the beginning of Beethoven's Fifth symphony is an Appoggiatura? Excellent video by the way!

[@Hexspa]

Ok, I have a question. Why is it that the major chord seems the least versatile among minor and dominant? Seems like the order of versatility is dom>min>maj. I'd throw half diminished as a lesser shade of minor. Major only gets #4 whereas minor will tolerate P4 and A4. All you really get with major is b6, 2, 6 and that is basically it. Kinda weird.

[@Hexspa]

What I really need a lesson in is marketing!

[@dbfuru]

Great video Julian. I have a somewhat unrelated question - hopefully it's ok with you. In your opinion, what do you think is the "best" way to improve ability to play with both hands independently? I can play big chords with both hands, but I can't play say, a bassline in my left hand while playing chords in my right, unless it's a very simple bassline. Do you think it's best to practice at the same time or independently? Cheers!

[@tylerharris5323]

Hey Julian, just wanted to say this is a great video, I hope to see more like these in the future. BTW could you play a Phrygian scale but with a sharp 3rd and 7th and tell me what you think. Thx

[@jazztutorial]

Yes I play that scale all the time (often). I think it sounds great, sometimes I even sharpen the 4th but that's just me! So glad you enjoyed this video, I put a lot of love into it :)

[@tylerharris5323]

jazztutorial Ive been wanting to ask you what your home studio consists of and where you are located at?

[@jazztutorial]

Tyler Harris Hi Tyler - sure. I'm based in Los Angeles, and the equipment I use is this: PIANO: Roland RD 700SX - I love it and will be making a product review of this keyboard. MICROPHONE: Zoom H4N - my 2nd favorite piece of equipment. It's basically a like a hand held digital camera but for recording sound. It has a memory card built in so you can carry it wherever you go and record high quality samples. CAMERA: Flip HD - an ok HD camera, I'd like to upgrade to a canon, but the flip is small and easy to mount above my piano. SPEAKERS: KRK 5's. Very pleased with these speakers, a lot of people use them. And I plan to make a 'studio tour' video showing all this equipment soon.

[@louisthompson1020]

I love your tutorials, what about a tutorial for beginners piano players?

[@Hexspa]

25:30 seems like that was more of an inverted third as opposed to a sixth. I say that because a sixth above E is a C but you played the G below E. It depends on which voice you consider the melody.

[@eMwAlex]

👌🏼👌🏼👌🏼👌🏼💚

[@marcopepe4046]

In double appoggiatura is there a rule about which notes to choose? Can I arbitrarily choose one/two semitones round the note of chord? Many thanks, great tutorial as always.

[@jazztutorial]

Hi Marco - no, there's no rule. You can either use notes from the scale that you're playing in, or you can use chromatic notes either side of the resolution note, which will be outside the scale. If anything, playing notes outside the scale will usually sound more interesting.

[@rogerma0118]

very comprehensive

[@Hexspa]

"Dos Gardenias" uses an appoggiatura but on beat 2 (fi-sol) and beat 3 (ti-do). I guess the major seventh counts also.

[@LuisGarcia-in7vg]

Wonderful tutorial, surely the best one up to now! However I'd surely prefer shorter videos that focus on a specific topic. So I can watch exactly what I'm looking for without having to go through an entire video.

[@misssusansrockacademy7872]

Thank you so much, J-Dawg ;-) That was really helpful, just like all your videos. I am interested in taking old soul classics, like Ray Charles songs and Marvin Gaye and rearranging them with jazzier chords and variations to the melodies. Even something simple like Georgia On My Mind. Would you ever consider doing a video on how to approach that kind of thing?

[@drewpowell5305]

misssusansrockacademy o

[@Hexspa]

Adam Neely has a good video on this called Extreme Jazz Reharmonization. kzbin.info/www/bejne/gInJgqZ-iZqWaZI Of course, I bust his balls because I found his enharmonic nomenclature to be obfuscated but that's a topic for another beer.

[@rossgilmartin]

Hey, great tutorial. Quick question: The 'Movement By Leap' section on the arpeggios at 3:00, you suggest moving by 3rds and 4ths however you seem to be playing 4ths and 5ths? An A to an E to then a B are 5ths are they not? I considered that when you spoke of moving in 3rds that you meant minor 3rds so A arpeggio, followed by C arpeggio etc. Can you just explain this section a little further, as the intervals sound great, but I'm wondering how they can be used in the context of an improvisation and if an arpeggio exercise can be made out of them. Thanks

[@Hexspa]

You can't make a proper arpeggio exercise out of intervals greater than a third. The reason why is because the definition of arpeggio is "chord tones played consecutively". When he speaks of melodic leaps, he refers to playing consecutive intervals greater than a second. This includes arpeggios but also goes beyond them. Fortunately, since tones are cyclical, you can make an exercise of any melodic pattern - given that you can transpose it. You can either accommodate for the key center or defy it. An example would be fifths: you can move from Bb up in perfect fifths until you hit A. From there you either need to play a diminished fifth with Eb (in key) or an E natural and defy the key.

