The Classroom Guide to Jazz Improvisation

The Classroom Guide to Jazz Improvisation dispels the misconception that one must be a jazz expert to give students a solid foundation in jazz improvisation. Authors John McNeil and Ryan Nielsen argue that all individuals possess an innate ability to improvise and that, given sufficient exposure and repetition, anyone can improvise in music as successfully as they improvise in life. Drawing on their shared 54 years of teaching experience and extensive work as professional jazz musicians, McNeil and Nielsen offer classroom-tested lesson plans for music educators of all backgrounds, removing the guesswork and mystique along the way.

John McNeil is a jazz trumpet player living in Brooklyn, New York. He has played with Horace Silver, Gerry Mulligan, the Thad Jones-Mel Lewis Orchestra, and many others. He is also an active writer/producer on the New York jazz scene and is the author of The Art of Jazz Trumpet and Flexus: Trumpet Calisthenics for the Modern Improvisor. John recently retired from the faculty of the New England Conservatory of Music, where he taught for nearly 40 years.

Ryan Nielsen is the trumpeter in the Kobie Watkins Grouptet. Their first album, Movement, was released to international critical acclaim and was named one of the ten best albums of 2018 by Howard Reich, former member of the Pulitzer Music Jury. Ryan has performed and/or recorded with Ra Kalam Bob Moses, Delfeayo Marsalis, and the Summit Brass. He is currently Associate Professor of Trumpet at Utah Valley University.