Welcome to the Jazz and Improvisation Library guide! This guide aims to provide selected repertoire, methods and research resources. Refer also to Jazz Performance and Jazz History. See also the Music Library Guide.
The Australian Jazz Real Book is online. Click the link below and see all the lead sheets.
Use the subject headings of the following books to find more on the same topic. For example,
Piano music (Jazz) -- Instruction and study
or
Piano -- Methods (Jazz)
Substitute your instrument for piano.
See also ATS2060 Teaching Music Performance: Jazz and Improvisation
Online resources
Pentatonic Scales for Jazz Improvisation by 
Jazz piano masterclass: the drop 2 book by The most comprehensive book ever written on how to create the 4-note, block-chord approach to jazz piano playing used by masters like McCoy Tyner, Bill Evans, Barry Harris, Cedar Walton, etc. In this book, world-renowned pianist and educator Mark Levine provides a step-by-step, beginning to advanced, masterclass on how to create, practice and extend this most useful appraoch to jazz chord voicings.
Metaphors for the Musician: Perspectives from a Jazz Musician by This book is a gold mine of insights into almost every aspect of jazz musicianship, including scale/chord theory, practice strategies, composing techniques, performance psychology and how to create the states of mind that produce the best improvisations. Designed for any level of player, on any instrument, the book provides numerous exercises throughout to help the reader turn these concepts into musical reality. Endorsed by Jessica Williams, Jerry Bergonzi and others.
The Jazz Theory Book by PART I: Theory: chords and scales. Basic theory -- The major scale and the II-V-I progression -- Chord / scale theory -- How to practice scales -- Slash chords -- -- PART II: Improvisation: playin' the changes. From scales to music -- The bebop scales -- Playing "outside" -- Pentatonic scales -- The blues -- "Rhythm" changes -- Practice, practice, practice -- -- PART III: Reharmonization. Basic reharmonization -- Advanced reharmonization -- Coltrane changes -- Three reharmonizations -- -- PART IV: The tunes. Song form and composition -- Reading a lead sheet -- Memorizing a tune -- Heads -- The repertoire -- -- PART V: The rest of it. Salsa and Latin jazz -- Loose ends -- Listen.
The serious jazz practice book : melodic materials for the modern jazz soloist by 
The serious jazz book. II : harmonic possibilities of the improvised line Author by Print Books
A Lyrical Approach to Jazz Improvising: For Trumpet and All Instruments by 
Jazz Musician's Guide to Creative Practicing by A number of 'songbooks' can be found online.
The Jazz Standards (full text online) by 
The Music of Antonio Carlos Jobim by A Fake Book is a collection of scores and a tool for learning which presents the music to standards and popular tunes. Important jazz fake books include The Ultimate Jazz Fakebook in editions for C .B♭, and E♭ instruments, the Charlie Parker Omnibook, and the Jamey Aebersold publications. The Story of Fake Books: Bootlegging songs to musicians tells the story,
Real Jazz Standards Fake Book by (Fake Book). This second edition features a magnificent compilation of over 250 standards of jazz repertoire in new easy-to-read authentic hand-written jazz engravings, including: Ain't Misbehavin' * Angel Eyes * Bein' Green * Blue Skies * Brazil * Crazy He Calls Me * Desafinado (Off Key) * Fever * Good Morning Heartache * Here's That Rainy Day * How High the Moon * I Can't Give You Anything but Love * I Got It Bad and That Ain't Good * I'll Be Around * I'm Beginning to See the Light * I've Grown Accustomed to Her Face * Imagination * It Don't Mean a Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing) * It's Only a Paper Moon * Just in Time * Lazy River * Midnight Sun * My Favorite Things * My Funny Valentine * Mood Indigo * Moonglow * Moon River * Old Devil Moon * People * Route 66 * Satin Doll * Sophisticated Lady * Speak Low * Star Dust * There Is No Greater Love * When Sunny Gets Blue * Witchcraft * and more.
What It Is: The life of a jazz artist from the "Studies in Jazz" Series by This book is one from a series "Studies in Jazz". This series includes works in biography, discography, musicology, historiography and documentation, by both academicians and independent scholars. Dave Liebman is one of the leading forces in contemporary jazz. Prominently known for performing with Miles Davis and Elvin Jones, he has exerted considerable influence as a saxophonist, bandleader, composer, author, and educator. In addition to his recent recognition as a National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Master, he has received the Order of Arts and Letters from France and holds an honorary doctorate from the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki, Finland. He has mentored many of today's most notable young jazz musicians worldwide and is a prolific writer on jazz. In What It Is: The Life of a Jazz Artist, friend, pianist, and noted jazz scholar Lewis Porter conducts a series of in-depth interviews with Liebman, who discusses his professional, personal, and musical relationships with Davis and Jones, as well as such notable musicians as Chick Corea, Richie Beirach, Michael and Randy Brecker, and many others. Through the interviews, Liebman discusses such personal matters as contracting polio as a child and the difficulties it caused as an adult during his rise as a jazz musician. He offers insights into the life of jazz performers of his generation, particularly the tumultuous period of the 1960s and 1970s. The book also features rare photos from Liebman's personal collection. A fascinating and witty storyteller, Liebman's stories in What It Is will appeal to jazz fans and scholars by providing a firsthand look into the creative life of one of America's leading jazz musicians.
Billie Holiday - Original Keys for Singers by 
Forward Motion: From Bach to Bebop by This deep, yet user-friendly book provides a unique view of how to learn to play jazz correctly. Hal, who was the pianist for Cannonball Adderley and Phil Woods, among others, dissects the problem of how the phrasing of many aspiring musicians prevents the music from swinging. Indispensible! Endorsed by Dave Liebman, Bobby Watson, Dr. John Kuzmich and others.