[@mauricioeduardofariasgajar4611]

hello friend, by chance you'll have some material voicing or more scores as chords filled with more stress .. Greetings'm from chile

[@GA2116]

CAN YOU DO A TUTORIAL ON CHORDS IN ROMANIAN MINOR AND OTHER GYPSY SCALES LIKE HUNGARIAN, ETC.

[@Hexspa]

Romanian minor - fourth mode of harmonic minor. You can play it over a IVm or really any minor or dominant chord. Not sure what else there is to know.

[@vmdp8790]

Should we think of chords , scales or progressions first?

[@Hexspa]

They're the same thing so think that first.

[@nath909]

So what about Thelonius Monk, didn't he intentionally scatter wrong notes throughout his compositions? Where does that fit in?

[@dfheofndtrg]

Actually another way to improvise a solo is the follow the sound in your head. sometimes improvising in a too theoratical way may make the solo too precise/perfect. Just sing the note you feel like playing and try to hit that note is good. Its sort of like the method of using the musical quote where you listen to alot of different songs and got some random melody lines popping out of your mind and improv according to your feel

[@jazztutorial]

I agree with you completely, that you should follow the sounds you hear in your head - but where do you think those notes in your head come from? They come from the music you listen to, and the music you play in your practice / experimentation. If someone doesn't know that the appoggiatura exists then they'll never imagine playing an appoggiatura in their solo. If someone doesn't know that tritone substitution exists, then they'll never imagine playing tritone substitution. The music theory feeds your imagination, it increases what you can imagine.Some of those notes that you hear in your head will come from understanding these concepts.

[@dfheofndtrg]

Yup. Oh yeah didn't thought about that. Theory feeds us w imagination and music vocabs to use. BTW just want to say great thanks to you for helping me out a huge lot through your tutorials haha. Really looking forward to your ear training series :)

[@jazztutorial]

You're very welcome Chin, I can't wait to release this ear training material - it's deep!

[@dfheofndtrg]

Awesome! :)

[@PLanBBeaTZ]

jazztutorial Deep and very very usefull!!!!By the way(Another) great Tutorial ,love it!!!! All the comments speak for themself

[@artivrolijkekunst990]

Is a turn the same thing as enclosure?

[@Hexspa]

He calls the turn a double appoggiatura and it's not an enclosure. The difference is whether you start on a chord tone or not - he calls them "resolution notes". For instance, in Am, if you play C-D-C-B-C then that's a turn. If, on the other hand, you play B-D-C then that's an enclosure. An enclosure surrounds the chord tone with notes above and below.

[@hwapyungbyun9697]

How to practice piano touch??

[@Hexspa]

Tickle the keys and push, rather than strike, them.

[@rizkymerdietio7884]

*dead by the knowledge*

[@Hexspa]

14:12 enclosure

[@JavierTJL99]

Maybe you could split it up into parts :) anyways, awesome video!! Thanks

[@newbeyblade]

Would ornaments be basically chromaticism or is it more than that?

[@jazztutorial]

There's some overlap between ornaments and chromaticism but they're different things. Chromaticism means movement by half-step and coming out of scale. So when I use ornaments that move chromatically out of scale - those are using chromaticism.

[@guirzo]

Hey Julian, I love your videos. I think you're a great musician and teacher. Be careful with defining Chopin as an impresionist musician, he was mostly romantic. The whole tone scale was firstly used by Debussy (speaking in structural terms). Shurely you've heard Debussy's preludes. The one called Voiles is a perfect example of this. Please don't take this comment in a bad way, I'm a jazz and classic piano student and i thought the information may be useful to you as all your videos were to me!!! Thank you and keep uploading!!

[@davidlgomes7120]

Boooo

[@OmarStroppiana]

Really good lesson. Thank you. As an italian I was not aware that the italian word "appoggiatura" is used also in english and is not translated. I understand it ss not an easy word for non italian speakers :)

[@jazztutorial]

Thanks Omar, yes! Most of the classical music / orchestration terms I was taught in England were all Italian words - col legno, dolce, accelerando, appoggiatura, etc. Honestly, for me, learning these Italian words was one of the hardest parts about music theory! But they seem to stick now that I've learnt them. Glad this helped, thanks for the comment!

[@Hexspa]

Not as hard as bruschetta

[@user-jh1fq7xg2w]

piano improv

[@chkpiano]

I am not a subscriber. Stop sending me emails

[@user-rp2qn6mp4n]

Boring 😂