How Does Jazz Improvisation Work?

[@johnjones2341]

Drummer missed exactly zero chord changes. Outstanding.

[@Jonnfield]

gotta show love to the drummer, pocket only for 13 minutes straight is crazy

[@lucwijngaard8413]

The man is on point

[@skylocks123]

Flowstate. Even for the simple demonstration. 😊

[@alexanderheathen2628]

Zach grooves would have been fired for sure.

[@balroggambit]

That's not long

[@thomaswilliams2723]

@@balroggambit Bop drummers holding down a fast cherokee for 45 minutes while the tenor players try to flex on each other

[@fruitypebbles803]

Dude. I have studied jazz on and off for decades, and this is the first time I’ve seen it explained so clearly. Thank you! ❤

[@els1f]

Right!? Quickly, with a great sounding backing that made me focus the whole time!

[@danthegeetarman]

💯💯💯💯

[@voornaam3191]

Then you took the WRONG workshops. Simply walk out after 5 minutes. It never gets any better, after those 5 minutes. No, it doesn't.

[@FireflowerDancer]

He's really good, isn't he? I love how he broke down 'the bassists job.' I would have thought the drummer would be the time keeper, but what do I know about jazz? Lol

[@songandwind72]

U been studying but not learning

[@danthegeetarman]

Dang this sums up 30 years of jazz research in 20 minutes. Amazing

[@boboloko]

I'll never forget when a jazz piano instructor of mine had me play ii V I progression in the key of C while he just ran up and down the C major scale. It sounded a lot jazzier than I expected. My jaw dropped when he told me that his improvisation was just a major scale.

[@IgorHatesEverything]

As a hack rock player rather than a jazz player, isn’t that something that I or any other basic player could do as long as we stay in the key?

[@voornaam3191]

It's because of the well tempered tuning. That is a compromise, allowing us to play in ALL keys we'd like. And the drawback is, not all chords that could be perfectly consonant (or dissonant) still are. Which is okay, many people don't even HEAR these details. We are used to our piano's. We are used to, say, an E flat 7 chord. However, we have never played it on a piano that was TUNED in E flat. That piano has a perfect consonant terts G and perfect quint B flat. When you got a good quality spare piano, and you are a piano tuner, you could do it. Pick the key of a song you love, and tune the spare piano in that key. Sure tuning a piano takes time, but then you can find out if such strange tuning is worth the trouble. Depends on the song. The chords were chosen for a reason, if we change the tuning, chances are we murder the mood of certain chords. That is subtle, I remember an organ piece of Pachelbel, set just one tone lower, in this book, and you immediately hear, this is not the original we all know. Let alone what happens when you play it in a different tuning.

[@tapeexperiments]

⁠ cool idea -you can do it with software pretty quickly @@voornaam3191

[@BlurredTrees]

Super cool this was done in one continuous shot! 👏🏻😮

[@Thataussiebattler]

Old school Jazz feels

[@MyRackley]

I tried snapping my fingers, but nothing happened.

[@RaptorT1V]

​@@MyRackley ты только что стёр с лица земли половину человечества! 🤯

[@grantkoeller8911]

As a life time jazz saxophonist for 52 years now, i think this video is fantastic!!!!! I have played at Smalls with Roy Hargrove. I was a member of the USAF Bands for 23 years, I will tell all my students to watch this video.Thanks!!! Grant King Koeller

[@RobertZ-sn4ms]

30 years myself piano is my game and just shared with all my students the title of this video. I feel Jamey Aebersold vibe. Met him personally years ago and had a nice long workshop with the man.

[@AS-vq3ep]

RIP Roy incredible legacy.

[@JerryCalvert-x9u]

Dude, we desperately need more sax players in this world! Hope you're out there passing it on. The sax is missed in the mainstream. A quality sax player is the hidden star of the show.

[@zeldamage001]

4:02 "We in the horn section rely on the rhythm section for the rhyth and for the harmony and the rhythm section relies on us in the horn section for a tenuous sense of existential reality, for a sense of purpose!" What a quote, briliant! Sounds so insane yet so true!

