In November 2023, I wrote a post about the Lennie Niehaus’ Basic Jazz Conception, and how one of the aspects of the book that I like is the ability to apply the rhythms over sets of chord changes.

I typically use this method when I have a student who needs to play solos, but don’t quite feel comfortable improvising over forms, or they are worried about getting lost, or playing out of time. I find that this gives the player something to latch on to, and more confidence in front of a band.

Here’s how I break it down.

First, we pick a rhythm. In this case, it’s the fifth exercise in the Lennie Niehaus book. Then we identify the chord tones, and then we apply them to the rhythm. I then send this with my student as homework. I like it when they write several variations, and the goal is that they will internalize the tune with the consonant landing points. If they dig in, and learn this, they could play idea through the form, and have material that they can use to keep their place.

As this “stage one” becomes more familiar, and my students can start to play this idea without writing it out, we start to add and subtract notes, apply different patterns, and hopefully, get away from this entirely, as we gain more confidence.

I’ll post further variations in the upcoming weeks!