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Symposium
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Analyzing Improvised Jazz
Gary Potter
\Tow that jazz is achieving respectability in educational circles and analysts are
JL i plying their diverse techniques to improvised solos, it is appropriate to review wha
is being done in jazz analysis and to suggest a direction for the future. The three p
poses of this article are: to present an overview of several methods for analysis of impr
vised jazz, including bibliographic references for further study; to introduce an analyti
format which approaches a synthesis of aspects of these methods; and to apply
format to a classic solo, both to demonstrate the format and to acquaint the reader wit
a fine piece of music to share with students.
This article is re-printed from Volume 30. It was edited for that volume by Margaret M. Barela.
1 See Bill Russo and Lloyd Lifton, "Jazz Off the Record," an irregular series beginning with Vol. 17, No. 1 (Januar
13, 1950). I am indebted to Barry Kernfeld, editor of theAfew Grove Dictionary of Jazz, for reminding me of a column
Sharon Pease which appeared regularly indownbeat from April 1937 through the 1940s. Each column contained a pianist
biography, a notated piano solo, and often a few analytical comments as well.
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144 COLLEGE MUSIC SYMPOSIUM
about 100 formulas which Parker reworks solo after solo.2 Such evidence of formula
playing in perhaps the greatest of jazz improvisers suggests that formula identification
and cataloguing is a fruitful analytic pursuit. And it also adds a new aspect to improvi-
sation pedagogy: the student learns not only scales which fit various chords, but also a
series of melodic formulas which can be plugged into appropriate spots in the chord
progression.
Recent jazz writers have noted the similarity between this sort of formulaic jazz
improvisation and a kind of poetry in which a story-teller relies on often-used phrases
when retelling a poem which has not been fixed into written form. Borrowing from ana-
lysts of Homer's epic poems, jazz analysts have applied some of their techniques to
improvised solos.3 Some of the problems in poetic analysis have carried over into music
analysis as well, however. In both areas it has proven to be difficult to decide exactly
what qualifies as a formula. Must it be of a certain length? Must it be sufficiently unique
to be recognized as a formula? How does one decide whether a certain musical idea is
one long formula or two shorter formulas? Gregory Smith, in his dissertation on Bill
Evans,4 discusses these problems and determines formulas primarily according to direc-
tion of motion (up or down) from one tone of "relative stability" to another. In one solo
alone he identifies 190 formulas which he then divides into categories about which gen-
eralizations can be made and conclusions drawn.
Barry Kernfeld has circumvented the problem of delineating specific "formulas" by
identifying "formulaic networks" in a solo or solos.5 Using an ingenious and informative
display, Kernfeld clearly shows recurrent patterns without having to define the formula.
Although a complete explanation is beyond the scope of this article, Figure 1 sums up
formulaic playing by John Coltrane in one solo consisting of 22 blues choruses. In all,
Coltrane plays B-flat-C-D-(E-flat)-F in eighth notes 36 times in this solo. The figure also
shows that the context of that pattern - the two or three beats on either side - varies
rather little as well.
2 Thomas Owens, "Charlie Parker: Techniques of Improvisation" (Doctoral diss., Univ. of California at Los Angeles,
1974).
3 For jazz analysis relying heavily although not exclusively on formula identification, see Lawrence Gushee, "Lester
Young's vShoeshine Boy,'" in International Musicological Society, Report of the Twelfth Congress, Berkeley, 1977, (Kassel,
1981). See also Barry Kernfeld, "Adderley, Coltrane, and Davis at the Twilight of Bebop: The Search for Melodic Coher-
ence (1958-59)" (Doctoral diss., Cornell Univ., 1981). Sources on formulaic composition in literature include Ruth Finnigan,
Oral Poetry: Its Nature, Significance and Social Context (Cambridge, 1977); Albert B. Lord, The Singer of Tales, (1960;
reprint, New York, 1965); and Milman Parry, The Making of Homeric Verse: The Collected Papers ofMilman Parry, ed.
Adam Parry (Oxford, 1971).
4 Gregory Smith, "Homer, Gregory, and Bill Evans? The Theory of Formulaic Composition in the Context of Jazz
Piano Improvisation" (Doctoral diss., Harvard Univ., 1983).