The Latin Bass Book by This is a practical, comprehensive approach to learning Afro-Cuban, Brazilian and South American styles of bass playing, featuring 3 CDs of Berklee professor Oscar Stagnaro playing with three different world-class rhythm sections. The book consists mostly of transcriptions of every note Oscar plays on the accompanying CDs. Some amazing music, and logically progressing from simple to complex examples of each style.
The Salsa Guidebook for Piano and Ensemble by As Tito Puente's pianist, Sonny Bravo, said, "This will be the salsa 'bible' for years to come." A complete method book on how all the various styles of Afro-Cuban music are played, plus sample charts showing what each instrument is responsible for, a complete history of the music, numerous classic photos, 50 pages just on piano montunos, and much more. Endorsed by Carlos Santana, among others.
O melhor do choro brasileiro 60 peças com melodia e cifras. (3 vols.)
The "real easy" ear training book : a beginning/intermediate guide to hearing the chord changes by Using musical examples that reflect all contemporary genres (pop, rock, Latin, fusion, jazz, etc.), emphasis is placed on making ear training real, as Prof. Radley shows how to apply the harmonic ear training studies in the book to your own musical needs. Step by step, you will learn how to: hear the bass line (the harmony's foundation) in the major key - gradually add major and minor diatonic triads - investigate how the melody provides harmonic clues for determining the chord changes - continue with seventh chord recognition - explore minor key harmony - and conclude with hearing some common non-diatonic chord patterns. You will immediately begin recognizing popular chord patterns by: using practice routines based on hundreds of dictation and transcription exercises - playing, singing, memorizing and transposing the chord progressions of songs - composing and arranging your own music based on familiar chord patterns given in the book. Additionally, more than 150 songs are referenced throughout the book for real practice! --
Aural Education: reconceptualising ear training in higher music learning by Aural Education: Reconceptualising Ear Training in Higher Music Learning explores the practice of musical 'aural training' from historical, pedagogical, psychological, musicological, and cultural perspectives, and uses these to draw implications for its pedagogy, particularly within the context of higher music education. The multi-perspective approach adopted by the author affords a broader and deeper understanding of this branch of music education, and of how humans relate to music more generally. The book extracts and examines one by one different parameters that appear central to 'aural training', proceeding in a gradual and well-organised way, while at the same time constantly highlighting the multiple interconnections and organic unity of the many different operations that take place when we interact with music through any music-related activity. The resulting complex profile of the nature of our relationship with music, combined with an exploration of non-Western cultural perspectives, offer fresh insights on issues relating to musical 'aural training'. Emerging implications are proposed in the form of broad pedagogical principles, applicable in a variety of different music educational settings. Andrianopoulou propounds a holistic alternative to 'aural training', which acknowledges the richness of our relationship to music and is rooted in absorbed aural experience. The book is a key contribution to the existing literature on aural education, designed with researchers and educators in mind.Use databases to find journal articles, including peer-reviewed scholarly material. Use Sound databases to listen to streamed music.
The following databases relate specifically to music studies and can be found on the Library's A-Z Databases page.
Databases & Journals at Monash University Library
Monash University Library has tens of thousands of journals available online and in print.
Click the tabs above to see some of the best journals publishing new research for Jazz and Improvisation.
Monash University Library offers students access to databases of academic literature as well as sound and video collections.
Click the tabs above to access some of the databases collections.
Conversations with Bill Holman by 
Perspectives on Artistic Research in Music by 
Music Theory Through Improvisation by 
The Influence of John Coltrane's Music on Improvising Saxophonists by 
George Garzone and improvisation : a study of a jazz musician and his process by 
Extended Technique by 
Improvisation, Creativity, and Consciousness by 
The big picture phrasing, improvisation, style, & technique Credits: Keith Carlock, drums ; Wayne Krantz, guitar ; Tim Lefebvre, bass.
Lee Konitz: Conversations on the Improviser's Art by 
The Defence of Tradition in Brazilian Popular Music by 
Antonio Carlos Jobim by 
The Experimental Music of Hermeto Pascoal and Group, 1981-1993 by 
Expertise in Jazz Guitar Improvisation by Expertise in Jazz Guitar Improvisationis an examination of musical interplay and the ways implicit (sub-conscious) and explicit (conscious) knowledge appear during improvisation. The practice-based research inquiry includes: interviews and interplay with five world-class jazz guitarists, Lage Lund, Jack Wilkins, Ben Monder, Rez Abbasi and Adam Rogers; a modal matrix for analyzing structure, time and form in jazz guitar improvisation, and musical analysis based on cognitive theories. By explaining the cognitive and musical foundations for expertise in jazz guitar improvisation, this book illuminates how jazz guitarists' strategies are crucially dependent on context, style and type of interplay. With accompanying video provided as an e-resource, this material will be of interest to anyone fascinated by Jazz and Psychology of Music.
Interaction, Improvisation, and Interplay in Jazz by 
Experiencing 'Flow' in Jazz Performance by Elina Hytönen draws on eighteen interviews conducted with professional jazz musicians from around the world and examines the fundamentals of the phenomenon of flow in jazz that has led to this genre's popularity. She also draws on how flow experiences are viewed and constructed by jazz musicians, "the meanings they attach to it, and the quality of music that it inspires."
Jazzology by Contains instrumental and theoretical exercises, analyses of compositions, and explanations of various topics pertaining to jazz theory, composition, and performance.
Creative Jazz Improvisation by Includes chapters on The Art of Improvisation,
Jazz improvisation a personal approach with Joe Lovarno Lovarno shows you how to: interpret the melodic, rhythmic and harmonic essence of a tune; create your own improvisational ideas; make the most of your solo practice time; interact with duets, trios and quartets.
