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Houston, Glennis

I.D. #210092807

Committee Members;

Casey Sokol (Supervisor)

Catherine Robbin

Trichy Sankaran

September 26, 2011

Comprehensive Exam #1: General Field Question:

“Vocal Jazz pedagogy books: An annotated bibliography with extended evaluation

and discussion of the materials regarding their content and value as studio manuals”
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Table of Contents
Introduction .....................................................................................1

Books .............................................................................................6

1. McMurdy, Ronald C. and Willie Hill Jr. Jazz Improvisation Series:

Approaching the Standards. Ed. Pete BarenBregge. Vol. Jazz Vocalists. Miami:

Warner Bros. Publications, 2000. ...................................................... 10

2. Stoloff, Bob. Blues Scatitudes: Vocal Improvisation on the Blues. Brooklyn:

Gerard & Sarzin, 2003. ..................................................................12

3. —. Scat! Vocal Improvisation Techniques. New York: Gerard & Sarzin, 1996. .

12

4. Weir, Michele. Vocal Improvisation. Advance Music, 2001. .................... 15

5. Niemack, Judy. Hear It & Sing It!: Exploring Modal Jazz. New York: Second

Floor Music, 2004. .......................................................................21

6. Rawlins, Steve. 21 Bebop Exercises for Vocalists & Instrumentalists.

Milwaukee: Hal Leonard, 2001. ........................................................24

7. Snidero, Jim. Jazz Conception: 21 Solo Etudes for scat singing, jazz

phrasing, interpretation, and improvisation. Hechingen: Advance Music, 1999. .

24

8. Clayton, Jay. Sing Your Story: A Practical Guide for Learning & Teaching The

Art of Jazz Singing. Advance Music, 2001. ...........................................26

9. Cooper, Dr. Gloria and Don Sickler. Jazz Phrasing: A Workshop for Jazz

Vocalists. New York: Second Floor Music, 2004...................................... 29

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10. Spradling, Diana. Jazz Singing: Developing Artistry and Authenticity.

Edmonds, WA: Sound Music Publications, 2007...................................... 32

11. Weir, Michele. Jazz Singer's Handbook: The Artistry and Mastery of Singing

Jazz. USA: Alfred, 2005. ................................................................ 36

12. Berkman, David. The Jazz Singer's Guidebook: A Course in Jazz Harmony

and Scat Singing for the Serious Jazz Vocalist. Petaluma: Sher Music, 2009. ..38

13. Farnsworth, Anne. Jazz Vocal Techniques: An Instrumental Approach to Jazz

Singing. 3rd. Los Angeles: JazzMedia Press, 2000. ..................................45

14. Zegree, Stephen. The Complete Guide to Teaching Vocal Jazz. Heritage

Music Press, 2002. .......................................................................48

Conclusion...................................................................................... 50
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INTRODUCTION
Solo vocal jazz instruction is a fairly recent addition to many university curriculums. Often

beginning in the context of a vocal jazz ensemble, such studies are now more available as private

jazz voice study. Unlike classical voice, which has hundreds of years of history, teaching, and an

abundance of pedagogical materials, traditional values have mainly been transmitted directly

through practice: learned on the bandstand. With few places available to practice and absorb by

apprenticeship now, the study of jazz voice has become the domain of secondary education and

private voice educators.

As children and teen-agers, individuals who wish to learn to sing most often seek private

teachers. Although gradually changing, the majority of private instructors continue using

classical technique and often classically oriented materials, and empirical evidence along with

casual discussions with students indicates that instruction is most often grounded in melody, text

and lyric interpretation only. Indeed, it is still often difficult to find voice teachers who are

willing to use commercial and contemporary repertoire at all, and who are also knowledgeable

about the harmonic language of jazz. Discovering a preference to study contemporary repertoire

upon entry to higher education, these young singers – in the absence of any prior piano

instruction – may find themselves years behind instrumentalists of the same age in harmonic

comprehension.

Consequently, vocal jazz education seems to lag behind that of most instrumentalists’

education. Not only do the university- and college-level instructors have to teach appropriate

contemporary commercial vocal technique, but they also have to ensure that they impart the
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necessary instruction to enable their students to create a relationship to the harmony. In an article

written by Gene Aitken and Jamey Aebersold, the authors suggest that the areas in vocal jazz still

requiring attention are: 1) the inability of students to follow the changes and to deal with the

scales and chords, 2) the improper use of scat-syllables such that the essence of the jazz concept,

style, and interpretation is lost, and 3) the lack of study and knowledge of established

instrumental and vocal jazz soloists and their music (Aitken & Aebersold). Since the article was

written in 1983, this situation has fortunately changed for the better. One of the judges from the

recent Monk Competition for Vocalists said that the harmonic, rhythmic, and melodic standard of

“scatting” and “improvising” by the young competitors was at a high level (Vitro). Melton,

writes, however, that even when vocalists study harmony and ear-training, they still have the

reputation of being the weakest performers (201).

A search for instructional materials relating to the study of jazz voice, and which might

address this gap in harmonic knowledge, turned up a modest list of books. They range from short

aurally-based documents which discuss the art of singing jazz to more substantial books

involving the study of piano and basic theory, harmony, and rhythm. References were sourced by

means of internet and library searches, as well as by referring to the bibliographies in periodicals

and books.

The objective of this study was to analyze each of these books for harmony- and rhythm-

focused content, and their overall utility as studio manuals. They were chosen if the title referred

to jazz singing in some way, and the theory and ear-training requirements for both Humber

College and Conservatory Canada were used for curriculum guidance. The books were also
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compared to an instrument-focused book by Scott Reeves, entitled Creative Improvising, which

includes guidance on practicing, essential listening with reference to the major innovators, all of

the scales, and importantly, songs that utilize the scale being studied (Reeves).

Humber Vocal Jazz Program

Humber requires their vocal students to take four semesters of contemporary theory and

improvisation and four semesters of improvisation lab. These courses transition the student from

learning basic terminology and notation through to advanced melodic analysis; slash chord and

polychord harmony, “world” rhythms, two-part counterpoint, and twelve-tone music. The

improvisation lab includes bebop, funk, blues, contemporary jazz, and various Latin styles, and

the program culminates in a composition project.

They are also required to take two semesters of piano (for zero credit), which instructs on the

principles of fingering, posture, chord spelling, lead sheet playing strategies, chord scale

relationships, blues progression, and ii-V-I voicings.

Their four semesters of aural training progress from beginning to advanced level rudiments

of melody, harmony and rhythm, transcription and sight-singing skills, and continue through

atonality and 12-tone serialism.

Students take applied instrument lessons for the full four-year Bachelor’s program, with four

co-requisite semesters of master classes. The specific vocal requirements in private lessons are:
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- One vocal ‘lift’1 per semester of a swing or straight-eighth feel song

- Sight-singing, improvisation and rhythm reading using Michelle Weir’s

Improvisation, Rawlins’ 21 Bebop Exercises, Stoloff’s Scat!, and Snidero’s Jazz

Conception

- One classical piece from Italian Songs & Arias (Humber).

Conservatory Canada Contemporary Idioms

The Conservatory Canada curriculum was designed by instrumentalists. Upon completion of

Level 8 (estimated age 16 to 18), Conservatory Canada assumes that the student is ready for a

college or university music course, and has learned the following:

Theory/aural Requirements:

- Scale identification: Major, Aeolian, Pentatonic, Dorian, Chromatic, Blues, Jazz

Melodic Minor, Mixolydian, Whole Tone

- Sight-reading:

o Rhythm – 4 bars; simple or compound time.

o Melody – equal to difficulty of Conservatory Canada Level Four pieces (8

bars; maj / min keys to 4-sharps and 4-flats)

1 Humber defines a “lift” as an aural transcription matching the recorded singers’ notes, rhythms,

phrasing and inflections while singing along with the recording.

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- Improvisation: 16 to 32 bar lead sheet, twice through with improvisation on second

time using CD accompaniment

- Aural skills:

o 8-12 note melody to repeat, either by singing or playing piano

o All intervals ascending and descending

o All seventh chords

o Progressions including ii-V-I, V-IV-I, flatVI-V-I, flatVI-flatVII-I

(Conservatory Canada syllabus).

In a private voice lesson, it may be difficult to provide the breadth of instruction available in

secondary institutions such as Humber College. Separate theory and harmony instruction, by a

qualified tutor, would likely be necessary. Perusing the requirements of these two curricula,

however, provides a practical guideline of the music skills and education a serious student needs

to obtain.

Additionally, a student must become comfortable with such practical skills as: “talking

down”2 the song to the band, knowing the form and key of the composition, being able to enter at

the expected time and on the correct note, and importantly, following his or her own instructions

by singing the tune as they instructed to the band. Unfortunately the dearth of performance

2 Providing a concise summary to the band of how one wishes the song be performed. This often
includes instructions regarding what type of introduction and ending is to be used, the feel and tempo,
whether rubato is required, specific rhythmic details – stop time, shots, etc. – and any other details
necessary for the performance.
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opportunities means that there are few situations in which to practice these basic communication

skills.

BOOKS
The books are categorized into four loose areas of focus: improvisation, exercises and ear-

training, artistry, and those with a focus on instrumental approaches to learning to sing jazz.

Improvisation

1. DiBlasio, Denis. Guide for Jazz and Scat Vocalists: Survivor Manual for Aspiring Jazz
Singers. New Albany: Jamey Aebersold Jazz, Inc., 2000.

DiBlasio states that his book is intended to help vocalists with their “unique” problems. It is

for the vocalist “who needs a little direction,” and for those who feel alone in the world of

instrumentalists (1). This book is modest at only 31 pages and includes a CD of exercises. It is

part of the large Jamey Aebersold series, so Aebersold provides approximately half of the

content.

