Intermediate Jazz Improvisation

Using jazz standards you know and love as a base for improvisation, you’ll work in a supportive and relaxed setting with your fellow musicians. You will learn how to look at the chord structures that are at play, and then how to choose which notes and scales will create effective and evocative improvised solos. You’ll also consider how to structure your solos, giving them a deeper musicality, focusing on melodic and rhythmic development.

This course is designed as a follow-on to Chris's course Jazz Improvisation for Beginners, but if you think you want to start here, you’ll be helped with the basics to make the most of your time as a jazz beginner. 

Working with jazz standards, you’ll learn how to improvise, bringing your jazz voice to life and make your mark on classic tunes. You’ll also look at the underlying harmonic structures of jazz, how to interpret the chords, and play musically over them.

By the end of the course, you'll have improved your improvising skills and feel more confident in improvising on tunes you've learned. 

You will spend most of your time learning and working as a group. There will also be space for to try techniques independently.

The course is designed for instrumental players playing at Improver or Confident levels, around Grade 5 or above. Please see our Ability Levels Explained for further details,

To get the most from the course, you will have covered the early stages of jazz improvisation and be familiar with the blues scale. Pianists and guitarists should be familiar with reading from chord symbols and lead sheets. 

This course is a natural follow up to Jazz Improvisation for Beginners. If you're a jazz beginner and would prefer to start here, you'll be supported with the basics to ensure you can join in.

Music will be provided during the course. 

Pianists will have some realised (written out notation) parts, but most of the material will be in the form of a lead sheet (melody with chord symbols above).