The Jazzmaster Workout method has two main components: The Theory Text, and the Jazzmaster Workout Practice Method (optionally including play-along CDs). Each part addresses a key aspect of jazz improvisation—conceptual understanding of musical structures, practical application of these concepts on a particular instrument, and the ability to hear and respond to the language of jazz.
The two parts are available in a single book called The Jazzmaster Cookbook.
The Jazzmaster Workout Theory Text is a detailed discussion of the major principles of mainstream jazz harmony and improvisation. It begins with the major scale and proceeds logically through intervals, chords, voicings, scales, diatonic harmony, basic melody, blues, mainstream functional harmony (minor key, extended and secondary dominants, tritone substitution, modal interchange, subdominant minor, diminished), line clichés, modulation, substitution, reharmonization, bebop, modal styles, pentatonics, non-functional harmony, jazz melodic styles, tune analysis, patterns and many other related topics.
Comprehensive written examples are used to illustrate concepts in their most familiar musical setting. Useful appendixes are also included.
The Jazzmaster Workout Practice Method
is a practical, thorough, and efficient routine that will help you master the essential improvisational concepts covered in the theory section. It is your guide to speaking the language of music fluently.
This section outlines a unique series of exercises that can be played along with the accompaniment on the optional Jazzmaster Workout CDs. Each exercise will familiarize you with a particular technique or principle—a scale, a chord, a chord progression—and enable you get it into your ears and under your fingers. You’ll then be able to use these tools to create your own melodies over the same accompaniment. The practice method includes a Key Reference section to be gradually filled in as you learn new concepts and provides a very complete 12 key reference bridging the gap between the theory and the practice.
The Jazzmaster Workout CDs
are 12, one-hour practice CDs (one for each key) featuring a rhythm section background for the entire Jazzmaster Workout routine. These accompaniment CDs invite the beginner to improvise early in the learning process in a fun and easy manner.
Playing with the background rhythm section will strengthen your sense of time, intonation and phrasing.
Advanced players will also find a thorough framework for practicing more sophisticated melodic and harmonic techniques.
This logical, fast-moving method was originally developed to be used in a workshop situation. Teachers can use Section I, as a Theory Text, alone, as it covers all the general concepts (basic through advanced) of tonal music and improvisation, while leaving the door open for the instructor’s personal interpretation. The first few chapters present basic concepts and can be moved through fairly rapidly. Later chapters are very intensive and should be augmented with plenty of outside examples from the recommended tunes for study.
Students and instructors will find the combination of the Section I and Section II, the Jazzmaster Workout Improvisation Practice Method most helpful for structuring individual practice sessions or as a framework for larger group workshops and classes. A recommended approach to a college-level workshop might alternate between a theory class and a performance lab using the Jazzmaster Workout method to provide focus, direction, and progress analysis.
Go beyond connecting the dots
Most methods teach scales and licks that can be played against particular chords and chord progressions; these patterns are then applied to different chords of a tune as a sort of decoration. For example, you may learn a lick for a II-V chord pattern, memorize it in all 12 keys, then plug it in whenever you come across that pattern.
While useful as far as it goes, this approach can lead to a mechanical sort of playing; the music sounds like a string of stock phrases instead of a coherent statement. This stereotyped playing might be called “connecting the dots.”
This is not the sort of playing we hear from great improvisers. The best musicians create clear, original melodies with a personal, distinctive style. They communicate memorable musical ideas. Of course, their improvisations “fit” the chords—the players are well aware of the appropriate scales and devices available to them. But instead of plugging in ready-made licks to “connect the dots”, the greats sound like they’re spontaneously singing powerful, melodic lines through their instruments.
Functional Harmony and Chordscales
Many of the theoretical concepts presented are based on the idea of functional harmony as taught at Berklee College of Music. Functional harmony is the analysis and the hearing of a chord’s activity or movement in a key. Once a chord’s function is understood, a logical choice of scales and substitute scales can be determined for improvisational purposes. Once a chordscale is chosen, a variety of voicings and melodic possibilities become available. The concepts shown here reflect common usage in most typical standard tunes of American popular culture.
Play what you hear and not what you know!