5 Barry Kernfeld, "Two Coltranes," Annual Review of Jazz Studies 2 (New Brunswick, N.J., 1983), 7-66.
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ANALYZING IMPROVISED JAZZ 145
' 1 k
9J 3
I, i ^
'.''t'l'l',
t) L t) ' |L J
' | JIJJ-J
,'lllLLiLl'l'l
i
UJ UJp3
'fff
Li
lxl '_!i_J
A
Li
6 Ibid., 26.
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146 COLLEGE MUSIC SYMPOSIUM
7 See Lewis Porter, "Lester Leaps In: The Early Style of Lester You
See also the formulaic approach incorporated into abroad eclectic stu
Young (Boston, 1985).
8 Steven Larson, "Schenkerian Analysis of Modern Jazz" (Doctoral
9 Milton Stewart, "Some Characteristics of Clifford Brown's Impr
11 (1979), 135-64.
10 Leonard B. Meyer, Explaining Music: Essays and Exploratio
Schenkerism: The Need for Alternatives in Music Analysis (Chicago,
posed by Jazz Musicians of the Bebop Era: A Study of Harmony, Rh
1982).
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ANALYZING IMPROVISED JAZZ 147
2iA j j J J J J
Fmin7 Bb7 E^Maj Fmin7_ F|f7
Gmin7 P7 F7 Bt7 Et
ik|fi. J ^J T
Al> A7 Et/Bb Cmin7 F7 Bl>7
"^ 1 1 1 T from m 8
from m. 12
11 Williams, 1,211.
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148 COLLEGE MUSIC SYMPOSIUM
Toward a Synthesis
13 Ibid., 181.
14 Nicholas Strout, "I've Heard That Song Before: Linguistic and Narrative Aspects of Melodic Quotation in
Instrumental Jazz Improvisation" (Masters thesis, Indiana Univ., 1986).
15 Jeff Pressing, "Pitch Class Set Structures in Contemporary Jazz," Jazzforschung/Jazz Research 14 (1982),
133-72.
16 Steven Block, "Pitch Class Transformation in Free Jazz," paper delivered at the annual meeting of the Society
for Music Theory, Baltimore, November, 1988.
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ANALYZING IMPROVISED JAZZ 149
Great speed
Wide range (particularly high range)
Tremendous endurance
Beautiful legitimate tone and flawless intonation (or)
Wonderfully bizarre and unique sound; unusual approach to intonation
An excited, propulsive, on-top-of-the-beat feel (or)
A loose, relaxed, laid-back feel
Showing empathy with past eras of jazz (or)
Being novel, original, non-derivative
Quoting often and effectively (or)
Refusing to "mar" the solo by "sudden quotation"17
Showing restraint and classical balance (or)
Making expressive use of growls, honks, squeaks, and split tones
And this is just the start of a long list. David Baker, in a series of monographs analyzing
the music of Cannonball Adderley, Clifford Brown, Fats Navarro and others, does take
into consideration many seldom-discussed features.18He employs a standard two-page
form on which the features are listed; the analyst checks off those features present in a
given solo.
Many factors may contribute toward making an improvised solo "good" or "great."
A solo which shows little motivic or formulaic coherence, or which will not reduce to a
Schenkerian model, or which leaves implications unrealized may nevertheless be a great
solo for other reasons, reasons harder to theorize about or harder to uncover by applying
one specific analytic methodology. Although there is a place for analysis in which one
method is applied exclusively, the analyst must realize that it provides only a single
view.
Any music analyst needs to ask two questions: Why analyze this music? And for
whom is my analysis intended? My answers to these questions determine the direction of
the rest of this article. Why analyze jazz? Jazz deserves to be studied because, at its best,
it is glorious music, worthy of appreciation on all levels including the intellectual. For
whom is my analysis intended? Any fairly well-trained listener-reader, whether jazz
lover or not, particularly the musician who may have little exposure to jazz and who can
be guided to greater understanding and, therefore, greater appreciation.