[@noiburg8866]

Been playing jazz for 10 years and still watching videos like this, mentally taking notes. You’re never done learning!

[@wesleyayres7017]

This is just a fantastic incredibly well thought out video, I'm dipping my toe into jazz composition and learning flugelhorn and this and your other lessons have been amazing thank you so much!

[@RidgewoodSchoolofMusic]

Thanks! Happy to hear it!

[@alterI4]

Thank for what I always imagined was a perfectly logic way of explaining basic jazz. I always asked a fellow Piano major, who also majored in Jazz, to teach me a little about jazz only to get some kind of obnoxious answer like “Oh yOu cAnT ReAlly TEach Jazzzzz” like it was some secret language peasants weren’t allowed to be taught or that every Jazzer just somehow learns out of the love for the music alone. God forbid they try to define jazz in some concrete way. Will definitely be coming back to this video.

[@boboloko]

This debate is as old as jazz. I think there is truth to both sides. There's definitely a formula, but that formula gets abused regularly by great musicians with real chops because dissonance in jazz can work so well.

[@somekid7]

That pianist just didn't know how to teach jazz and lacked the humility to admit it. Jazz can be taught in many ways, whether in plain language or academic terms. As long as you have good teachers or are self-taught through effective resources, you're being taught jazz. The issue is that many people fail to learn because the teachers either overwhelm the student with too much or bore them with too little, so the end result is that the student gives up.

[@WCM1945]

@@somekid7 It's when it becomes a demonstration of formula that jazz becomes BORING.

[@herbbartleby2817]

great video, thanks for putting into 20 minutes what „ pros“ can often not explain. I asked a conservatory trained musician what „ close harmony“ might be. Well, thats Jazz harmonies, she said. ok, then I knew it all.

[@jasonwakeman]

Wow, their response was obnoxious and annoying! Most jazz musicians will at least tell you one or two favorite standards and to listen to 3 or 4 different recordings of each, because honestly and I'm not trying to be a jerk, but jazz really can't be "defined concretely" as some might consider the takeaway from this great video which actually only outlines, and importantly DEMONSTRATES an anatomy of ONE variation. It really is different than learning blues guitar or any specific techniques/common patterns like is possible for almost all other instruments and styles. As a music major, I suspect you would have grasped everything in this video and much more, and certainly more than anyone could explain in words. 🎶♥️

[@MusicGuy2]

I love how you actually showed this

[@thinkerly1]

One shot. Fine writing. Fine musicians. Thank you, Professor Spellman, thank you, Professors.

[@murep]

You did a beautiful job of clearly explaining Jazz and the blues. I’ve been drumming for 40 years and loved this presentation. Please continue with this. TY

[@rpoetic]

Great explanation! My friend in High School gave me the analogy of "Jazz is just like DandD. You have your Dungeon Master the tune. Your guide post the chords. The rest is just adventuring. Have fun interacting with the world and your team mates!"

[@AS-vq3ep]

And you have decades of history, convention, “memes”, tropes, and references on the culture level (LoTR, the official lore book, popular fanfic) and the community (the inside jokes with your local scene or friends)

[@Madjiq16]

Brilliant! Wnat an amazing jazz appreciation crash course!

[@pacokja]

Man, underrated video. It's incredible that the whole thing came out in one take

[@cedzimagination]

The piano came in and my heart melted 🖤

[@DarkSideofSynth]

It means you have a good heart ;)

[@HABLA_GUIRRRI]

it cld take more than a cntstrck little comment and loveheart on YT to have her sit exactly as directed in ur mix dyude

[@rogerjane1350]

Wow ❤❤❤so when did Bee Gees mend your broken 💔💔💔？

[@akashita]

I loved that you talked about the scales you were using over the form. As someone who only plays by ear, the base logic of jazz improvisation over chords, or why you'd play a certain note and not others has completely eluded me for years. I could only play what I heard, but now I know that I need to learn modes. Also, great job from you and your band on the single take! It was executed very well and sounded incredibly pleasing to the ears.