Chapter One defines some of the jargon inherent in jazz music and is included because of his

experiences of seeing scared and confused faces on the singers while band members discuss the

chart and how they think the singer intends to perform it (1). Chapter Two, in 1.5 pages plus

example, briefly describes how to prepare a proper lead sheet. Chapters Three and Four are on

the next page (6); they discuss chord voicings and scat-singing, and include reference to the first

recorded exercise. The following four pages in the book illustrate chord voicings on the piano,

including two-, three-, and four-note chords.

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He indicates that a singer should learn the two- and three-note voicings in order to “scan” the

harmony (7) and further recommends learning the four-note voicings and memorizing them so

that they are automatic.

The blues in both F and B-flat follow, also with two-, three-, and four-note piano voicings, as

well as ii-V7-I progressions in root and inversions, and half-diminished-V7#9-I in all minor

keys, root and inversions. He advises the vocalist to memorize them but does not suggest a

method to do so (8).

His sentence “you really don’t have time to think about where they are on the keyboard or

what they will sound like when you’re performing” (8) is certainly true, and vocalists do need

some piano skills. Unless a vocalist is familiar with playing the piano already, however, these

few pages delve into far more complex piano skills than are perhaps appropriate, or necessary, or

even achievable. Clearly, it would worthwhile to be able to spend the time necessary on this task,

but unless singers have already spent years taking piano lessons and have some keyboard skills,

these voicings are likely beyond the patience and ability of the vocalist seeking help with a

vocalistic endeavour.

His next chapter addresses scatting and it is here that he starts to provide substantial

information for a singer, beginning with the practical advice to transcribe solos. He provides tips

as to how to learn to scat by ear if one lacks harmony knowledge, by beginning with singing

around the melody, and then embellishing it (12). He also suggests learning a line or pattern from

a recording, and articulating it exactly as the instrumentalist does (ibid.).

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He provides a fairly detailed section on learning a new tune if one has harmonic knowledge.

The recorded exercises support this, and DiBlasio provides tracks with which to trade fours and

twos with him, and then with a saxophone. He also includes a track demonstrating his suggested

first steps at learning the new song (beginning by learning the roots, and then improvising around

them) (12).

Chapters Five, Six, Seven, and Eight occupy the next two pages, and include reference to

scales and chords for scat singing and ear training tips.

Aebersold’s Scale Syllabus, his preparatory exercises for piano, and an interval chart follow

DiBlasio’s sections, and Aebersold includes a one-page discussion on soloing. His most astute

observation is that “there’s no way anyone is going to play jazz or improvise well without

listening…” (22). He adds that, through listening, one can find all the answers (ibid). This was

certainly the way it was before jazz became institutionalized.

Aebersold also includes a paragraph on practice procedures, which include: learning the

roots, singing the scales up to the ninth, and singing the arpeggios. Additionally, he provides a

basic song list for beginning, intermediate, and advanced singers (ibid.). In the last few pages,

Aebersold includes major and minor scale work, and finishes the book with ii-V-I progressions.

If singers had buttons or keys to press, it would be prudent to learn scales in all twelve

keys, as Aebersold suggests, in order to practice fingering and embouchure adjustment. The

voice is different in that the instrument is internal to the singer, and the changes a singer must

make with ascending or descending pitches are sensitive – they are beyond a finger adjustment.
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Singing scales has the potential to become vocal technique exercises rather than ear-training

exercises due to these delicate adjustments.

The minor exercise is more beneficial, as it is more of a challenge to hear. Range

limitations would likely make it into a technique exercise, however, so it is doubtful that one

would need to do this through all twelve keys.

The most beneficial of the last few recorded tracks and exercises are the last two, which

include ii-V7-I progressions in two keys, and suggest good “licks” to use (31). Once the singer

learns these melodic fragments, s/he can then practice them with the last recording. Since the ii-

V-I progression is the most common in jazz, it is vital for the singer to be able to hear this chord

sequence, and sing it in tune. Therefore, this exercise acts as an ear training application to

practicing hearing the transition from minor to major tonalities.

Although there are some excellent ideas and good aural examples for guiding a singer in

learning his or her material on a deeper level than simply melody and text, this book is poorly

organized. The book as a whole is overly brief and its chapters would be more appropriately

called sections. It also contains information that appears to be copied from Aebersold’s other

instrument-focused books. It leaves one with the impression that the aforesaid singer problem is

still being dealt with in a superficial manner. When questioned regarding the length of this and

his other books, Aebersold responded that “The length of any of our books is pretty much

decided by information/content. We try not to duplicate material appearing in other published

books but the length is not a basic concern” (Houston Email). That is not the impression one gets
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from this edition. Comparing this publication with others, I have verified that there are parts that

are duplicated.

2. McMurdy, Ronald C. and Willie Hill Jr. Jazz Improvisation Series: Approaching the
Standards. Ed. Pete BarenBregge. Vol. Jazz Vocalists. Miami: Warner Bros. Publications,
2000.

McMurdy and Hill created their 44-page workbook to help vocalists “build a melodic,

harmonic and rhythmic jazz vocabulary” (3). They use ten classic jazz tunes, and include a CD to

assist students in listening, analyzing, transcribing and committing the transcriptions to memory

(ibid). Each song uses a female and male professional singer, who performs the melody as

written, and then improvises. One chorus of improvisation is already transcribed in the book for

the student, and blank manuscript paper is provided on the following page for the student to

transcribe the second chorus of improvisation.

There are two tracks for each song; the vocalists sing it the first time, and the second is

instruments only, with several repetitions of the choruses for practicing the melody as well as for

creating one’s own improvisation. The authors also include composers’ insights, a discography,

jazz terms, and “licks and tricks” (ibid).

McMurdy and Hill waste no time in getting to the exercises; this book is not about learning

harmony via keyboard skills, but is a direct line to aural training. By repeatedly listening and

transcribing the notes and rhythms from the vocal solos, one generates a relationship to the jazz

harmonic language as did the vocal masters from the past. This is jazz education at its most basic
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and heralding the time prior to jazz becoming institutionalized. Songs included are Now’s the

Time, Satin Doll, Softly as in a Morning Sunrise, Summertime, I Got Rhythm, Honeysuckle

Rose, Tenor Madness, Bye Bye Blackbird, Secret Love, and Take the A Train.

The authors assume that the singer has a certain degree of theory education, so in their song

notes, they briefly comment on the crucial harmonic points about the song. For example, in their

discussion of Parker’s Now’s the Time, they recommend focusing on major, minor, and dominant

scales and chords (6). In Satin Doll, they suggest incorporating sequences in one’s improvisation

in order to give the solos form and character (10). In Softly as in a Morning Sunrise, they say

that mastering the flat-nine chord in the bridge and the half-diminished chords in the A section

are significant to this piece (14). For each song, McMurdy and Hill refer to only one or two

theoretical and harmonic points on which to work and which they feel are pertinent to

completely know the piece.

They have written out each of the scales for the chord progressions, with the chord tones

indicated by solid note heads. Since both authors are instrumentalists, it would likely be natural

for them to incorporate guide tones, scales, and arpeggios as fundamental steps to learning the

tune. Although they do not specifically recommend a way to study the song, like learning chord

tones, scales, and arpeggios, it could be inferred by their inclusion of the chord progressions and

matching scales.

The “licks and tricks” measures include three lines of potential melodic material. The first

two lines use the chord progressions from the A section; the last line uses the first few chords
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from the B section, if it is a sectioned piece. The blues tunes simply provide three different

melodic ideas on the first few chords.

The modest discography accompanying each piece includes both vocalists and

instrumentalists, and provides four or five excellent suggestions. For example, for Parker’s

Now’s the Time, not only are several of Charlie Parker’s recordings included in the list, but also

Art Blakey’s A Night at Birdland, Sonny Rollins’ Greatest Hits, and Eddie Jefferson’s Body and

Soul (7). Ernestine Anderson, Peggy Lee, Ella Fitzgerald, Nancy Wilson, and The Best of Duke

Ellington were recommended for Satin Doll examples.

This is a very good and basic studio aid for guidance for transcription assignments for first-

year college or university students. At the very least, if a student were to integrate aural

transcription of these improvisations with practical keyboard application of the harmonic

functions, s/he would garner an excellent sense of musicality, phrasing, and jazz sense.

3. Stoloff, Bob. Blues Scatitudes: Vocal Improvisation on the Blues. Brooklyn: Gerard &
Sarzin, 2003.

4. —. Scat! Vocal Improvisation Techniques. New York: Gerard & Sarzin, 1996.

Multi-instrumentalist Bob Stoloff has produced two books focused on vocal improvisation,

both of which include an accompanying CD. He is foremost a drummer, so it is no surprise that

both books focus a great deal on rhythm.

His first, Scat!, is a comprehensive approach to improvisation with rhythmic and melodic

exercises, transcribed solos, vocal bass lines and drum grooves, syllable articulation etudes, and

call-and-response exercises.
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Beginning with a few informative pages on the history of scat and jazz vocal improvisation,

the author writes about the work of Louis Armstrong, touches on both well-known and more

unfamiliar vocal improvisors, and concludes with Vocal Summit, in which both author Stoloff

and “instru-vocalist” Bobby McFerrin were members (13). He also provides a listening list of

scat artists.

The exercises begin with several 32-bar rhythm etudes which introduce non-pitched rhythmic

patterns for triplet and duple time practice. They also contain accent markings, both on- and off-

beats, syncopations, and potential scat syllables. He states that he has included these drills with

scat syllables because the first question he is often asked by novice jazz singers is “what

syllables should I use?” (15).