17 Gunther Schuller, "Sonny Rollins and the Challenge of Thematic Improvisation," Jazz Review 1 (1958), 6.
18 David N. Baker, The Jazz Style of Cannonball Adderley (Lebanon, Ind., 1980). See additional volumes in this
series on Clifford Brown, Fats Navarro, John Coltrane, Miles Davis, and Sonny Rollins.
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150 COLLEGE MUSIC SYMPOSIUM
with a standardized chart or with the staff setup you suggest." And while Porter values "a
on words," he points out that his article on John Coltrane ("John Coltrane's VA Lov
Composition," Journal of the American Musicological Society 38 [ 1 985] , 593-62 1 ) w
out substantial text.
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ANALYZING IMPROVISED JAZZ 1 5 1
Sample Analysis
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1 52 COLLEGE MUSIC SYMPOSIUM
F Bk7
The third li
patterns whi
particularly in
virtually intac
gression recu
ruses, a long p
first chorus a
The third lin
improvisation
varied at the
ences to the h
A different k
can be percei
on the second
the improvisa
in which a sca
emphasized p
two, heard to
of this kind o
provisational
emphasis on t
heat-to-light
lent in these d
Remarkably,
just sixty me
formed with
series of idea
contrary, the
20 Gregory Smith
Composition in th
note in each instan
21 Descending step
Parker's improvisa
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ANALYZING IMPROVISED JAZZ 153
Motives/ /U *
Formulas 1 (fo * 4 ' m '^*1 \
tT - ^
(1)4 F7 t B7 1 Bk7
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1 54 COLLEGE MUSIC SYMPOSIUM
rAk7i
(1)7 F (
V I
jp l r ii i . ^ i J i
m* l ^^ r J i>r . I i l i
^S^^
If ' W^J a
(D12 (2)1 F
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ANALYZING IMPROVISED JAZZ 155
^
?
?f
seqTCe
I a seqTCe
cf. (1) 11
(2)9 Gm7 C7 3^
JLi'
^ " i v ^
Js
-*
I
q
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1 56 COLLEGE MUSIC SYMPOSIUM
(3)3 F , Cm7
hi ,.
I '
j)'~T~ \ If
\ If
Q - | - same pitches
glissando
^ ^J >J ^ J iJ.|J. J i J J J ^
^ i1- HiJm I i
(3)11 F <4>1 F p^
L *' 9th L
ju vi- /
f] * i
* pattern (motive)
b_ _ . i ^ ii' * * * ^^
I - ^ head: structural pitches - I
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ANALYZING IMPROVISED JAZZ 1 57
s-k modified: rhythm & pitch ^-^ modified: rhythm ^-^ modified: rhythm & p
^ Jl
(4)11 F (5)1 F
l^ _rJ
vv.'
J I i || U
Cf. (3)11
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1 58 COLLEGE MUSIC SYMPOSIUM
(5)2 Bl>7 F F7
v ..r^L..
-Af-ty vw - |
s - ^ modified: rh
(5)5 Bl>7 _
t) - ^ V
(5)7 F Am7 D7
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ANALYZING IMPROVISED JAZZ 159
(5)9 Gm7 C7
'^U
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160 COLLEGE MUSIC SYMPOSIUM
Conclusion
Analysis of improvised jazz is still in its infancy. Various analytic approaches men-
tioned in this article have begun to illuminate the music, and other as yet undiscovered
analytic techniques will undoubtedly contribute to our understanding. Meanwhile, a
broader analytic approach is also needed, one which draws upon the various focused
approaches and presents the music and its explanation to interested listener-readers,
including musicians who lack extensive jazz backgrounds. Too often, non-jazz music
teachers and students assume that jazz is esoteric, that one needs years of study and
perhaps even a special sort of talent to appreciate it fully. Too often, jazz lovers them-
selves have encouraged this assumption, enjoying status as the privileged few able to
understand such difficult music. In fact, jazz music is, for the most part, not at all diffi-
cult, and the best jazz quickly rewards study. Jazz lovers have an obligation to share their
music. College music teachers in particular should be given the opportunity, in part
through clear broad-based analyses, to understand it themselves and pass their under-
standing on to others. Generations of music students must not be allowed to miss the
beauty and depth of this uniquely American music.
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