That statement, attributed to Miles Davis, is an eloquent expression of true musical improvisation. It means to hear and play the music that comes out of yourself and not out of books. The Jazzmaster Workout practice method is aimed precisely at developing that goal.
The Jazzmaster Workout emphasizes the importance of the ear, since sound is the medium of musical expression. This method is designed not only to help you understand, but also to hear, most of the typical musical contexts within which you’ll be expressing yourself.
By combining theoretical concepts with ear training and practical, efficient exercises, you will rapidly grow in a well rounded way. Relative pitch perception, intonation, rhythm, chords, scales, harmony, and melody are all developed together, rather than as isolated fields of study.
The result: players at all levels (beginning – advanced) can quickly move beyond playing by the dots and on to creating freely, “speaking” their ideas in musical phrases and sentences.
Build Relative Pitch
The logic of the concepts presented should stand the test of the ear. That is they must be heard to be fully understood and used by the student. Each chapter of the text systematically introduces and explains new concepts meant to be studied, sung, and applied in the practice method.
Starting simply with a major scale, each new concept introduced builds on and extends the idea of relative pitch perception. All musical structures are shown as number (pitch) relationships to a tonal center. By singing and transposing them in 12 keys, you will gain a clear understanding and aural recognition of musical structure.
Furthermore, for improvising musicians, these concepts must also be completely integrated into instrumental technique through disciplined practicing. The Jazzmaster Workout practice method is designed to accomplish these goals as efficiently and as enjoyably as possible.
Begin playing now!
Even though the musical concepts become very advanced, the Jazzmaster Workout approach is also based on the premise that you can begin to play your own ideas from the start of your study, rather than at the end. From the very first practice session, players at every level—even beginners who are just becoming comfortable with the major scales—will start to make up their own melodies and patterns spontaneously.
Any player who adopts the daily “workout” will soon notice a dramatic difference in the way he or she hears and plays music. Rather than thinking of tunes and chord progressions as a series of isolated events strung together, you’ll perceive them as movements in tonality—movements triggering your own original ideas. And you’ll be able to express those ideas, to speak the language, to communicate.
Best of all—it’s FUN!
It’s fun to learn music, fun to grow musically and the better you get, the more enjoyable and satisfying it becomes. Improvising music is not only a joy, but a continuing discovery of our spiritual source and our own individual worth.
Appendix A
Chordscale syllabus pg. 337
Overview of all harmonic functions and chordscales.
Appendix B
Basic Jazz Standard Tunelist pg. 345
Typical songs that musicians commonly know.
Appendix C
Example Tune Analysis pg. 347
How to analyze songs for improvisation.
Appendix D
Chord and Scale Patterns pg. 349
Patterns may be used in the Jazzmaster Workout
“The JAZZMASTER WORKOUT Improvisation Practice Method is extremely thorough and very practical. The theory is to the point, clearly presented, and usefully based on common practice. The 12 key practice routine is especially valuable.”
– Jamie Aebersold, Jazz Educator, Saxophone
“I’ve looked over Jim Grantham’s JAZZMASTER WORKOUT practice method and I find it very thorough and practical for learning the techniques of not only jazz improvisation but basic musicianship and harmonic theory. I highly recommend that it be published as it would make a great text and workbook combination for teaching jazz in high schools and colleges. The workbook and tapes in particular will help a student with the actual ‘how to’ of practicing, attaining, and mastering basic musical skills.”
– Dave Liebman, Jazz Artist and Educator, Saxophone
“The JAZZMASTER WORKOUT is the best book I’ve ever seen for training serious, contemporary music students in improvisation. Very often, students tend to sound alike and play predictable cliches because they are locked into pre-memorized patterns. The exercises (a.k.a. the TOOLS) recommended in this approach are very musical and are especially effective in developing a personal, improvisational style.”
– Ed Kelly, Jazz Artist and Educator, Piano
“I wholeheartedly endorse the JAZZMASTER WORKOUT practice method. It is a complete and comprehensive study guide for anyone who wants to improvise music.”