[@chickennoodlesu322]

All the skill in this video is unmatched

[@voronOsphere]

Definitely!

[@jeremykelker8908]

I've only been with the trumpet for about a year and a half; your channel is a continual help and motivator. This is one of the very best videos I've seen explaining form and function. Your trumpet sounds fantastic. Great choice of notes; great timing. Thank everyone for their playing!

[@RidgewoodSchoolofMusic]

Thanks, Jeremy! Happy to hear it!

[@Nubenhoofer]

Seriously tho, this was a sweet lick. God help us, and keep Jazz alive and well in these trying times!

[@OnlyTreeMusic]

That bass solo was nuts😮

[@davidregis9093]

I learned more about music theory and improvisation in that one 20 minute clip than in all my years of instruction and reading as a rank amateur musician! Thank you!🙏🏻

[@FunkieFelix]

hats off to all participants and thank you for the phenomenal instruction. Great teacher.

[@danielgiles833]

I dont play trumpet but this is super helpful as a drums and piano player

[@KeytownCowboy]

This is simply amazing. Mandatory watching for anybody who wants to explore jazz. Thank you so much for making this video!

[@_bhall]

Best background music for a KZbin tutorial video ever!

[@mgehrisch]

Thank you for taking the time to make this video. I wish someone had explained it to me this way a long time ago. Now I need to find some accompaniment tracks to practice.

[@derekdeoh]

Bobby, I absolutely love this video. Thanks to you and your band for putting this together.

[@RealAadip]

This is one of the best illustrations of the fundamentals of playing jazz with other humans

[@gam1471]

I suspect you're American. "Other humans"? Why not "other people"? 😊

[@sealeddeal2432]

@@gam1471I’m American. Never heard anyone else say that. F off tbh. “ you must be American”

[@HABLA_GUIRRRI]

i tried it one time with other spacealiens but they aways get across

[@DaArles]

Other living creatures

[@Percykitty]

Personally I like to play jazz with other inanimate objects

[@iansmith1556]

I’ve been listening to jazz for 65 years and this is the best description of what jazz is about. Thank you.

[@m.vonhollen6673]

Here’s how I use all 12 notes over a Dominant 7 chord: first 3/b7, the mighty tritone contains the 2 most important notes, then 1-3-5-b7 is the arpeggiated chord, then b3 and b5 from the Blues scale (with b3 always resolving upwards into 3, never the reverse), then add in 6 and 2 from Mixolydian. So now we have 1-2-b3/3-4-b5-5-6-b7, the most “inside” notes (Mixolydian + the Blues scale). Finally add in b2-b6-7 as “outside” notes to be used in chromatic lines that resolve. There’s all 12 notes over a Dominant 7 chord.

[@HABLA_GUIRRRI]

z z zZ z z ?

[@disliked1390]

horse

[@gam1471]

I'm a guitar player (strictly hobby amateur) trying to get a bit of jazz enlightenment. I found your presentation very clear and helpful. I'll record the chords and try the scales over the chords to try and get the sounds into my head. I'm not musically particularly talented, so as a newcomer, what I'd find most helpful is a gradual easing into jazz - as an example, just working on two bars of the I chord to get some ideas going in proper jazz style; something to establish a solid foundation, then gradually extend this to say fours bars, then the IV chord and onwards. I've had a go at memorising transcribed solos by Charlie Christian, and even transcribed one myself. I've enjoyed doing so, but it's not getting me into improvising. It's early days yet I suppose, but I hope my comments make sense and are helpful for you. Thanks for a first class and clear presentation - it's definitely an evolutionary step forward for me.

[@DJ_TideWave]

Fantastic introduction to jazz impro! Hats off! 😃🎹🎶🎵🎺🥁

[@alecj3454]

Loved this video! It was like a lesson & a wonderful performance all in one. What a joy to see such top tier musicians! Thank you for the effective instruction.

[@BlakeThompsonMusic]

As a jazz pianist, I really enjoyed the video. I wish I had it when I started a couple years ago! You explained the chemistry perfectly.