Chapter two contains diatonic patterns for vocal warm up, with suggested scat syllables and

accents. Regarding syllables, he comments that one needs to consider which vowels to use while

ascending or descending in pitch, and that vowels sound better if /i/ is used on higher pitches,

with /a/ or /u/ on lower pitches (25).3 For the female voice, classical vocal pedagogy indicates the

opposite; open vowels for higher pitches and closed vowels, like /i/, in the lower range. With the

combination of external amplification and the typically lower range of songs in contemporary

music, vowel usage is perhaps an unnecessary complication, especially if the vowels employed

are comfortable and vibrant. What is more important is which syllables to use for stylistic

considerations and accents, for stepwise versus wider intervals, and when the melodic contour

changes (ibid.)

3 International Phonetic Alphabet - /i/ pronounced as in ‘be;’ /u/ as in ‘loop.’

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Stoloff uses interesting rhythms in the theme and variation exercises and, to get the full

benefit of these, one needs to pay close attention to his syncopations and stressed notes. He

moves into modal jazz ii-V patterns and melodic embellishments, and includes extended

arpeggio exercises around the circle of fifths, as well as altered scales for practice in hearing flat-

and sharp-ninths (48). A teacher could include these in the vocal warmup section of the lesson,

thereby teaching harmony and ear-training concurrently.

Some modal scales follow, along with very brief notes as to which chord matches a particular

scale. He discusses altered dominant chords along with the appropriate scales to use for soloing,

and provides some small improvisation samples and exercises. Of the long exercises that come

next, one could be a duet or for use in an ensemble, with one or two individuals singing a

walking bass line while the other voice(s) sings a descending bebop scale around the circle of

fifths. Other exercises are dominant seventh with sharp eleventh, dominant seventh turnarounds,

and locrian and altered mixolydian scales.

Next in the book are the practice melodies. They begin with blues and rhythm changes, and

move to forms with more complex chord changes, and which incorporate altered and modal

scales.

The last half of the book contains work on vocal bass lines and percussion sounds. Vocalists

need to be aware of what the bass player plays, so the vocal bass line section could be well-used

in a studio to build this consciousness and solidify hearing root movement. The rhythm changes

for vocal bass (transposed into appropriate keys) would not only provide a female singer with
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practice in reading an unfamiliar clef, but would also provide essential practice on a commonly-

used progression.

He finishes with vocal drum articulations, and these may be better used in a jazz ensemble or

a cappella group. Their usefulness in the voice studio may be limited, but is warranted to create

an enhanced appreciation of rhythm.

Aside from omitting transcription or piano skills, this book is one of the better ones. It

provides a demanding rhythm workout, which is the area where vocalists tend to be weak, along

with ear-training that deals with some difficult melodic ideas. Often, vocal improvisation lines

are uninspired both rhythmically and melodically and Scat! addresses those deficiencies.

Blues-focused material comprises his Blues Scatitudes. Stoloff again includes rhythm

exercises, incorporating accents and syllabification. Ear-training work focuses largely on scales,

which include: major, major and minor pentatonic, and the blues scale. There are several pages

of exercises over the blues form, and there are eight blues compositions, which are each recorded

twice, and which provide different style examples.

Blues Scatitudes is easier than his first book, Scat!; it appears to be directed at a beginning-

level vocalist. One could begin with this book prior to moving to Scat!, although there is enough

material for all skill-levels within his first book to make Scatitudes redundant.

A detraction of this book is that it is impossible to import the tracks from the CD into a

program like iTunes; in that regard it is not very portable.

5. Weir, Michele. Vocal Improvisation. Advance Music, 2001.

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Weir’s book is the most substantial of the group, consisting of 21 chapters, and 232 pages.

She deals with the fundamentals of chords and scales, chord progressions, and includes a very

modest five pages for jazz keyboard. There is also an appendix of 19 interesting interviews with

jazz singers (Dee Dee Bridgewater, Jay Clayton, Sheila Jordan, Kurt Elling, and Judy Niemack,

to name just a few). Questions to the interviewees revolve around how they learned to improvise,

whether they practice improvisation, their proficiency level on other instruments, musical

influences for improvisation, and what they think is important to tell students of vocal

improvisation (195).

Weir also suggests solos for transcription, and indicates which ones would be appropriate for

beginning students, and which ones are more difficult (218). She provides a listening-list, which

includes both instrumentalists and vocalists, and divides the instrumental section into instruments

of focus (i.e. Tenor Saxophone, Alto Saxophone, Trumpet, etc.). The guidance in this section is

very helpful as a young singer needs to begin with easy solos. One could also use any of the

tracks on the accompanying CD, on which Darmon Meader, Michelle Weir, and Don Shelton

improvise.

Weir is first and foremost a pianist who also sings, and therefore speaks from an

instrumentalist’s viewpoint. She says that her goal in writing the book is to “make a contribution

to jazz by inspiring more interest and development in the art of vocal improvisation” (11). Her

many years of presenting improvisation clinics and working with jazz singers in both classroom

and private lesson situations has provided her with a wealth of experience from which to draw.
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She notes that singers tend to be less harmonically evolved than their instrumental

counterparts. Therefore, when they solo, they neglect to use interesting, inventive, and

harmonically sophisticated lines because they remain stuck in the harmonic language of 1940s

swing music. This, she feels, is why there is a lack of respect for vocal improvisation. Many have

suggested that the extent of a singer’s improvisation should consist of only varying and

decorating the melody (12).

Weir, like any instrumentalist, contends that the way one learns how to improvise is through

extensive listening and doing aural and written transcriptions. She says that “learning by ear

could be the best way for us to tap into our most creative, adventurous, and free-spirited

potential” (28). A surprising disagreement on this idea though, is from Humber’s Brian

Dickinson, who wrote The Ears Have Walls (not discussed in this paper). He says that, although

he himself recommends it, “there are many varying opinions on the merits of transcribing jazz

solos as a means to improving one’s improvising” (19). Weir feels there may be a disadvantage if

one relies exclusively on listening, however, because the harmonic nature of jazz has evolved

over the years and is now more sophisticated. She fears that it could be a slow road to fluency

without a basic theoretical understanding (ibid), and perhaps this is what Dickinson meant to

imply by his comment.

Her first section in the jazz fundamentals chapter is on scales and modes. It is a modest

introduction and she explains that, because the main thrust of the book is to teach one how to

improvise by hearing key centers, she does not want to dwell on scales. Therefore, she only lists

and transcribes the commonly used scales and the chords over which they may be used (42).
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The next ten pages introduces chord progressions, wherein she provides recommendations

for some jazz theory books one can investigate for further study. The rest of the section deals

with rhythmic grooves, song forms, and a few pages of jazz keyboard.

Section Two, Beginning Improvisation, starts with melodic variation on the blues

progression. She uses simple syllables, like “ba,” “da-ba,” and “dot,” and transitions from simple

to more complex melodic and rhythmic variation and ornamentation. Her next exercise uses a

song she calls In the Time of Summer, which is based on the familiar Summertime. The

demonstration singers provide very small melodic licks in call-and-response format so that one

can sing back the small fragments. In successive choruses, the melodic ideas become longer, and

in the last chorus Weir scats over the form, which she recommends one learn and transcribe (74).

Her most valid point within the section synopsis is again about listening, and says that “simply

hearing the music itself is probably the single most helpful method of learning jazz

improvisation” (ibid.).

The next section is about rhythm. It is similar to Stoloff’s Scat! rhythm etude exercises, in

that she approaches them by using short and simple motives and adheres to easy syncopations.

She recommends using a metronome for practice. The CD exercise contains call-and-response

rhythm fragments which use one-measure motives and easily-spoken syllables, with only drum

set as accompaniment. Less than a minute into the track, the fragments switch to two-measure

rhythms, with increased rhythm and syllable complexity. Although the exercises are not as

extensive as the ones Stoloff uses, they seem adequate for the beginning-level of singer, and

would be appropriate rhythm warm-ups.

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Chapter Seven deals with melody creation and recaps her section on Melody Variation, found

a few pages earlier. She quickly progresses to the blues scale, and provides numerous melodic

fragment exercises which utilize the pitches of the scale. She also discusses vocal inflections,

like the shake and fall-off, for example, and the CD track provides practice examples.

Major diatonic chord progressions are in the next chapter, with examples of two-measure

melodic motives one can use while navigating the circle of fifths, as well as over the I-vi-ii-V

progression. Weir also includes minor sixth to half-diminished-flat-9 progressions for practicing

the harmonic minor scale over the progression. Humber College includes several of these

exercises as requirements for their first year students.

Chapter Nine, Learning to Hear the Changes, begins with work on learning how to hear and

sing root movement, and uses a composition Weir calls Take the Train to Harlem (103). Her

method involves simply singing the roots at first, and then singing simple rhythms on the roots.

The third step is scatting on pitches adjacent to the roots, gradually incorporating more melody

experimention. She and her colleagues demonstrate this on the CD; the first time through the

song, she sings only the melody, and the second time through Weir sings only the roots using

simple rhythms. The third time, she sings easy melodic improvisation based on the roots, and

gradually gets more experimental. On the last iteration, a different singer provides his own

improvisation for the student to learn and transcribe. To further assist the beginning-level student

to experiment with creating melodic fragments, the next track on the CD continues with the Take

the Train chord progression. The demonstration singers each provide a one-chorus call-and-

response exercise, followed by another full chorus of solos. The improvisation segments, and last
 Houston – Page 20

chorus of improvisation, are more difficult than on the previous track, but still accessible to the

beginning student.

