Intro

I can remember the days when I became aware of the part played by chords in my first attempts at improvisation. I managed to join a traditional jazz band, wrote down the words and the chords and sang along to them when travelling along in the car.

The bass player in the band kept suggesting tunes to play that didn't really fit into our trad repertoire. Over time, with pressure from the bass, the repertoire encompassed several swing numbers with slighly more demanding chord ptogressions including one which I hadn't met up to then- the 2m⁷> 5^{7 !}

Many of you will be familiar with the popularity of this progression and how the minor chord, especially when played over a dominant 7 chord, initiates the build up of tension which culminates with that tension chord- the dominant7.

If you've not thought much about approach chords, like the minor7, then this book will lead you to realise that the art of improvisation becomes more fluent and energized when challenged with a succession of chords. Why?

We're familiar with the concept of tension/ release to promote 'forward motion' (a popular term to describe the effects of tension/ release) but where do we make use of it? In this book we'll delve into its use.

90 pages

HK

2023