Chapter 1: Melodic Techniques in Jazz Improvisation

This is a book about understanding, developing and incorporating the art of melody
into jazz improvisation. The two questions that come up immediately - !what is a melody?!,
and !what is melodic improvising?! - lead me to begin with a definition of melody and of
melodic playing, and then to present an overview of the topics that I"ll address - the
compositional techniques of melody writing, those aspects of a solo which lead us to think
of it as melodic, and how to apply them. I"d also like to offer a short list of those soloists
whom I consider to be quite melodic in order to establish a frame of reference.
A Definition of Melody and Melodic Improvising
The term melodic improvising seems at first to be redundant, but on second glance
reveals itself to be a very appropriate category within the broad spectrum of jazz
improvisation. Given the four basic elements of music - rhythm, melody, harmony and tone
color - the improvised line most clearly falls under the category of melody, although not
always, and not on every instrument or in every solo. Although the boundaries between
these four elements tend to blur at the edges, we can still distinguish separate approaches
to improvising based on them.
Harmonic improvising, on the piano, guitar, bass or vibraphone, downplays the
importance of the single melodic line in favor of the creation of harmonic color and flow,
and is usually found as an episode within a solo. Rhythmic improvising, while certainly a
drummer"s art, is a significant element of many horn, piano, guitar and bass solos # Sonny
Rollins comes to mind immediately!$. While one can"t really define tone color improvisation,
manipulation of tone color for expressive effect adds nuance to many soloists" work.
Guitarists and keyboardists use electronics, pianists use the pedals and their touch, bassists
use fingers, bows and other objects, and horn players use mutes and other techniques to
expressively alter their tone.
So, back to the point, what is melodic improvising? To answer that question, let"s
look at several definitions and descriptions of melody to understand what it is and identify
how it functions as the central element in jazz improvisation. My Collins English Dictionary
defines melody as !a succession of notes forming a distinctive sequence; tune!. The New
College Encyclopedia of Music has a much longer definition that defines melody as !a
succession of single musical sounds. The factors which determine the character and effect
of a melody are its Mode, its Rhythm, and its Contour.% Aaron Copland, in his book What
to Listen for in Music, points out that the idea of melody is associated with emotion, and that
while the power a good melody has over us is clear, !we cannot even say ... what constitutes a
good melody.! Finally, my thesaurus includes tunefulness, euphony, mellifluence and
harmoniousness #to which I would add lyrical$ as words related to melody.
Every improvised solo is in itself a melody, being a succession of notes, yet that alone
won"t make it melodic. The modes, intervals and contours of each phrase in any solo are
the elements defining it melodically, but since every phrase, strong or weak, has these
elements, they don"t make a solo melodic by themselves, either. That characteristic of good
melodies to which Copland refers is the emotional impact of the line and its lyricism and
tunefulness. By analyzing good melodies and melodic solos we can develop a set of
techniques and approaches that, when musically applied, will lead to melodic improvising
which rises above licks, tricks, riffs, clich&s and change-running, connecting with us and
our audiences emotionally as well as intellectually.
During the course of working on this book colleagues and friends have asked me
things like, 'Do you consider a solo melodic if it is fast, or has a lot of notes?%, and, 'does it
have to be slow to be melodic?% I want to state here at the beginning that I don(t feel
melodicism is necessarily tied to how slow or fast a tune is, or how many notes a player uses,
or if they play fast or with many longer note values. To me, melodicism is a quality that is
separate and distinct from these other attributes; it is the characteristic in a solo that lifts
the improvisation from being merely a well-played collection of lines, runs, riffs, arpeggios
and gestures to a higher state of artistic expression, and is therefore to be found in music of
any tempo, style, density, mood or instrumentation. It does appear to be easier to be
melodic at slower tempos, but there are so many wonderful and memorable solos and
melodies at blazing tempos that I do not believe tempo or note density to be a melodically
disqualifying factor.