The Intermediate Improvisation section covers instrumental-like articulation, melodic

structure and development, non-diatonic chord progressions, and more work on hearing the

changes. Weir delves further into achieving a deeper aural understanding of harmony using her

Take the Train by adding exercises using the root and third, followed by arpeggios and singing

the first five notes of the scale, ascending and descending.

She has transcribed the exercises for the non-diatonic changes, which are quite challenging

compared to the exercises in the first section. They range in length from two to eight measures,

and introduce chromaticism. Humber uses some of these Intermediate level exercises for both

first and second year students (third year students use exercises in the Advanced Improvising

section).

The Advanced section works on more rhythmic concepts, and introduces sixteenth-note

figures in anticipation of rapid bebop lines and more chromaticism. The exercises are noticeably

more difficult, and Weir cautions that the student must be meticulous during practice because

chromaticism is so often difficult for singers (144). In addition to the short bebop lines, she

includes a longer jazz etude based on rhythm changes. Weir sings the melody the first time, with

clarinet and saxophone solos following on the second and third iterations.

Her section on Hearing the Changes Better expands on her Beginning Improvisation section

with the inclusion of arpeggios to the ninth and guide tone lines on the thirds and sevenths to aid
 Houston – Page 21

in harmonic definition during improvisation (153). She indicates the next step of this process as

incorporating improvisation around the thirds and sevenths, rather than only the roots. She makes

a key comment regarding how well singers need to know the harmony, and says “the true test is

this: if you can improvise a cappella on a tune and clearly define the changes, you have done

your harmonic homework” (152).

Whether or not one intends to improvise by scatting, by using Weir’s suggestions, one will

obtain much-needed further education in harmonic principals. One will be able to more skillfully

create melodic variations, and will attain the awareness needed to ensure that one preserves, or

adds, the most interesting melody notes.

Vocalists have their work cut out for them, and this book goes a long way toward assisting

them. This is an excellent pedagogical resource for both student and teacher, not only for

improvisation, but also for basic jazz ear training. The concepts are presented well, and the

pacing is appropriate.

There is not enough information in this book to use it for very advanced piano or theory; one

would need to augment this book with other worthwhile sources, and the author provides

recommendations to that end.

Exercises & Ear Training

6. Niemack, Judy. Hear It & Sing It!: Exploring Modal Jazz. New York: Second Floor Music,
2004.

When jazz vocalist Judy Niemack studied improvisation, she was the only vocal student of

tenor saxophonist Wayne Marsh. When she began singing she did the same thing that many, or
 Houston – Page 22

most, singers do – she improvised by ear; her success depended upon her inspiration and

familiarity with the song (5). She quickly realized that in order to develop her musical

vocabulary and develop her improvisational skill, she not only needed jazz theory knowledge,

but also needed to be able to hear it. Marsh showed her how to transcribe instrumental solos by

ear, how to learn to sing and play them, and urged her to focus her practice sessions on chords

and scales separately, and then on chord progressions (ibid). An interesting comment from her is

that after spending twenty-five years practicing, performing, and teaching vocal jazz, she has

returned to where she began, which is learning by ear. She feels that learning aurally is still the

most important part of becoming a better improviser (6).

The CD contains many tracks. The first seven, which total approximately eight minutes long,

are for vocal warm up. Her students told her that they found the hardest part of practicing was

simply getting started; it was with that in mind that she created this book and CD to enable a

student to simply insert it into a player and use it to not only work on the scales, but also for

warm up guidance (6). They are easy exercises to do, and stay within an appropriate range for

both female and male voices. She uses both open and closed vowels and uses both major and

minor tonalities. She provides a brief vocal example of the exercise, which moves through all

keys, but soon ceases in order to allow the student to continue with the accompaniment.

The next dozen pages of the book contain a brief summary of modal jazz and theory

concepts. She expresses the hope that her tiny introduction about theory piques the student’s

interest enough to compel him or her to pursue further study, and in that regard she recommends

several sources (39). She also devotes a few pages to discussing scat singing, and provides a

pronunciation guide to the syllables she uses. She relays that while spending much of her time
 Houston – Page 23

teaching in Europe, she has found that the students there struggle with the American

pronunciations and spellings and this is her attempt to codify scat for them (ibid.).

The modal workouts follow the same pattern, and cover Ionian, Dorian, Phrygian, Lydian,

Mixolydian, Aeolian, and Locrian; she provides a description and diagram of the mode, and

indicates over which chord the scale would be best used. She begins the exercises with the

pianist playing the scale while she sings it, and then moves to intervals which increase in size

from the root up, and then octave down. For example, she sings root-second-root; root-third-root;

etc., and repeats that pattern from the octave up by singing eighth-seventh-eighth; eighth-sixth-

eighth, throughout the rest of the intervals.

Diatonic thirds and triads come next, followed by call-and-response with two-measure

melodic motives starting on the tonic as well as other scale degrees. Some of these motives bear

similarity from mode to mode, but they are not identical, so they provide a number of ideas to

use in a soloing situation.

She says that the CD is “designed to be useful in high school and college jazz choir settings,

as well as in vocal improvisation classes” (68). If an accompanist is unavailable, a teacher could

use the CD and be able to instruct the young singers in proper breathing techniques and posture,

without having the distraction of playing the exercise. Niemack suggests using only one scale per

rehearsal, starting with the major scales (Ionian first, and then Lydian and Mixolydian). Minor

modes would be added to the exercises afterwards (ibid.).

 Houston – Page 24

This would be a good resource if jazz ear-training courses were unavailable, as one would

assume that this information would be covered in those classes. It would also be more helpful

had she included suggestions of songs that make ample use of these tonalities.

7. Rawlins, Steve. 21 Bebop Exercises for Vocalists & Instrumentalists. Milwaukee: Hal
Leonard, 2001.

8. Snidero, Jim. Jazz Conception: 21 Solo Etudes for scat singing, jazz phrasing, interpretation,
and improvisation. Hechingen: Advance Music, 1999.

Both Rawlins and Snidero produced books similar in intent, so both are discussed in this

section.

Rawlins’ book contains, as the title says, exercises based on bebop lines. He says in his

introduction that he feels by narrowing in on only 21 clearly defined examples, one can

memorize them easily and grasp an understanding of chord alterations, phrasing, and note

selection options (3). All exercises explore all twelve keys, and are at moderate to fast tempos.

Some require time spent at a piano, as the vibraphone used to state the melody of the exercise is

sometimes not completely audible, especially in the faster passages.

The exercises cover many patterns, such as: thirds, scales ending in sharp and flat ninths,

chromatics, semi-tones with triads and neighbour tones, ascending and descending major and

minor arpeggios with chromatic root movement, three against four, sixteenth note runs, ii-V7-I

patterns, diminished triads, diminished and double-diminished scales, diminished patterns, minor

I and IV chords, and minor I to Major IV, perfect fourths and augmented fourths, the whole tone

scale, and of course the blues scale.

 Houston – Page 25

One drawback of this book is its use of extended ranges. Rawlins feels that these exercises

will help in developing a vocalist’s, or instrumentalist’s, range, and writes that “even ‘squeaking’

out the new notes at first will help extend [your] range” (4). Vocal range extension exercises are

entirely different than these, however, and because of the melodic difficulty of some of the

exercises, it is quite possible that one’s attention to technique would become secondary,

negatively impacting the voice. It may be true that “squeaking” out pitches on non-vocal

instruments helps to expand one’s range, but it is unwise suggestion for vocal range extension

due to the potential constriction and tension created by the effort.

Many of the other authors have provided a CD with the vocals recorded on a separate track to

enable one to practice with only the rhythm section, but unfortunately Rawlins did not.

The accompanying CD to Snidero’s book of etudes utilizes a female vocalist and rhythm

section. The vocals have been recorded onto a separate track to allow one to practice only with

the rhythm section.

Snidero based his etudes on familiar jazz standards, some of which are Total Blues (All

Blues); Proxy (Doxy); Father Song (Song for my Father); Friends (Just Friends); and Autumn

(Autumn Leaves). Many of the songs on which Snidero based his Conceptions are likely to be in

a young jazz vocalist’s repertoire book. By learning the etude in conjunction with learning the

song, a student would obtain not only a deeper understanding of the song’s harmonic movement,

but also would garner potential improvisation material.

 Houston – Page 26

He has provided many different “flavours” of jazz, from swing to modal jazz. All key choices

are excellent for both male and female singers, and he makes ample use of different feels and

tempos. Snidero composed the etudes, so they are instrumentally conceived and make ample use

of non-chord tones and rhythmic variation. He recommends memorizing them, and

acknowledges that this book is not meant to replace transcribing and listening but is meant as an

introduction and supplement (6). These etudes would be very acceptable for transcription

practice; they are within the abilities of novice jazz vocalist, and some would provide a

challenge.

This book has excellent potential for use as a studio manual despite the singer lacking a

strong sense of swing. And, although the singer is very good, a male voice would be an

appreciated timbre change.

Artistry

9. Clayton, Jay. Sing Your Story: A Practical Guide for Learning & Teaching The Art of Jazz
Singing. Advance Music, 2001.

Clayton hails from the generation of singers who had the opportunity to learn their craft on

the bandstand, and benefited from an informal apprenticeship that does not exist today. She

makes a point that she listened to everything from gospel to avant-garde (9), and that her earliest

influences were horn players whose live performances were critical to her understanding of the

music and to her development (10).