– Bruce Forman, Jazz Artist and Educator, Guitar
“Jim Grantham’s JAZZMASTER WORKOUT is an innovative and effective approach to the art of jazz improvisation that can be of value to musicians of all levels. Beginning with basic theory, this text presents the harmonic and vocabulary that has become so essential to jazz expression. Also provided are interesting practice techniques and exercises that ensure musical growth and development. Ideal for individual use, the WORKOUT additionally could serve as a text/workbook for high-school and college-level jazz programs. The JAZZMASTER WORKOUT will be an invaluable addition to your practice routine as well as a useful reference for years to come.”
Larry Monroe, Chairman, Professional Performance Division, Berklee College of Music
“Jim Grantham’s JAZZMASTER WORKOUT is an extremely valuable tool for musicians who want to improve their improvisation skills and creativity. It is a very thorough source of information on Jazz theory and melodic techniques. The JAZZMASTER WORKOUT is the most complete method of its kind that I’ve ever seen.”
– Bruce Gertz, Jazz Artist and Educator, Bass
“I am very impressed by the JAZZMASTER WORKOUT. It is the perfect text for a college jazz theory or improvisation class. There a dearth of good jazz theory books out there, and this offering is very clear and comprehensive. The layout draws you in and I especially like the comments in the margins.”
– Mel Graves, Jazz Artist and Educator, Bass
“Jim Grantham has put together a wonderful method which presents jazz theory and its application in a clear and concise manner. The method is thorough and very user-friendly. The information is presented in a supportive and personal manner which often gives the feeling that the author is right there with you. I highly recommend the JAZZMASTER WORKOUT to anyone aspiring to learn the jazz language.”
– Steve Erquiaga, Jazz Artist and Educator, Guitar
“I found Jim Grantham’s JAZZMASTER WORKOUT the most complete and enlightening tool for studying jazz theory and improvisational concepts that I’ve seen. It reaches far beyond memorizing the trendy cliches to substantial and extensive information on how to think musically. He’s lifted up the corners of the rugs and in an honest and selfless manner answers all the questions!”
– Jules Broussard, Jazz Saxophonist
“Everyone [editors at CPP Belwin] feels that the book is very complete, specifically the theory part, and that the concept of the workout section which outlines practice material but doesn’t demand specific musical phrases, will broaden the scope of the player rather than limit him like some of the lick approach books that exist.”
– Sandy Feldstein, President – CPP Belwin
“One of the most uncommonly efficient and practical methodology presentations on the concepts and processes of improvisation I have encountered–Jim Grantham’s learner-friendly format and blend of text, workbook, and audio tape provides an invaluable aggregate instructional tool for jazz education.”
– Herb Wong, Jazz Producer and Educator
Review of Jazzmaster Cookbook
“JazzEd” by Scotty Wright of JAZZ NOW magazine
I remember reading an article about jazz in which the writer compared the music to food. As I recall, the challenge of improvisation was likened to conceiving, preparing, cooking and serving a gourmet meal instantly at the dinner table with the guests assembled and waiting.
It should come as no surprise, then, that someone came up with a Jazz Cookbook. No, I don’t mean a cookbook featuring food recipes of jazz artists, like the one from Concord Jazz. And we all remember the “Jazz Cooks” dinner concert series, cleverly produced by Herb Wong (reviewed in our Sept. 94 issue).
No, this, my friends, is a Jazz cookbook, designed to create more master chefs like Rollins, Marsalis, Vaughn, and Flanagan who are capable of handling the seemingly simple campfire-dinner-for-one of solo performance, or creating banquets in large bustling kitchens like those of Ellington, Basie, and Thad Jones and Mel Lewis.
Jim Grantham, a graduate of the Berklee School of Music in Boston, has developed this course, combining jazz theory and improvisation with a practice regimen called the “Jazzmaster Workout” into one volume and named it the Jazzmaster Cookbook. It is quite possibly the finest do-it-yourself jazz course I’ve ever seen. In my opinion, the Cookbook succeeds at every course of the meal, but I must point out a few things that separate it from similar efforts:
Basics: One of the first textbooks on Jazz improvisation was the Jazz Improvisation series, by John Mehegan, written during his tenure at Juilliard school of music (1947-1956). Mehegan’s series in terms of its detail, its thoroughness, and its longevity, has been the standard for jazz improvisation for years, but it has one major flaw. Mehegan, since he was teaching at one of most prestigious music schools in the country, assumed all his students read music fluently. His job, therefore, was to introduce the philosophies, concepts and techniques peculiar to jazz, prodding his students to rethink their approach to musical performance.