It is very important at the outset of this book to discuss the impact of how a phrase is
played. We(ve all heard that expression, 'It(s not what you say but how you say it%, and the
same idea applies directly to music. Dynamics, articulation, accents, and nuances of tone,
pitch, feel and rhythm create such startlingly intense contrasts in music that their
importance cannot be overstated. When we speak, every word is imbued, both consciously
and unconsciously, with nuance that enhances the meaning of the words and phrases. We
naturally talk with nuance, and even our body joins in the expressive gesture. We respond
to these nuances on a level different than that which merely comprehends the language,
and the sum of these levels of expression is what we use to communicate. In music, the
very same process applies - we respond and react deeply to the subtle and not-so-subtle
nuances of the performers, not merely to the notes and rhythms that they choose. We
communicate emotion through the harmonic, melodic and rhythmic aspects of a
composition, of course, but the nuances a performer gives to the music can radically alter
the feeling of a performance. Because of the power inherent in the expressiveness that we
apply to what we play, our melodicism depends in large part on how we play what we play, a
good example of the importance of form over content.
Melody, a natural gift
Creating melody is an innate and natural human ability, and the modern tendency in
jazz toward intellectual, technical approaches to studying and improvising can block us from
fully realizing our native gifts. The richness of melody in ethnic musics from all corners of
the globe attests to our natural musical potentials, especially considering that most of it was
written or improvised by !unschooled! musicians. A friend of mine was actually transcribing
the songs his 2 year old son would sing upon awakening in the morning because they were
completely original and sincere melodies. This intuitive melodic gift is something that we
can all connect with regardless of our level of educational training, and it creates the passion
and emotional depth in all great music. I"ve always felt that the greatest jazz soloists brought
together the intellectual and the intuitive aspects of their musicianship, and that both
elements are primary in the process of improvising. Charlie Parker alluded to this wedding
of the intuitive and the intellectual in his famous quote about learning everything that you
could and then forgetting it all and just playing.
Consider the emotional power and ability to connect with audiences that many
unschooled musicians bring to rock, R&B, folk and ethnic musical styles # and jazz, too,
although self-taught jazz players were more common in the earlier part of the 20th century
than now$. Without a doubt these musicians are intuitively applying many of the same
techniques and approaches that schooled musicians analyze, extract and use, but for purely
instinctive reasons. There is a temptation for schooled musicians to play something
because they know that it !works! rather than to let the inner hearing abilities that they have
cultivated #their !ear!$ guide their choices.
Melodic Improvisers
The recorded history of jazz provides us with many notable examples of melodic
improvising, and we can even define a number of soloists as being purely melodic
improvisers. Some of those soloists who strove for melody most clearly in their solos are
Louis Armstrong, Miles Davis, Lester Young, Ornette Coleman, Johnny Hodges, Chet
Baker, Paul Desmond and Jan Garbarek. Other players I consider to be very melodic are
listed in the Appendix. All of these musicians often approached their improvising in a way
that emphasized the melodic over the rhythmic, harmonic or tone color elements of music,
and there are similarities to their approaches from which we can distill essential principles
for utilizing the art of melody in jazz solos.
I don"t want to give the impression that the melodic qualities that these musicians
demonstrate automatically makes them better than those whose solos emphasized other
elements more often #even though this list comprises some of the most influential jazz
musicians of all time$. Copland notes that !composers are far from equally gifted as
melodists. Nor should their music be valued solely according to the richness of their
melodic gifts.! The focus of this book is on the melodic, therefore that is our priority.
An Overview
In the chapters following, I will describe, discuss, analyze and compare techniques
from both the improvisational and the compositional perspectives, because I feel that the
two are mutually enriching for the jazz soloist. The topics that I will cover include the
materials of melody, techniques of melodic development, thinking compositionally, melodic
sources, diatonicism and chromaticism, and the interrelationships between melodic soloing
and accompaniment.

Additionally there is an appendix listing great melodies by jazz and classical
composers and excellent examples of well-known and lesser-known melodic jazz solos. I
have included musical examples throughout the text to illustrate the principles and
techniques, and the accompanying CD will give you the opportunity to try out some of these
ideas in your own solos as well as to hear melodic improvising demonstrations in different
contexts .