Clayton excludes piano skills and theory. Her book seems to be directed at the singer who

only wants to sing, and who has no piano skills. Therefore, her first chapter begins with advice
 Houston – Page 27

on choosing songs, and says that choosing material is the first step in cultivating one’s personal

style (11). She feels that it is very important that a singer first learn songs by rote using a

previously recorded version. The next step is to find somebody to play the melody so the singer

can record it as written, without being influenced by another vocalist’s interpretation (ibid.). She

advises memorizing the song as soon as possible, and seems to feel that a singer really knows the

song as long as he or she does not have to look at the lyrics (12). Other processes she advises are

analyzing the form of the tune, and singing the song rubato (ibid.)

She includes a section on lead sheets and transposition, and provides a scale chart of the

typical keys used, with a transcription of the major scales and corresponding natural minors. She

makes an odd comment when she discusses the keys and cautions the singer on the keys to use;

she writes that “some keys have so many sharps or flats that the musicians simply have to think

too hard” (16). There are certainly more favourable and typical keys to use than others, and one

wants to ensure a great performance of the song from all involved, but unfortunately her word

choice is poor.

The next several pages takes a singer through the steps for transposing a chart, and Clayton

provides some pages of blank staff paper.

She discusses tune list and book organization, arrangements, and how to “talk down the tune”

(33). She also demonstrates various introductions and endings (4-bar, 8-bar, vamp, etc.) and

includes terminology for the singer to practice in order to sound informed.

 Houston – Page 28

Clayton addresses performance next, and suggests that “you learn to sing by singing…the

sooner you get out there and sing for people the better” (37). She also notes the potential of

sitting in, how one copes with stage fright, and includes a couple of paragraphs directed at a

teacher for organizing and holding a singer showcase (39).

She addresses improvisation by discussing phrasing and provides suggestions of singers to

whom one should listen, and who are considered to be storytellers (41). She makes some

excellent points in her tips on phrasing wherein she suggests that the singer must understand and

believe the lyric’s message, leave space, and sing the melody because it is never boring if it is

honest (ibid.)

In her discussion about scatting, she observes that one should scat only if one has something

to say, and that “scatting for the sake of scatting will always sound contrived” (42). She feels that

“when a singer knows the song well and connects with its meaning...improvising happens

naturally, without effort” (ibid.). One can assume she is referring here to improvisation by

paraphrasing the lyric, as she clarifies that being able to solo over the changes is a lifelong

endeavour.

She uses the blues and rhythm changes as the primary forms over which a beginning singer

can learn to hear the changes. An interesting and fun exercise she introduces for use in a group

setting is a blues collage (43), wherein one singer begins singing a blues head a cappella; the

next singer joins in, at the appropriate point, with a different blues head. The other singers in the

group join with their choice of blues tune, resulting in a medley of blues melodies. Empirical
 Houston – Page 29

evidence indicates that this is a great ear-stretching, rhythm, and concentration exercise during a

master-class or group lesson situation.

She finally refers to learning the bass melody to aid in learning to improve, and suggests

another group game where one singer sings the bass line, another sings the melody of the song,

and the third improvises.

Clayton discusses her experience with free-form improvisation. She feels that it is an

invaluable tool for developing an individual’s vocabulary, for listening to the inner ear as well as

to surrounding music, and for gaining confidence in one’s intuition (46). In her workshops, she

has the participants perform some free improvisation, as well as some of her experimental

compositions (ibid.).

In the preface to Clayton’s brief book, Sheila Jordan writes that this book specifically

addresses the plight of a singer, and that this musical map provides the correct direction; no more

guesswork, and no more singer jokes (8). One must remember that this book is directed at the

“art” of jazz singing and not at theory and harmony. With so many other books available that

discuss all of the topics that Clayton addresses here, and that also include harmonic instruction,

this book may not fill the niche that Jordan feels it does. It is very basic and may not assist the

vocalist much in fulfilling the requirements that are expected of singers today within the

academic setting.

10. Cooper, Dr. Gloria and Don Sickler. Jazz Phrasing: A Workshop for Jazz Vocalists. New
York: Second Floor Music, 2004.
 Houston – Page 30

Dr. Gloria Cooper, jazz pianist and vocalist, is Assistant Professor of Music at Long Island

University in Brooklyn, NY. She is Editor of Sing Jazz!, a compendium of lead sheets of songs

largely derived from tunes that were originally conceived as instrumental pieces, to which lyrics

were added at a later date. It is from that source that Cooper derives her working pieces for Jazz

Phrasing.

In her introduction, Cooper states that this book offers a practical, hands-on approach to fine-

tuning important elements of jazz phrasing; the book/CD combination allows one to see how the

music is notated while listening to it being played by a rhythm section, and to hear many of the

examples sung by professional vocalists (5). She arranges the tracks so the first one is played by

a trumpet; the second one is a voice duplicating the trumpet line; and the third one is the rhythm

section only to which the student can sing along.

To demonstrate how different tempos affect swing eighth-notes, she dedicates the first twenty

tracks of the CD to one song, My Little Sherri, performed in increasingly faster tempos. While

listening to only the trumpet tracks, one hears the marked difference as the eighth-notes become

more rhythmically even with the increase in tempo; the subtle differences in phrasing by the

rhythm section and the vocalist provide each tempo with its own identity (8). Cooper also briefly

discusses the accompaniment rhythms, introducing the use of the “Charleston” figure in bass and

piano to mesh with the triplet figure set up in the drums. She also draws one’s attention to how

the feel changes when the bass switches to a walking-bass line and the drummer adjusts to

playing time on the cymbals (ibid).

 Houston – Page 31

These 12-measure segments are ideal tools for completely concentrating and duplicating the

phrasing and punctuation by the trumpet. Cooper also draws attention to the syllables that the

singer uses on her tracks, and comments upon how the syllables one uses – how one combines

vowels and consonants – affects one’s swing feeling.

Her next section deals with flexible, open phrasing, and she begins the discussion with

various examples of Judy Niemack’s recording of I’m Movin’ On, a bright jazz waltz. The

rhythm sections begins with a two-against-three feel and soon shifts incorporating a walking-

bass line, with brushes on the drums, while Niemack explores dynamic shaping and uses

anticipations and delays. They experiment with medium tempo, and then medium-slow, Latin

grooves, while Cooper continues with her guidance on what one should listen for (21). She also

allows for plenty of practice time for one to sing along with the rhythm section on the tracks. The

medium-slow tempo and feel is drastically different than the bright waltz with which they began,

and these examples illustrate how different feels work for the same song. She finishes the chapter

by discussing phrasing in a ballad, and provides several examples of textual treatment with

rhythm variations.

Cooper concludes her book with discussion on Hank Mobley’s Comin’ Back, to which

George V. Johnson added lyrics and then renamed Your Day Is Come (41); she provides a full

lead sheet with lyrics, rhythm specifications, feel changes, and transcribed trumpet solos. Further

discussion involves the use of backgrounds in one’s arrangement. Cooper suggests that

backgrounds be in every vocalist’s survival kit for use in improvisation situations where there

may be more than one vocalist interacting with other solo instruments (50).
 Houston – Page 32

This is an informative book as a home study manual, and her lead sheets are excellent

examples of how detailed and professional-looking they should be. For the teaching studio, it

could provide great ideas for weekly homework projects on lead sheet construction.

11. Spradling, Diana. Jazz Singing: Developing Artistry and Authenticity. Edmonds, WA: Sound
Music Publications, 2007.

Spradling’s 142-page book contains four Forwards, written by notable pedagogues and

performers. Two of these individuals are Dr. Steve Zegree, who holds the Bobby McFerrin

Professor of Jazz appointment at Western Michigan University, and Mark Murphy, a jazz world

icon. Zegree is very complimentary about this “ground-breaking book” (iii), and feels that

Spradling presents solid evidence and documentation that will go a long way to dispelling

opinions and myths that some classical voice teachers believe to be the truth (ibid). Murphy does

not say very much, which causes one to wonder why Murphy’s comments were used at all, other

than the cache of having someone of his prominence offering support of the book.

Dr. Ronald McMurdy, co-author of Approaching the Jazz Standards, also provides his

accolades, and refers to this as an “exhaustive study” (vii). He feels that it will have long-term

implications for how educators can, and should, add to their arsenal of tools (ibid.).

Spradling states that the purpose of this book is to endeavour to “define the craft and artistic

parameters of jazz singing from both an artistic and pedagogical perspective” (ix), and to offer

operational definitions of the physical and acoustical behaviors of jazz singers based on scientific

spectrographic analysis of 20 significant artists (xvi). To do this, she examines several of the

same properties of voice discussed in classical vocal pedagogy books, and measures degrees of
 Houston – Page 33

sameness and differences in vocal production, acoustical properties, and physical behaviors

(ibid.).

Chapter one describes how she chose the artists to include in the study. She chose the

participants only if they were listed in the New Grove Dictionary of Jazz as a singer and, if they

were multi-instrumentalists, singer had to be listed as the first instrument. Other qualifications

she defined, of which the artist had to satisfy at least five, include: being born no later than 1950,

being listed in Leonard Feather’s Biographical Encyclopedia of Jazz, having collaborated and/or

recorded with historically significant instrumental jazz musicians, playing an instrument in

addition to singing, having recorded a significant body of work which include historically

influential tunes, having headlined at a major jazz festival (the likes of Montreal, Monterey, and

Montreaux), having been listed at least once in Downbeat, being recognized by the International

Association for Jazz Education (now defunct), having a biography published in jazz-related

journals, being a composer and writer, and having been nominated and/or having received a

Grammy award. The 20 artists who satisfied her requirements include some of the biggest

names, like Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan, Carmen McRae, Mel Tormé, Mark

Murphy, Al Jarreau, and Bobby McFerrin (4-7).

