MUSC 155 Introduction to Jazz Improvisation

This course offers a step-by-step approach to the art and science of jazz improvisation by focusing on the basic elements of music: sound, rhythm, melody, harmony, and form. Students will learn how to create and develop musical ideas and play them in a jazz style. Students will complete assignments that include ear training exercises, creative composition, and memorization. Students will develop a greater awareness of musical style and structure through the use of a variety of listening exercises which cover the blues in jazz, swing, bebop, and modal jazz. Students will learn to improvise over blues forms, II-V-I harmonic progressions, and song forms. Students must be able to read music and possess basic technical proficiency on a melodic instrument.

Credits

3

Hours Weekly

3

Course Objectives

1. 1. Identify and apply theories and concepts related to creativity and invention by improvising a
   solo on a basic blues chord progression.
2. 2. Improvise a solo based on the melody of a standard jazz composition.
3. 3. Incorporate innovation, risk-taking, and creativity into analysis and problem-solving methods
   by developing greater intensity in student solos.
4. 4. Pose and address questions related to creative expression throughout the process of
   improvisation by creating well-developed solos through the use of repetition, variation, and
   contrast.
5. 5. Identify chord tones and non-chord tones in a given melody, and understand the musical
   process of dissonance, consonance, and resolution.
6. 6. Demonstrate the basic aspects of jazz and swing rhythms and articulations.
7. 7. Identify and improvise over ii-V-I progressions in major and minor keys.
8. 8. Improvise on standard jazz compositions using a variety of song forms, such as AABA,
   ABA, and AA.
9. 9. Improvise over modal jazz compositions using the Mixolydian, Aeolian, and Dorian modes.
10. 10. Assess, reflect on, and critically analyze the role of music in illuminating the human
    condition by listening to and distinguishing diverse jazz styles from different periods in
    history and discussing their cultural influences.

Course Objectives

1. 1. Identify and apply theories and concepts related to creativity and invention by improvising a
   solo on a basic blues chord progression.

   Learning Activity Artifact

   • Other (please fill out box below)
   • Written and improvised solo

   Procedure for Assessing Student Learning

   • Creative Process and Humanistic Inquiry Rubric

   Creative Process

   • CP1
2. 2. Improvise a solo based on the melody of a standard jazz composition.

   This objective is a course Goal Only

3. 3. Incorporate innovation, risk-taking, and creativity into analysis and problem-solving methods
   by developing greater intensity in student solos.

   Learning Activity Artifact

   • Other (please fill out box below)
   • Written and improvised solo

   Procedure for Assessing Student Learning

   • Creative Process and Humanistic Inquiry Rubric

   Creative Process

   • CP2
4. 4. Pose and address questions related to creative expression throughout the process of
   improvisation by creating well-developed solos through the use of repetition, variation, and
   contrast.

   Learning Activity Artifact

   • Other (please fill out box below)
   • Written and improvised solo

   Procedure for Assessing Student Learning

   • Creative Process and Humanistic Inquiry Rubric

   Creative Process

   • CP3
5. 5. Identify chord tones and non-chord tones in a given melody, and understand the musical
   process of dissonance, consonance, and resolution.

   This objective is a course Goal Only

6. 6. Demonstrate the basic aspects of jazz and swing rhythms and articulations.

   This objective is a course Goal Only

7. 7. Identify and improvise over ii-V-I progressions in major and minor keys.

   This objective is a course Goal Only

8. 8. Improvise on standard jazz compositions using a variety of song forms, such as AABA,
   ABA, and AA.

   This objective is a course Goal Only

9. 9. Improvise over modal jazz compositions using the Mixolydian, Aeolian, and Dorian modes.

   This objective is a course Goal Only

10. 10. Assess, reflect on, and critically analyze the role of music in illuminating the human
    condition by listening to and distinguishing diverse jazz styles from different periods in
    history and discussing their cultural influences.

    Learning Activity Artifact

    • Other (please fill out box below)
    • Listening and written assignment

    Procedure for Assessing Student Learning

    • Creative Process and Humanistic Inquiry Rubric

    Creative Process

    • CP4