Grantham, however, knows full well that many of his benighted students using the Cookbook don’t read music well, if at all. Consequently, he has started his course with elementary concepts of music reading, assuming nothing about the training of the reader, yet building upon those concepts in such a fashion that even an intermediate student will not skip Chapter I, but will reconfirm his present knowledge of those concepts, applying them to what follows.
Vocabulary: Ever notice that in textbooks (and in classrooms) things are never what they’re called in the real world? Computers, cars, social work, dance and fashion all have their own languages. So does music, especially jazz, whose lingo has entered the language of mainstream culture as early as the 1940’s.
Grantham has addressed this language barrier with copious definitions and synonyms, so a student can understand the terms and phrases she hears faster than those of us who hung out in clubs for years feeling like Alice trying to decipher the codes of this Jazz Wonderland. (Hey you veterans, how many jam sessions did it take to learn what ”around the horn” or “Trane it” mean?)
At first, I was disappointed that there was no actual glossary for reference. In retrospect, I see that the author has forced the student to learn these terms in context, gaining explicit, not implicit knowledge. Thanks Mr. Grantham, for not giving Jazz another horde of under-prepared neophytes who can’t walk their talk.
Melody: More than anything else, the jazz improviser is challenged to create a musically logical, emotionally valid melody spontaneously. Grantham respects this tenet as the cornerstone of good jazz. He never gives the student the easy out of memorizing licks, practicing quotes from recordings of masters, or running scales over a set of changes and calling it a solo. Instead, Grantham, constantly stresses thought, not reflex: listening, not pre-conception; design, not cliches.
Practice Does Not Make Perfect: Something I always emphasize in my school assemblies and clinics is that this fallacy must be abolished and replaced with a slightly altered, infinitely truer version; Perfect Practice makes perfect. Doing something incorrectly over and over won’t make it better. Only a system of graduated exercises and drills with careful attention to progress will yield positive results.
I believe that the Cookbook would still have been very good with just Section I. But rather than leaving his students to develop their own practice system, Grantham has devised the “Jazzmaster Workout,” and what a workout it is!
Chords, scales, guide tones, tonal centers all have detailed study exercises. Better yet, all the exercises in the book are in the key of C; the student must transpose them to the other eleven keys. We’re talkin’ serious time in the shed!
These are but a few of the reasons why I highly recommend the Jazzmaster Cookbook. As with the best of jazz (and life), the little things mean so much: song forms, chord shorthand, a basic list of standards, arrangement devices such as turnarounds and vamps, big use of the page’s margins to summarize adjacent paragraphs. So many little things add up to one great book, a great tool for teachers and students, a great triumph for Jim Grantham, and a great asset to Jazz Education.
Scotty Wright, Jazz Now Jan. 1995
“Jim Grantham shows diligence and perseverance in putting together a most concise and sequentially logical method for the teaching and study of jazz improvisation. I am impressed with his clarity and emphasis on outlining musical tools which aid in the conceptual development of an individual seeking their own signature and musical stories. This book works equally well aa a college text and/or self-study method.
– Larry Ridley, Jazz Artist and Educator, Bass
“I am writing this letter to tell you how pleased I am with the JAZZMASTER WORKOUT program, and impressed with the ‘system’ for learning that you have developed. This ‘system’, –allows musicians of all levels of expertise (including beginners) to learn to improvise and play what they hear and feel, not just what they know, and to understand the musical concepts behind what they play.
I have taught on the Doctoral and Post-Doctoral levels for twenty years. I am struck by your organization of information; how easy it is in practice to move from the Music Theory text to the Improvisation Practice Method text, to the fully integrated tapes and back again. Each unit continually reinforces the information in the others, multiplying their effectiveness and the educational return for the student.
I have never seen anything quite like it. Certainly, the system is on its own educational level, not to be compared to the many ‘how to’ music books that clog the stores. You have created a unique, efficient and productive system. As one educator to another, I congratulate you!”