She describes her process of choosing the records of the artists in chapter two, and chapter

three contains the results of the analysis. She states that jazz singers explore many more variables

in sound production than do classical singers, and that there are several categories of common

practice for jazz that are different than the common practices of classical singing. She devotes

time referring to voice science, the use (or not) of the singer’s formant, discussing first, second,
 Houston – Page 34

third, and subsequent formants and how they related to mouth, and tongue body and tip

placement (13-15).

In Chapter five, on vowel production and text treatment, she reports that in the higher pitches

of both men and women, jazz vocalists tend to use purer vowels versus speech-like vowels

employed lower in their range. She does not, unfortunately, define what she considers higher

pitches and this could use further clarification. Higher pitches for classical singers are very

different from the higher pitches of jazz vocalists. Indeed, there are few pitches jazz vocalists

use, unless they are scatting, that are not speech-like.

Her statement that this “certainly lends integrity to the study of pure vowel production for the

jazz singer” (24), seems to infer that only by relating a contemporary voice study to classical

voice does it gain validity or integrity. Commercial and contemporary voice production is very

different from classical; by invoking the comparison, and approval, of classical voice

researchers, she undermines the validity of jazz voice as its own entity. Having said that,

however, over the past number of years there has been an increasing amount of research on

contemporary and commercial voice in an effort towards dispelling the assumption by classical

voice teachers that singing jazz damages the voice. One can hope that Spradling’s research will

aid in that furthering the advancement of contemporary voice pedagogy, and perhaps a necessary

first step is to relate it to something known.

Chapter five provides some tips as to what one may do to counteract difficulties like vowel

use and “placement,” but they are difficult to locate in the density of the text. Other topics she

addresses are vibrato, posture, breath management, and disciplined practice, where she discusses
 Houston – Page 35

exercises. Unfortunately, the exercises are difficult to locate because they are in prose form

rather than diagram – they are lost within her discussion. In the beginning of Section Three of the

book, though, she eventually suggests using Steve Rawlins’ 21Bebop Exercises to learn

instrumentally conceived lines (67).

Part three documents artistic vocal improvisation, and is authored by Justin Garrett Binek of

the jazz faculty of Philadelphia’s University of the Arts. He transcribed six vocal solos, which

represent what many consider to be the finest works of the chosen artists (Sarah Vaughan, Mel

Tormé, Ella Fitzgerald, Betty Carter, Bobby McFerrin, and Mark Murphy), and then provides his

analysis of the solos.

On an artistic level, this is the most interesting and helpful part of the book. For each solo, he

describes what the artist does melodically, and how it corresponds with the underlying harmony.

He summarizes the rhythmic, melodic, and scat concepts, and also provides an analysis of the

syllable choices the artists made. His transcription are informative, which, when combined with

learning the solo aurally, provides information that is much more pertinent to a jazz singer and

voice teacher than the science-heavy first part of the book. His last section is a summary of the

commonalities between the six solos he analyzed.

Spradling is obviously excited about voice science and seeks to fill a niche, however the

information contained, as well as the layout of this book, negates usefulness as a studio manual.

She invokes the spirit of art and artistry development in the title, but the content does not honour

that intent. It is a young research area, and the work is worthwhile, but the title of the book

should convey that message, and reflect her interest in the science of jazz voice.
 Houston – Page 36

12. Weir, Michele. Jazz Singer's Handbook: The Artistry and Mastery of Singing Jazz. USA:
Alfred, 2005.

Weir begins by providing a listening list of twenty vocal jazz CDs, and stresses that “no

matter how informative any book may be, it can never be a substitute for hearing this music” (6).

She also suggests a list of 45 standards she recommends a singer new to jazz include in his or her

repertoire (7).

In Chapter One, Weir provides lead sheets for five standards, each in two keys to make them

suitable for both female and male singers. She also suggests a variety of artists who have

recorded versions of the songs, from Ella Fitzgerald and Anita O’Day, to John Pizzarelli and

Barbra Streisand (who is not noted for singing jazz, but who is a great interpreter) (9).

This book focuses solely on interpretation, and works on things like: phrasing, pronunciation,

and conversational text delivery, making the song personalized, melody treatment, and swing

rhythm feel. In her chapter on how to learn a new song, in addition to the obvious point that one

needs to learn the original melody and choose the proper key, she devotes a couple of pages to

discussing song form.

Personal experience indicates that vocalists, even at the university level, do not often have a

solid concept of what good lead sheets look like. Without proper instruction and examples, the

charts they create are often almost illegible. Chapter Nine is dedicated to that topic, and provides

good instruction and clear examples that include melody, lyrics, and chords.

Chapter Ten deals with creating an arrangement and is intensely informative. Several tracks

on the accompanying CD demonstrate the numerous examples she provides for introductions and
 Houston – Page 37

endings, in both major and minor keys, and are notated with chord symbols and slash notation

for rhythm. This section is very valuable; often, if a vocalist does not have piano and theory

skills, he or she leaves introductions and endings up to the instrumentalists and they often fall

back on some fairly standard chord choices. Notating specific introductions and endings on the

lead sheet provides for a much needed change from the default choices, and indicates that the

vocalist has done some homework. Weir includes examples of charts at the end of this chapter

(excluding lyrics and melody lines, which are easily available in fake books), and describes the

components she feels are important to include, such as introduction, form, feel, and endings.

The last few chapters of the book address creating a gig book, rehearsing with the band,

rhythmic grooves and styles, and participating in a jam session. She also provides a good

resource list of publications for piano study, vocal technique, jazz theory, jazz singing, and

philosophy of music and performing.

This book would be valuable to a singer starting his or her exploration of the vocal jazz

medium, as well as a more experienced singer looking to enhance his or her lead sheet skills.

Weir’s modest publication, of fewer than 100 pages, is a stark contrast to Spradling’s, in that this

book truly focuses on the artistry, interpretation, and essence of singing jazz. It contains basic

material to establish a solid foundation in creating one’s relationship to the music, and would

work very well for a student studying at home. If one were to use this publication in conjunction

with Weir’s Improvisation, one would glean a solid grounding in the art form.

Instrumental approaches
 Houston – Page 38

13. Berkman, David. The Jazz Singer's Guidebook: A Course in Jazz Harmony and Scat Singing
for the Serious Jazz Vocalist. Petaluma: Sher Music, 2009.

The title suggests that this book is directed exclusively at the singer who wishes to improvise

by scatting, and Berkman states in his introduction that being able to scat indicates that the singer

has internalized the chord changes in a deep way (i). He makes some astute observations about

vocalists when he discusses the difficulty that many instrumentalists have with singers; scatting

is difficult to do well, and often a vocalist “wings it” (ii), relying on his or her ears only, without

having done the requisite study of the song’s harmony (Judy Niemack referred to this very thing

in the introduction to her book). This is in contrast to an instrumentalist who sings, who has

spent years immersed in harmony study, and who subsequently does a much better job with vocal

improvisation because of the notes he or she chooses (ibid.).

Understanding the harmony better, however, allows a vocalist to sing the melody with greater

freedom and to consciously choose more interesting and instrumental-like alternate melodies

than a singer who is unfamiliar with harmony, and who improvises using mostly chord tones

(ibid.). Obviously, a jazz vocalist does not have to scat to improvise, and there are varying

opinions as to whether a singer should scat at all. Great interpreters can bring tears to the

listeners’ eyes by having a deep relationship to the lyric and by telling the story, without

employing vocal gymnastics and deviating much from the written melody.

Berkman acknowledges the difficulties and practicing implications in his reference to long

scalar passages that instrumentalists often use, and suggests that a vocalist is apt to become

distracted from the point of the exercise because the technical demands are so challenging (iii).

In contrast to Rawlins’ suggestion that these long exercises actually aid in increasing one’s range
 Houston – Page 39

(Rawlins 4), Berkman advocates that singers use the smaller, more vocalistic tetra-chords and

guide-tone lines for harmonic study, as the point of these exercises is to promote hearing the

chord changes, not working on range extension (Berkman iii).

He begins the book with an introduction to playing the piano. The first few pages are at a

beginner-level and include a diagram of a keyboard with the note names written on the keys.

Berkman proceeds from instruction on locating and playing notes with one finger to four-note

singer voicings within approximately 14 pages, and then also discusses adding upper extensions.

He suggests periodically that if one has had his or her fill of piano, it would be appropriate to

move on in the book as the piano instruction soon involves altered tones and rootless voicings.

For a chapter entitled Becoming a Functional Pianist, there is an overwhelming amount of fairly

advanced material and one would hope this would not dissuade the singer from progressing

further through this book.

His next chapter, on Lead Sheet Basics, is an introduction to theory, and is laden with

information that would possibly be beyond a beginning student. He does an excellent job in

discussing what fuels instrumentalists’ complaints about the chords in vocalists’ charts, and why

this happens (52). He clarifies his points by using Bye Bye Blackbird; he provides four variations

of harmonies with a discussion on why one might choose one over the other. He also discusses

chord substitutions and introductions and endings, although does not provide the numerous

examples that Weir does in her Improvisation and Handbook.

In his opening discussion on the Melody of Songs in Chapter Three, he reminds the reader

that single line instruments, like the voice, are usually more aware of the horizontal nature of a
 Houston – Page 40

melody and how it moves from interval to interval (56). This is in contrast to being aware of the

melody’s vertical relationship to the chords and bass notes, and the consequential harmonic

colours that occur as the chords change. Additionally, a pianist can accompany a rubato

performance more sensitively if a vocalist can perceive the harmonic colours of the changes,

because the singer simply understands how the text aligns to the chord changes (57). He blames

these differences for much of the problem that pianists and other instrumentalists have with

vocalists who scat (56).