[@strykerthe_byker]

Gotta love the upright bass! 👍

[@Mark-fs7ok]

Excellent explanation! I'm going to have to watch this thing another five times. And it blows my mind that Bob and crew did this whole thing in one take.

[@maiu_m]

I love the musicianship in the explanation alone. The whole speach fits so perfectly in the form of the music being played, and the flow is never lost. Adored it 👏👏👏

[@claudiokezen9575]

Who would have thought Sheldon from Big Bang Theory was such a fine jazz drums player? Now, seriously, you guys are the best! 👏👏👏

[@Croix1]

Incredible, down to earth and in-depth enough introduction to jazz. I wish I had this years ago when I was trying to understand jazz by myself. Even after years and years of trying to understand certain jazz stuff, I learned a BUNCH of basic stuff

[@BloodyMer]

#13:32 this is where we start to look at each other among those of us who have no idea about jazz and go to a jazz concert

[@flyinandjammin]

Fantastic tutorial. Simplest, most cogent and concise intro to jazz I've ever seen.

[@flockenlp1]

All i can think about is if you really did the main part in one take without stuttering or anything

[@RidgewoodSchoolofMusic]

And only one take! It was a bonafide jazz miracle.

[@jangivik1718]

I’m quite sure you can talk about this subject for hours…. You LOVE this, one can tell…😂

[@voornaam3191]

But but but, you can SEEEEEE that. It was one take, from the moment the 3 others popped up. It was not Take Five, or Take A Walk On The Wild And Sunny Side Of The Street.

[@neilripsch6624]

Truly, thank you for doing this video - a great introduction into jazz/blues but more importantly it shares why I love playing saxophone - unlimited possibilities. Neil

[@poladelarosa8399]

Stellar presentation; very clear. Many thanks for the kind patience of the bass, drummer and keyboard.

[@sashaliss2962]

Fantastic video! Love who fast Bob pulls mic out of the pocket

[@paolomarnini1516]

Awesome. Simple but very well articulated description of whats going on … great job

[@blurjayy]

that was the most amazing intro i've ever seen

[@Jose_diazlife]

such a good and easy follow long video, really appriciated. Super nice and tight

[@JC-bj5cv]

Tremendously talented group of musicians.

[@ZachIngbretsen]

Legitimately one of the best videos I've seen on KZbin. So well explained, great pacing. I'm not a musician, but this pulls back some of the curtain of what's going on in jazz.

[@WolfeLienhardt]

This is such a fantastic thing you've created. Kudos to all 4 of you 👏

[@Matraka2000]

This really nice. Thank you for putting it together.

[@markbrown8666]

That was fantastic, thanks! That definitely gave me a clearer understanding - much appreciated

[@SimplyChinese]

Wow! Such a great explanation and demonstration! I’m surprised it doesn’t have 1 million views yet.

[@peterisancverins]

Very cool video. This definitely will help beginners getting into jazz in the future.

[@dannysmash275]

I was a music student and jazz theory was a required class for 2 semesters. There’s a lot of lingo that if you don’t play jazz can really get you confused. This video clarifies a lot of things. Still can’t get over hearing that someone was blowing in my jazz arrangement assignments. 😂

[@Ell_lovell]

This just summed up my past 3 years of jazz in a beautiful, concise manner. Great work!!!

[@J4D0N.]

This video helped me understand how jazz is put together I’ve always wanted to compose jazz it pleases my ears more than any other genre when done right, just the nostalgia feeling I get from it, thank you for the informative video

[@jordanwhittle8713]

What a fantastic video! I wasn’t even looking for this because I didn’t think I was interested in playing jazz but I was fascinated throughout the whole thing and I learned a ton from it, now I need to try

[@richardlionberger69]

Hands down the best explanation and example of jazz I've ever experienced. The one thing about music no matter the genre is, if you follow the rules there are no rules. This video defines that. Well done!

[@seanonel]

Very, very kewl! Subscribed!

[@m9740]

Can we all conglomerate and acknowledge this guy for not making ONE cut in this video?! Except one

[@pichan8841]

Great concept executed to perfection! Thanks!

