In this course tutor Chris Pyne goes deeper into the early stages of jazz improvisation. Don’t worry if you haven’t tried jazz before – we will still go back to the basics and bring everyone with us…
ABILITY: IMPROVER, CONFIDENT
Resident: £402 Non-Resident: £292 (25% off for under 27s) Code: 26/233
Priority booking for Members opens at 9am on Tuesday 17 June.
General booking opens at 9am on Friday 11 July.
For details on how to become a Member to take advantage of early booking, see here.
This course runs from 5.30pm on Monday 25 May to 4pm on Wednesday 27 May 2026.
What is the course about?
This is a follow up to the Jazz Improvisation for Beginners course, but we will still have time to include anyone who has never played jazz before. The plan will be to explore some well-known jazz standards, look at the chord structures and learn how to choose which notes and scales will sound good in our improvised solos. We will also think about structuring our solos, giving them a deeper musicality, focusing on melodic and rhythmic development.
What will we cover?
We will start to plan a list of tunes that participants can make their own and confidently improvise on. As well as learning several jazz tunes, we will be looking at the underlying harmonic structures and learning how to interpret these chords and play musically over them.
What will we accomplish? By the end of this course you will be able to…
Play several jazz standards and feel confident to have a try at improvising on them.
What level is the course and do I need any particular skills?
For this intermediate course an instrumental level of around Grade 5 is advised.
Also, to get the most from this course it is anticipated that participants will have covered the early stages of jazz improvisation and be familiar with the blues scale. In addition, pianists and guitarists should be familiar with reading from chord symbols. There will be some realised (written out notation) piano parts but most of the material will be in the form of a lead sheet (melody with chord symbols above).
How will the course be taught, and will any preparation be required?
Mainly in a group but individuals will want to try the various techniques independently.
Will music be provided in advance of the course?
No. Music will be provided by the tutor.
Is there anything I need to bring?
Just your instrument.
What previous participants said about this course…
Chris is a very knowledgeable, enthusiastic and empathetic tutor. He really helped the group to work together in a great atmosphere.
Fun! Enjoyable to play in a one-off group with a variety of different instruments, but also with enough music theory (e.g. discussion of modes!) to satisfy the classically curious.
Chris is hugely knowledgeable and flexible in his approach, sensitively handling both the jazz novice and the seasoned players.
A very nice group of 10 good musicians under Chris Pyne's direction. We played through pieces of music together, some arrangements and some lead sheets. All involved everyone taking turns at improvisation. Chris would comment and discuss theoretical points, chords, scales and modes and give practical tips