Improvise for Real is a step-by-step method that teaches you to improvise your own music through progressive exercises that anyone can do. You'll learn to understand the sounds in the music all around you. And you'll learn to express your own musical ideas exactly as you hear them in your mind. The method starts with very simple creative exercises that you can begin right away. As you progress, the method leads you on a guided tour through the entire world of modern harmony. You will be improvising your own original melodies from the very first day, and your knowledge will expand with each practice session as you explore and discover our musical system for yourself. Improvise for Real brings together creativity, ear training, music theory and physical technique into a single creative daily practice that will show you the entire path to improvisation mastery. You will learn to understand the sounds in the music all around you and to improvise with confidence over jazz standards, blues songs, pop music or any other style you would like to play. And you'll be jamming, enjoying yourself and creating your own music every step of the way. The method is open to all instruments and ability levels. The exercises are easy to understand and fun to practice. There is no sight reading required, and you don't need to know anything about music theory to begin. Already being used by both students and teachers in more than 20 countries, Improvise for Real is now considered by many people to be the definitive system for learning to improvise. If you have always dreamed of truly understanding music and being able to improvise with complete freedom on your instrument, this is the book for you

More than a pattern book, this lays out the theory behind the use of pentatonic scales in jazz, and follows with transcribed solos and exercises. Still a favorite after 14 years, this book has become a standard in the field.

"The Piano Improvisation Handbook" offers a comprehensive overview of the practical skills and theoretical issues involved in mastering all forms of piano improvisation. It explores a wide range of styles, including classical, jazz, rock and blues. Whereas other books on improvisation typically offer little more than models for imitation and exercises for practising, this one adopts an approach specifically designed to encourage and enable independent creative exploration. The book contains a series of graded tutorial sections with musical examples on CD, as well as an extensive introductory section detailing the history of keyboard and piano improvisation, an appendix listing useful scales, chords, voicings and progressions across all keys, a bibliography and a discography. In addition to sections outlining how melody, harmony, rhythm, texture and form work in improvised piano music, there are sections devoted to explaining how ideas can be developed into continuous music and to exploring the process of finding a personal style. A key feature is the distinctive stress the author puts on the interconnectedness of jazz and classical music where improvisation is concerned. This book is best suited to those with at least some prior experience of learning the piano. However, the rudiments of both music theory and piano technique are covered in such a way that it can also serve as an effective basis for a self-sufficient course in creative piano playing.

As taught at Berklee College of Music Ready, Aim, Improvise!, Book 1: Preparation and Jazz Vocabulary by Hal Crook explores the critical areas involved in learning how to improvise, including: music theory, jazz harmony, ear training, jazz execution, jazz vocabulary, practicing, self-critiquing, career planning, and much more. Ready, Aim, Improvise! is filled with musical examples, exercises, and practice routines that help make the learning process easy and enjoyable. Two enclosed play-along CDs feature modal, key-area, and modulating chord progressions performed at a slow, manageable tempo. Ready, Aim, Improvise! is a clear, comprehensive study of the most important steps in a jazz musicians education. Don't be surprised if it gets you practicing more and playing better in no time at all! So get Ready . . . Aim . . . Improvise!

Written by a jazz teacher for jazz teachers, "The Real Jazz Pedagogy Book" is based on the premise that successful jazz teachers must be constantly working four main areas: 1) the wind instruments-including tone production, intonation, and section playing skills; 2) playing styles correctly-such as rhythmic and time feel approach, articulation approach, and phrasing; 3) the rhythm section-playing the instruments, time feel and concept, coordination of comping, harmonic voicings, drum fills and setups, stylistic differences; and 4) the soloists-developing improvisational skills (both right brain and left brain), jazz theory, the ballad soloist, and the vocal soloist. Ray Smith, who has taught and directed jazz ensembles, including the acclaimed Brigham Young University group, Synthesis, and given private lessons for over forty years, also discusses the details of running school programs. Smith's YouTube channel complements "The Real Jazz Pedagogy Book."

Derek Bailey's IMPROVISATION, originally published in 1980, now revised with additional interviews and photographs, deals with the nature of improvisation in all its forms--Indian music, flamenco, baroque, organ music, rock, jazz, contemporary, and "free" music. Bailey offers a clear view of the breathtaking spectrum of possibilities inherent in improvisational practice.

Alice Kay Kanack's method focuses on enhancing the natural creative ability of children through the use of improvisation. The book begins with an introduction to the philosophies of her method, then guides the parent or teacher through a series of improvisational games to play with the child. A CD is included, with 27 different songs and games.