About this course: Learn the basic concepts of improvisation from Gary Burton, one of the most renowned improvisers in the jazz world, including the mental, melodic, and harmonic processes that contribute to the instinctive skills that an improviser puts to use when taking a solo. While many people are fans of jazz and understand that musicians are often “making up” the notes they are playing during a performance, most people—often including musicians, themselves, who are beginning to learn improvising—aren’t clear about what exact processes take place to enable this to happen. The purpose of this course is to introduce the basic concepts of modern improvisation and how to go about mastering the different musical and mental skills involved. Course author Gary Burton codifies a sought-after approach to improvisation that has been at the core of Berklee College of Music's curriculum for decades. Students who complete this course will know what to practice and how to practice the various aspects of improvising, in addition to understanding how the improviser spontaneously communicates to the listeners through their musical creations.

Created by: Berklee

Taught by: Gary Burton

Level	Intermediate
Commitment	6 weeks of study, 3-6 hours/week
Language	English, Subtitles: Chinese (Simplified)
How To Pass	Pass all graded assignments to complete the course.
User Ratings	4.8 stars Average User Rating 4.8See what learners said

Syllabus

WEEK 1

Welcome to Jazz Improvisation

Welcome to the course! Here we will cover all the details about the course and what you'll need to know to get the most out of your experience.

3 videos, 7 readings, 1 practice quiz

Improvisation as a Language

Since everybody who is taking this course starts from a different place in terms of their experience as an improviser, it's important at first to cover some basic material. We'll begin our journey by exploring the language used by jazz improvisors. Improvisat...

4 videos, 1 reading

Graded: SELF ASSESSMENT: Improvisation as a Language

WEEK 2

The Improviser's Vocabulary

In this lesson, we'll explore the improviser's lingo. We'll identify the most common chord scales and the type of harmony they relate to including major, minor, and dominant 7.

6 videos, 2 readings, 1 practice quiz

Graded: SELF ASSESSMENT: Understanding Others' Vocabulary

WEEK 3

Making Scale Choices in Real Time

Improvisers must be able to quickly recall chord scales and be able to play around on them fluently. This becomes important when choosing which chord scale to use on a given harmony—another thing we must be able to determine immediately. When a new tune is put...

7 videos, 1 practice quiz

Graded: SELF ASSESSMENT: 500 Miles High

WEEK 4

Harmony for Improvisers

It is important for an improviser to clearly imply the harmonies when improvising. It is not enough to just play correct notes on each chord. In this lesson we'll examine how the improviser helps the harmonies move. Part of the improviser's job is to help the ...

5 videos, 1 practice quiz

Graded: SELF ASSESSMENT: Memories of Tomorrow

WEEK 5

Theme and Variation

This week we will discuss how the improviser develops melodic themes in a solo. As mentioned in week 1, there are natural comparisons between speech and improvising that illustrate how this functions. The most common technique for telling a musical story that ...

8 videos, 2 readings, 1 practice quiz

Graded: Peer Learning Exercise: Theme and Variation

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Coursework

Each course is like an interactive textbook, featuring pre-recorded videos, quizzes and projects.

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Creators

Berklee

Berklee College of Music was founded on the revolutionary principle that the best way to prepare students for careers in music is through the study and practice of contemporary music. For more than half a century, the college has evolved to reflect the state of the art of music and the music business. Berklee serves distance learners worldwide through its award-winning online extension school, Berklee Online.

Ratings and Reviews

Rated 4.8 out of 5 of 431 ratings

Very good course.

Excellent course.

Awesome course, Awesome professor. All of the material shared in this course was really useful to me, I totally recommend it to anyone who wants to improve his improvisation skills.

It was productive and interesting time. I learnt a lot of new things and got much fun improving my improvisation skills.

Cite from course: You will have plenty to keep you busy in the months ahead.

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