– Michael Korman DPS, MS, FICD, Saxophone
“The Workout method works very well for me. It is concise and not cluttered with incomprehensible exercises. It allows you to develop your own practice routine within the context of the workout. It is neither too general nor too regimented. The tapes are great to play over and really get me started.”
– Thomas Randall, Guitar
Jim’s method has given me a way of maximizing my limited practice time. Everything in the method has a purpose and is related to playing jazz. The method is well organized and easy to follow. It seems to pull together many aspects of practicing jazz into one practice method. You can see yourself progress as well!”
– Mike Waters, Saxophone
“I think it’s a fantastic system! – particularly the ‘key of the week’. It has really helped me to focus and not be overwhelmed and yet there is an undercurrent of excitement in that I can see that — I will be able to honestly call myself a musician; speak the language; create some beauty in the world with other folks through music.”
– Kerry Parker, Violin
“I have been searching for a method of learning jazz harmony for two years and have purchased about 40 or 50 different jazz books and lessons from three jazz piano teachers.
I finally found in Jim Grantham’s “The JAZZMASTER COOKBOOK” not only a very thorough method of learning jazz piano but an extremely thorough method of learning music as a composer. I’m 59 years old and very grateful for this method.
– Phillip Hoffert, Piano
“Jim Grantham’s approach to improvisation is comprehensive: the text, workbook, and audiotapes provides both student and teacher a structured framework for playing and teaching jazz.”
– Bob Calonico, UC Berkeley Jazz Ensembles
“I am pleased to recommend the excellent jazz instruction course by Jim Grantham. As a classically trained pianist, I find the series of tapes and accompanying textbooks to be extremely valuable; it is certainly the best method for learning jazz improvisation skills that I have ever seen.
The JAZZMASTER WORKOUT Theory textbook is very clearly written and presents a comprehensive approach, from beginning to advanced concepts. Key points are emphasized in bold print along the side of each page, adding to the easy readability of this book.
The JAZZMASTER WORKOUT Workbook gives students a way to reinforce the material presented in the theory text by filling out lessons in all keys. The cassette tapes are an especially useful tool for learning to improvise while simultaneously applying concepts from the textbook.
The method is quite enjoyable and offers valuable information for musicians of all levels.”
– Diana S. Perry, Piano
In the JAZZMASTER WORKOUT, Jim Grantham has developed a comprehensive program for learning to play improvised music. The Workout not only provides a thorough explanation of jazz harmony and theory, but provides the student with a structured practice routine that allows him or her to take an organized approach to learning.
Herein lies the major strength of the Workout as a methodology for the study of improvisation and what allows it to stand out above other techniques or textbook treatments. Many beginning or even intermediate improvisers experience frustration with exactly how to approach the learning or improvement of their skills. Much of the instruction given today is vague, incomplete, aloof, and intimidating.
There probably isn’t a student who hasn’t been given the daunting task to “memorize this lick– then play it in all 12 keys.” The Workout moves beyond this type of superficial instruction by providing the student with a set of “tools” (practice routines and exercises) which are applied in a systematic manner to common chord changes and tunes. These tools, when played with a set of 12 cassette practice tapes not only develop technical proficiency on the instrument but reinforce critical ear training concepts. The result is a confident student with a definite place to start, a clear direction of study, and the ability to create original improvised melodies at a very early stage of study.
It’s clear after studying with the JAZZMASTER WORKOUT that Jim Grantham has a genuine interest in jazz education. Underlying his presentation is an appreciation for specific problems and roadblocks students often encounter learning improvisation and instrumental technique. One gets a reassuring feeling that Jim has wrestled with these same problems himself and shares with you successful, straight-forward techniques for working through them.
Based on my personal experience and success, I highly recommend the JAZZMASTER WORKOUT.”
– Nick Paliao, Saxophone
“This is a wonderful way to learn the inner workings of jazz. It’s almost zen-like in it’s approach: Although you’ll think you aren’t “getting it”, you are! When you start playing, some amazing things come up.”
– Jack Ronan, Keyboards
“Jim Grantham has created a method that is a virtual PASSKEY to the understanding of harmonic relationships, melody techniques, and practical improvisation. Thanks to the METHOD, I now have the tools with which to develop my own personal style.”
– Jerry Sullivan, Piano