[@zan77460]

Yes! The blues!

[@holygroove2]

This is a really decent job of explaining modern jazz to today's generation. There's a lot of history involved in getting the rhythm section to be the way that it is now, and this configuration/way of playing goes back to the 40's and 50's. He is sounding like Miles Davis, and he is taking the modal approach. The easiest way to play over the blues form is to take the scale that the blues is named after. So if it's C blues, then play the C blues scale for everything. Miles made jazz easier to hear and enjoy for everyone, hence his album Kind of Blue that is still considered a masterpiece today.

[@charlestompkin6772]

I love this video. It's so cool to have a flowing explanation inside of a performance like this. Very compatible for my learning style. My huge thanks to the four of you.

[@bitstreamm]

Just beautiful!

[@laspirapuer]

This video is so good, I've learned a whole lot of things I never had the opportunity to learn in books. I'm a jazz lover from Italy , but down here we are not as "on the point" as you guys in the U.S so thank you so so much for these fantastic contents you give out for free, they"re such a precious help.

[@japanrecords4007]

Thats phenomenal! What a joy

[@bitity]

genuinely an incredible and insightful mini retrospective on jazz. love this so much

[@Bingobongo3]

Amazing video, very thorough but also concise

[@KennySpace]

You are all very talented 🫶🏻🫶🏻

[@mynamesnotchom366]

you guys are amazing, both in explanation but also just clean and tidy playing

[@CavalliMeikle]

Beautiful production! God bless you guys 🙏🏾

[@ByGraceThroughFaith777]

The performance was so smooth omg I loved it

[@danharrow7458]

Absolutely brilliant piece of education on Jazz. So enjoyable to start with the blues progression as a foundation rather than a complicated progression from a song. Loved It.

[@stevecrawford3551]

This is an excellent master class in jazz! Please congratulate your fellow band members, and thank you so much for sharing your talent. 😀🥳😎

[@rickutah7705]

This is an explanation of a particular type of “traditional “ jazz. But there is also a more esoteric theory, and that is that human minds can sense “meaningful patterns” and great jazz artist can take your mind to a completely new musical space while still “making sense”.

[@pkeelan56]

Absolutely excellent!! Such great musicians! The woman on the keyboard is fabulous!

[@1morenote.]

such a free way to express emotions in music

[@Thataussiebattler]

This is pure gold!

[@CharlieGroh]

I play low brass (read: tuba) and am now on a quest to *really* understand the underpinnings of scales/chord prograssions...this is a great presentatiion, true education.

[@yousifmajid8187]

Thank you for making jazz looks like a piece of cake, although we all know how incredibly hard that was 😍

[@malebuls]

Beautiful

[@logangreenwel2532]

Great video; trumpeter sound reminds me of young Miles in the great C/R/W/S quintet Charlie Parker does a great job showing how to play “outside” the chords

[@aj6417]

This information and instructions is awesome, gave me a greater insight and understanding Thank you!

[@ElsonA9]

Great tutorial video well explained good job

[@samasuncion]

Thank you. Well explained.

[@thomassawicki2065]

Excellent format and video production. Clear ,precise jazz improvisation lesson. Terrific band and the way you narrated and described the underlying form and procerdures. And you did it in one take, while leading the Band, and playing the horn parts. I am a old Jazz guitarist, and playing along with your ideas and bandmates has put something into my Blues this morning .

[@DiogenesCaulfield]

I loved the outside solo, the concept was great and it helped people a lot

[@nickbutler1395]

Really good knowledge, competent delivery, confident, with a really cool approach which was enjoyable, thank you all for your musical talent.

[@Loritell]

Bravo! 👏

[@chrishayhurst163]

I think I learned more about Jazz today with this video than I did an entire semester I took in college, haha!

[@TimSuliman]

This is the clearest explanation I’ve ever heard. Thanks!

[@KevinJennissen]

The most important part of jazz is to always introduce your number as going "a little something like this."

[@jellybean7931]

Great job!!!

[@alfredoruano1611]

Now understand a little more and I appreciate this style of music! Excellent! 👏🏼