He also discusses singers who change the melody, think that they are being creative, but

remove the essence of the melody because they do not understand what note of the chord they

are singing (59). To demonstrate this, he uses three measures of All the Things You Are, and

describes that he often hears singers sing the bridge without the chromatic notes and interesting

intervals (ibid); they create a blander melody, ironically in the pursuit of creativity, because they

do not understand the relationship between the melody and the underlying harmony.

He suggests an exercise to combat this lack of connection to the harmony, which involves

singing the melody, but assigning numeric values to the melody notes over the chord. As the

chords change, one can see that, for instance, the third note of one chord becomes the seventh

note of the next. He uses four-measures of We’ll Be Together Again; the vocalist sings

6-1-2-4-1-3-4-3-4-5-7-6-#4 over the chord progression G7, CMaj7, A-flat7, Dmin7, G7, Amin7,

D7#11 (60). While singing a G over the Dmin7 chord, the chord changes to the G7 on beat three
 Houston – Page 41

and one hears the interesting shift in chord colour while singing the more dissonant fourth of one

chord and moving to the tonic of the next. 4

He cites two reasons why this exercise is helpful; the first is that hearing what notes one

sings over the root helps one’s intonation. Ironically vocalists often have pitch problems, which

is detrimental to an instrument without valves or keys. If a singer thinks only of the horizontal

nature of a melody, he or she misses the point that singing a C over a CMaj7, and moving to a B-

flat sung on an A-flat chord feels differently than do those same notes sung over a different

harmony, like a held C7 (60).

The other reason is that knowing what notes the melody uses on each chord provides insight

into what other notes one may use to alter the melody. Using numbers to represent the note

creates an immediate association to the vertical nature of the melody (ibid.).

Chapter Four begins his scatting sections, where he starts by instructing the student to learn

the roots; one should not only learn to sing the roots while playing the melody, but also play the

roots while singing the melody. This is a step often omitted, and personal experience indicates

that this is beneficial to not only learning the basics of the song, but also for ear-training. Work

on singing the thirds, fifths, sevenths, and extensions follow, but not only singing up and down

the arpeggio from the root. He advises starting with the inner voices and moving upwards and

downwards, using as many configurations of those pitches as one can create. He also suggests

which extensions to use and when: i.e. natural ninth or flat ninth; natural 11 or sharp 11; and flat

4 The example melody is incorrectly stated in the text as moving from G to E on the first two notes.

The correct notes are E to C

 Houston – Page 42

13 or natural 13. The work is intensive, and he acknowledges that it will not be a quick process

to learn to hear these notes. He advises to pick one song and perform all of these steps, as once

one begins to hear these notes, the process and ear-training translates to other pieces.

Chapter Five introduces chord scales, with Chapter Six applying the scales to a song. He

makes a key point in this chapter when he says that scat solos tend to be reactive because singers

typically need to hear what is being played so that they can fit into the sound by finding notes

consonant to the harmony (85). This is opposite to instrumentalists, who anticipate the harmonic

change, plan for it, and exploit the chord scales by maintaining the tension created by their

choice of notes which are at odds with the harmony. By only being able to react, rather than

being proactive, a vocalist can never truly be a leader, and thus their solos remain bland (ibid.).

He works with tetra-chords and chromatic patterns in the following chapters, but hidden in

the middle of one of the pages contains his suggestion what an actual vocal practice session

should be. Based on two hours and 30 minutes, one should allow for 30 minutes of transcribing,

30 minutes of piano practice, 30 minutes of scatting, 20 of melodic analysis, with the rest

devoted to working on charts (99). This must be in addition to the work a vocalist should

continue to do on technique and new repertoire.

He discusses Guide Tone Lines in Chapter Nine, and challenges singers to devote some time

to this topic by saying that although a few singers with whom he has worked have “dabbled”

with his approach none of them has consistently worked to develop this skill (105). For

Berkman, guide-tone lines are not simply the long notes on thirds and sevenths of ii-V7

progressions moving in half- or whole-step motion. He recommends using as many tensions and
 Houston – Page 43

altered tensions as possible (106), and uses Autumn Leaves as an example. He uses ninths, flat-

ninths, and flat-thirteenths in addition to the expected thirds and sevenths (ibid.), and the result is

a stepwise line that is decidedly more interesting than the simpler thirds and sevenths guide-tone

line.

He waits until Chapter Ten to discuss the blues scale because, as he says, “even good singers

when singing blues often use this scale compulsively without even knowing it” (110). He begins

by suggesting motives to be sung over an F-blues, but says that one should pay attention to

where in the form the blues scale is actually used most. Berkman says that for the first four bars

of the form, it is more common to hear chord-tone based melodies, and cites Dan Greenblatt’s

The Blues Scales, wherein that author suggests using a major pentatonic including tones 1, 2,

flat-3, 3, 5 and 6 (Greenblat qtd. in Berkman 112) for that section. Berkman continues with his

suggestion that one should emphasize the seventh scale-tone of the dominant seventh chord in

bar four, and use the traditional blues scale in bars five and six to make strong lines. A singer

needs to avoid indiscriminately using the blues scale everywhere (ibid.). By following these

suggestions, a singer ultimately has two methods for working on the basic blues: playing lines

based on chord tones, and using blues motives (113). He devotes the rest of the chapter to bebop

blues and minor blues, and suggests blues heads the vocalist should learn.

His penultimate chapter is interval drills, and is included to help vocalists gain confidence

and to be able to scat with stronger, more interesting lines by incorporating chromaticism and

large intervals (119). Berkman starts with intervals in an atonal context by suggesting that one

play a note, and sing up a minor third; from different note sing a minor third downward. Then he
 Houston – Page 44

stacks another minor third on top, resulting in a diminished triad. After singing the triad

ascending, one chooses a different note, and sings the diminished triad downward. Next, he adds

the final minor third in the diminished seventh chord, to be practiced the same way as the smaller

intervals. This is to be repeated for all interval types (119).

Another way to practice intervals is to sing major scale diatonic intervals, starting with thirds

and working one’s way to sevenths. He says that singing the major scale is useful for checking

one’s intonation, especially when it comes to the larger intervals. He also says, however, that it is

much more useful to sing unusual scales in different intervals, and provides tracks on the

accompanying CD. He starts with Locrian, ascending and descending in thirds, fourths, fifths,

sixths, and sevenths, and provides the same interval practice for the Phrygian, Locrian natural 9,

diminished, and altered scales (122). His last chapter addresses further work on additional forms

and vamps, using the same steps as for other harmonic work.

He makes a discouraging point in his conclusion when he writes that his experience with

singers learning to improve their scatting through steady work has not been terribly good (133).

He does not know why this is, but speculates that learning to solo over the changes is simply not

a high priority for most singers. He also postulates that vocalists simply do not have a systematic

way of approaching the material; they do not know what to do and they have not been schooled

to connect with the jazz instrumental tradition (ibid.). Music is about feeling and conveying an

emotional stance, and he guesses that by taking a pragmatic approach to learning a song, singers

might feel that the connection to the underlying mystery or magic will disappear (ibid.).
 Houston – Page 45

Another disturbing point he makes is that one jazz school of which he is aware has recently

stopped admitting vocalists to their grad program (133). Add that to the schools which are

abolishing, or have abolished their vocal jazz programs, like SUNY, and it is a grim picture

indeed.

Berkman’s book is obviously not for the faint of heart. If one can overlook the editorial

mistakes, misspelled words, missing or wrong music examples, and duplicated sentences, there is

a great deal of worthwhile material in this 134-page book.

This is completely instrumentally conceived, but with an awareness of the vocal instrument’s

needs. Clearly, vocalists who consider themselves to be jazz singers must take their craft

seriously and devote much more concentrated and directed practice than they apparently do now.

Berkman’s manual is very challenging, but when one considers the vast difference in musical

knowledge between instrumentalists and most vocalists, it behooves the vocal jazz teacher and

singing student alike to study this material, and incorporate at least some of Berkman’s

suggestions. This is an excellent study source and should be dust-free in all jazz vocalists’

libraries.

14. Farnsworth, Anne. Jazz Vocal Techniques: An Instrumental Approach to Jazz Singing. 3rd.
Los Angeles: JazzMedia Press, 2000.

Farnsworth’s 164-page book contains 21 chapters. It is only available in pdf format,

downloadable from her website.

The Introduction contains some practical, but brief, information about rhythm, repertoire,

improvisation, and singing. Chapter Two is on intervals, scales, and chords, including the Dorian
 Houston – Page 46

and Mixolydian scales. She provides some blank staff paper for one to work on ear-training and

chord identification exercises. Chapter Three begins with a discussion about form, bridgeless

standards, rhythm changes, and twelve-bar blues.

Chapter Four, entitled “Did You Bring Your Charts,” briefly talks about charts, the vocalist’s

book of songs, and transposition. This chapter contains one of Farnsworth’s most surprising

statements with her instruction to the fledgling vocalist that it is “perfectly acceptable to refer to

the key by the number of sharps or flats” (45). Modally-conceived songs dip in and out of key

centres which makes assigning a key signature difficult. Beginning singers, however, are more

likely to sing songs from the swing era, and these songs typically have identifiable keys.

According to one of Calgary’s noted jazz pianists, an efficient way the “pros” indicate the key of

a piece in a jam situation – assuming no chart is available – is to hold fingers up to indicate

sharps, and fingers down to indicate flats. For example, three fingers held upwards to the band

means A major, unless minor is specified (Houston Zanboer). Regardless of whether singers use

this method, or verbalize the information, singers need to know the key in which they are

singing.

