Preface This handbook offers a different approach toward achieving a wider variety of jazz technique. It presents an alternative to what is currently being taught in jazz curriculums (such as the over-used "chord-scale" system). Building upon the original work of Arnold Schnberg in his Structural Functions of Harmony (1954; 1969) this work takes Schnberg's "monotonality" approach and broadens it for use in the jazz medium. To Schnberg, the concept of "monotonality" held that every digression from the tonic chord would still be considered related--whether directly or indirectly. With the central chord becoming the primary tonal "personality" of a work, all melodic and chordal deviations from that prime become but related "regions" branching off from, but controlled or dominated by, the established tonality. In this handbook the concept of the sixth degree of the scale, and other substitute intervals, is given emphasis as a starting point of melodic improvisation. This handbook offers an expanded system of progressive alternatives for the performer, thus widening both the harmonic and melodic possibilities of creative improvisation. Commercial jazz is the music of the future, and the techniques offered here utilize scientific principles of universal and fundamental implication. Volume I discovers different intervals to play while improvising, using specially outlined solo techniques. The preparation of this handbook has been a most exciting undertaking. It is hoped that you will find it likewise rewarding, while expanding your own creative horizons. Derrick Coles, Author
Derrick Coles is a multi-talented composer, arranger, instrumental and vocal performer and writer. A native of Atlantic City, New Jersey, Coles has made his home for many years in Cleveland, Ohio. He is composer of many popular individual songs and song collections, which have been recorded and published. As a professional pianist, both in the field of jazz and as a church musician, Coles has long experimented with seeking an innovative approaches to jazz improvisation. His method was born from actual performance as well as through scientific means. Coles is currently an acclaimed jazz pianist notably in the State of Ohio, celebrated for his unique and distinctive piano styling.
