Lesson 20: ii-V-I in C Major: Improvisation Etude

Isolation:

– Learn how to play Dorian, Mixolydian, and Major Scales.

– Learn how to play Minor7, Dom7, and Major7 Arpeggios (Ascending and Descending).

– Learn how to play Enclosures.

– Learn how to play basic 7th Chords and Rootless Voicings.

Integration:

– Create melodic phrases over ii-V-I progressions using those isolated elements above (refer to the previous lesson for guidance).

Improvisation:

– Advance your melodic phrases by creating a 16-bar-long etude from them.

– Aim to play this etude in a loop until you feel that the elements—scales, arpeggios, and enclosures—have become part of your improvisational vocabulary, almost like second nature.

For this lesson, I’ve created an etude using only the elements we’ve covered so far. As you’ll hear—and can judge for yourself—this already reaches a level of jazz improvisation that sounds alright. While there’s still much to learn, I encourage you to start integrating these essential elements into your improvisation now. I share this because, during my jazz piano journey, I mistakenly thought my improvisation sounded poor due to a lack of knowledge. I was wrong. My improvisation was lacking because I hesitated to experiment, try new things, and make mistakes. I’m currently learning Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ), and my instructor shared an insight that applies perfectly to jazz improvisation:

“Your jazz improvisation has to sound bad in the beginning! And you have to play bad until nothing bad is left to play, so you can start to play awesome things.”

(Module 16)