The next two chapters discuss singing and improvising with the blues. Although she refers to

“getting vertical” (59), she advocates using Solfege for becoming familiar with the melody of a

song, and gives a one-sentence nod to using numbers. If a young singer is unfamiliar with the

Solfege system, though, there would be a great potential for the process to become more about

learning which Solfege syllable to use. As well, Solfege emphasizes the horizontal relationship

of one interval to the next. For jazz, Berkman’s suggestion of using numbers seems to be a much

more direct and logical way to hear the relationship of the melody to the roots and chords.
 Houston – Page 47

Chapter Seven is Harmony in Jazz Standards, and deals with ii-V7-I progression and tonal

centres. Farnsworth briefly analyzes a few measures of Satin Doll and The Lady Is a Tramp and

provides a transcription of the arpeggios of the latter song.

Chapter Eight discusses Intros, Tags and Codas, and Chapter Nine deals with Advanced

Improvisation, where she mentions upper structure chord tones. Many examples in this chapter

are unfortunately incorrect. For example, in her musical examples, she uses her example of

arpeggios to the ninth in her discussion on 13ths (121).

Overall, she treats topics very briefly. In her discussion of sequences, she devotes four

sentences to the topic, and excludes an example. She writes: “A sequence is similar to

sideslipping in that a motive is repeated. But the sequence usually fits diatonically with the

changes, and is repeated several times. The use of Pentatonic scales, that is a scale of five notes

in the pattern of 1235 [sic] in Major keys and 1-flat3-4-5 [sic] in minor keys, is an example of

sequencing” (124).

Regarding modes, she refers only to Dorian and Mixolydian, and within these brief bits of

information, she deals with altered scales and chords within six pages.

After the thoroughness of Berkman’s book, this is an utter disappointment. Not only does

avoid in-depth discussion of topics (for example, rhythm is discussed only on one page), the

book is rife with errors, omissions, incorrect examples, and contradictions in her information.

The valid points she does make are lost in the amateurish format and type-setting. After showing

this book to a fellow PhD student, who is a horn-player and teaches jazz theory at Humber, his

response was “but it’s wrong!” (Houston Rice).

 Houston – Page 48

It is unclear as to Farnsworth’s intended audience, although she writes on her website that it

is for all levels. Perhaps a beginning singer would find some material worthwhile, but with so

many other excellent manuals available, this one is astonishingly lacking.

She has updated this volume recently, and provides chapter one online. It is only available by

pdf download from her website.

15. Zegree, Stephen. The Complete Guide to Teaching Vocal Jazz. Heritage Music Press, 2002.

Zegree is one of the foremost authorities on the vocal jazz ensemble. One of the forwards of

his book is written by Janis Siegel, a long-time member of the Manhattan Transfer, who states

that she wishes that she had studied with him when she was in college. Much of the perspective

of this book is directed at ensemble teachers, but he includes a section on solo singing within the

ensemble context, as well as an appendix section for the aspiring jazz solo singer.

After his chapter one discussion about what vocal jazz is, and a brief history of the art in

chapter two, he turns to style in chapter three, where he provides swinging and syncopation

direction to the many ensemble directors trained classically. He has an instrumental background

(he is a pianist, and admits in the preface that one would not want to hear him sing [ix]), so

focuses on metronome usage, which is often an unfamiliar concept to singers. In any ensemble it

is vital that everyone maintain the same rhythm, and although singing solo jazz voice in a

smaller group affords more flexibility regarding back and front-phrasing, by practicing with a

metronome on one’s own, one can achieve a greater awareness of the supporting pulse of the

music.
 Houston – Page 49

Zegree also discusses vibrato usage and its stylistic and musical aspects in this chapter.

Constant vibrato not only interferes in the tuning within an ensemble setting, but is also pertinent

to the solo jazz singer. Too much vibrato use is stylistically incorrect and shows a singer as likely

having been classically-trained and continuing to use classical vocal production. To demonstrate

the impact of an ensemble using vibrato, and to highlight the difference between vibrato usage

and withheld vibrato, he includes samples of both on the enclosed CD.

He also highlights tonal flexibility in the use of slides, fall offs, breath accents, and scoops, as

well as diction. These topics are not discussed in too great of an extent in other books, and these

things would typically be covered in a singer’s lesson when dealing with performance practice

and microphone technique.

Chapter Five is jazz theory, wherein he suggests warm ups for the ensemble in order to

practice theory aurally. He suggests using minor, diminished and augmented triads in addition to

major; scales in major, natural minor, harmonic, and melodic minors, as well as whole tone and

chromatic; and arpeggios using minor and dominant sevenths on the ii-V7-I progression.

His Art of Solo Singing chapter is very short, but includes a worthy example of Sunny

Wilkinson singing a few measures of But Beautiful, wherein she demonstrates the steps a singer

can take to improvise on the melody (47). He makes some recommendations on how to

effectively portray the emotion in a ballad, like the obvious singing the lyrics in a conversational

manner, singing the verse (which is often omitted), and establishing the mood and use of space,

but it is fairly brief (ibid.).

 Houston – Page 50

He states in the opening paragraph of his chapter on Improvisation that it will not be covered

in great detail because obviously it is simply too extensive a topic to do justice in only one

chapter (52). The processes he suggests, though, are not surprising: have the students listen to

both vocal and instrumental improvised solos; do written transcriptions, imitating every phrase,

breath, and articulation; extract one or two melodic phrases from the transcribed solo and

concentrate on pitch accuracy and jazz articulations; and develop pitch accuracy by learning

specific phrases slowly and reinforcing the pitches at the piano (55).

He includes a chapter entitled Listen, Listen, Listen in which he provides a good example of

a listening form that the private vocal teacher could provide to his or her students to ensure that

the listening component of the lessons is completed and recorded. The point of this is to make

listening to instrumental and vocal jazz an actual concentrated effort and not something that

occurs in the background while being otherwise occupied. The form includes information like

label, composer, arranger, and date of recording session, to which one should add comment areas

for form, style, arrangement, rhythm section, and improvisation (72).

Appendix Three is entitled For the Aspiring Solo Singer, and includes very brief advice on

song selection: how to relate to the text, thoroughly learning the song by learning to play the

chord changes, reciting the lyric as poetry, learning the form, experimenting with a solo section,

key selection, mood, style, feel, groove, and writing a lead sheet (109). Again, these are topics

covered to a greater extent in other books dedicated to solo voice with greater potential for use as

studio manuals.

CONCLUSION
 Houston – Page 51

There should be no reason for jazz singers to lack basic jazz theory and harmony

knowledge given the breadth of resource material available, but vocalists are still often derided

for not doing the requisite work. In my conversation with an instructor, she indicated that to this

day, vocalists often question the need to know theory, harmony, and piano when all they want to

do is sing (Houston Burke).

The voice is a difficult instrument with which to master the jazz idiom but because the notion

persists that a person who sings jazz does not require flawless technique to sing, and because it is

fairly easy to produce some sort of a sound, many individuals come to jazz singing never having

studied voice, or having studied it only classically. Often, they have no experience on any other

instrument, and therefore have no relationship to rhythm and the foundation of harmony that

instrumentalists do.

Having said that, though, vocalists of previous eras did not always play another instrument in

addition to singing, and, of today’s singers, Dee Dee Bridgewater asserts that the voice is her

only instrument (Weir Improvisation 196). What Bridgewater does do, though, is listen only to

instrumentalists. She realized that instrumentalists constantly take risks in live performance, and

notes that singers are less apt to do so because they feel a primary responsibility to preserve their

image as a good vocalist. It may be that for many vocalists, the greater risk is to appear to be a

mediocre singer. They are more likely to be criticized if the singing is not just right (ibid). By the

extent of her listening, Bridgewater has internalized much of the jazz language that most of these

books strive to teach.

 Houston – Page 52

Clearly, some of the materials reviewed are more worthy and substantial than others and

provide more than enough information for a vocalist to become a skilled improviser, melodically

and textually. One must question, however, whether these manuals are fundamentally needed at

all. The point that has been made repeatedly by most of the cited authors is that one must listen a

great deal to the music to absorb it and do either written or aural transcriptions – preferably both.

After all, the great singers of past eras did not have the luxury of learning from university or

college theory and improvisation classes. And although their roads were not easy, they did have

the benefit of live music occurring nightly in which to immerse themselves, as well as eventually

being able to participate in late-night jam sessions. Although recorded music is a dim substitute

for live participation, there is the possibility, with so much available recorded music, for

vocalists to hear and sing along with a great variety of high caliber artists. Singers need to make

the time for it, and have the dedication to this craft. No amount of theory or harmony training

will provide the essence of singing jazz without concomitant listening to absorb the nuances and

finesse that skilled performers display.

Jazz is now an academic subject requiring that students receive documented and graded

progress. What these books do is provide guidance in creating academic lesson plans so that the

singing student receives education in logical and measurable steps. They provide direction as to

how keenly one must listen and how intensely one must work to absorb the jazz language. In

many instances, they provide more than enough information to create well-informed singers, and

in some cases offer excellent discographies compiled with the beginning student in mind.
 Houston – Page 53

After a great deal of thought and analysis, I recommend the following books for studio

use: both of Michelle Weir’s books (Jazz Singer's Handbook: The Artistry and Mastery of

Singing Jazz and Vocal Improvisation), Berkman’s The Jazz Singer's Guidebook: A Course in

Jazz Harmony and Scat Singing for the Serious Jazz Vocalist , McMurdy and Hill’s Jazz

Improvisation Series: Approaching the Standards, Niemack’s Hear it & Sing it!, Snidero’s Jazz

Conceptions: 21 Solo Etudes for Scat Singing, Jazz Phrasing, Interpretation, and Improvisation,

and Stoloff’s Scat!

 Houston – Page 54

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 Houston – Page 55

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