Course Details

Course Overview

This course is open to all instrumentalists and singers who have fairly confident fluency with their instrument, or for singers, their voice. This means that they can at least: a) play/sing a variety tunes/pieces from memory, b) play by reading music for their instrument (though singers do not have to be able to ‘sight-sing’), and c) play/sing at least the chromatic and major scales from any note. Drummers must at least be able at a variety of tempos (speeds) to play the swing jazz cymbal beat with sticks and brushes in 4/4 and 3/4, and ‘solo’ solely on the snare drum with some confidence over a blues tune structure (i.e. twelve bars).
The course’s practical skill and theory topics include recognising and gaining practical fluency with jazz’s diverse chord symbols and their variety of extensions and the scales they suggest, developing skill with some dissonant relationships in metre, rhythm and harmony, how to improve and utilize rhythmic, metric and aural awareness (‘ear training’), how to confidently learn, memorize, express and improvise – including singers – with the melodic and harmonic structures of both classic and challenging jazz tunes in its principal time signatures (4/4 and 3/4) and grooves (swing and Latin), and for ‘rhythm section’ instrumentalists in particular, how to ‘comp’, i.e. accompany others.
Other topics include band leading, technical vocabulary and concepts related to universal elements of music and its common notation, and developing familiarity with jazz’s historical eras, ‘styles’ and sub-genres. Learners will perform individually and with others in every lesson, including (optionally) in an end of term concert.

What will you learn and be able to do?

* Recognise, play/sing and utilize the components of jazz’s tetrad chord symbols and their common extensions, and for chord instrumentalists, also their ‘block chord’ versions; while for drummers, with one hand, play short rhythmic motifs on the snare drum anywhere in the bar while keeping time on the ride cymbal with the other hand.

* Utilise simple tutor-provided musical routines to build practical fluency with music’s elemental materials, i.e. – for everyone: common rhythms and polyrhythms; for voice and pitched instruments: sequencing short diatonic motifs in the major and melodic minor scales and the hierarchical sequence of chords (I-IV-VII-III-VI-II-V-I) of those scales, and for chord instrumentalists, the hierarchy as ‘block’ tetrad chords; for drummers: patterns that express a dissonant relationship to the beat and/or bar-line.

* Play/Sing and sustain an on-going, structured accompaniment, i.e. riffs, for other bandmates or for recorded jazz.

* Play/Sing improvised solos in extended phrases that reflect, express and explore the composed melody (drummers too!) and/or harmonic structure of classic jazz tunes.

* Be able to recognise, describe and perform characteristic features of at least two historical jazz eras.

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Entry requirements

Firstly, the instrumental/vocal skills described in the first paragraph above, and of course daily access to your chosen instrument. However, you also must have sufficient time to practise most, if not all, days between lessons, so as to make progress, i.e. at least 45 minutes on most (if not all) days spanning the duration of the course.

Equipment required

Aside from having daily access to your instrument (with which to practise between lessons)…
1) A metronome device or phone app for practising (to aid keeping a steady musical pulse) – though you will not need to bring this to lessons.

2) A narrow (25mm) A4 ring-binder of two, or ideally, four rings (to hold music and other handouts) with firm covers and a few section dividers (but not plastic envelops).

3) Drummers: sticks, e.g. Vic Firth 8D or 7A, and brushes, e.g. Vic Firth ‘Jazz Brushes’.

4) Guitarists: an amplifiable guitar, strap and amp lead, though you don’t need to bring an amp.

How will you know you are making progress?

Throughout the course, you will be playing individually and with others to learn, progress and rehearse, for which the tutor will frequently provide verbal instructions, advice and feedback. The tutor will also present progressively challenging learning materials, though they will not go beyond any learner’s capacity to achieve and perform, at least at a slow tempo (speed). Additionally, your ILP also provides a method for tracking your progress (see the previous box).
The rate and degree of anyone’s progress is determined largely by the regularity, duration, efficiency and content of their practising, as well as their degree of consistent effort. It is only partially the result of inborn talent, which anyway, cannot be changed, let alone improved.

While there are no formal exams, personal and universal advice and feedback from the tutor will occur regularly in every lesson. Learners also will be instructed occasionally to evaluate themselves or their ‘group’ or other individuals, in which case they will be guided in how to do this effectively and sensitively. In addition, at the start, middle and end of the course, learners will indicate – in their Individual Learning Plan (ILP) – their level of confidence in relation to its ‘minimum learning outcomes’ (see the first page). This is to help learners track their progress, i.e. it is not an assessment mark, grade or score. They will also be encouraged to add – and track the progress of – up to two personal goals to the minimum outcomes already defined for the course. At the end of the course, the tutor will provide personal written feedback, while learners will have the opportunity to give written feedback about the tutor, the course and their learning experience, and to complete a learner feedback survey.

Progress opportunities - your next steps

Currently, there is no higher-level follow-on course offered by Idea Stores Learning. However, this course can be usefully repeated to embed skills deeper, and most skill levels can be addressed.

What examination is there?

While there are no formal exams, personal and universal advice and feedback from the tutor will occur regularly in every lesson. Learners also will be instructed occasionally to evaluate themselves or their ‘group’ or other individuals, in which case they will be guided in how to do this effectively and sensitively. In addition, at the start, middle and end of the course, learners will indicate – in their Individual Learning Plan (ILP) – their level of confidence in relation to its ‘minimum learning outcomes’ (see the first page). This is to help learners track their progress, i.e. it is not an assessment mark, grade or score. They will also be encouraged to add – and track the progress of – up to two personal goals to the minimum outcomes already defined for the course. At the end of the course, the tutor will provide personal written feedback, while learners will have the opportunity to give written feedback about the tutor, the course and their learning experience, and to complete a learner feedback survey.

Other info

Since the number of people who can enrol on this (and any) course is limited and since this course involves an ensemble of different musical instruments (and possibly singers), a policy aimed at setting enrolment limits, to create a useful balance of instruments and singers, must be applied. The policy is as follows:
a) Players of drum kit, bass, guitar and piano – “the rhythm section” – are limited to a maximum of two for each instrument type;
b) Singers are limited to a maximum of three.
c) Players of wind instruments, e.g. trumpet, sax, flute and clarinet, etc., are limited to a maximum of two of the same type of ‘category’ for each instrument type, i.e. since alto and tenor are different categories of the saxophone, two of each are permitted, but two tenor saxophones would be the limit.
To successfully complete this course and to enjoy and stay abreast of its curriculum, learners should ensure that they…

1) Have sufficient available time to be able to practise for at least 45 minutes for most (if not all) days spanning the duration of the course. You must also endeavour to attend all nine lessons or to miss not more than one.
2) Have decided which instrument (or voice) they will be their main focus over the duration of the course. This is relevant to people who play more than one instrument (or instrument(s) and voice).
3) Have a method and the related equipment for taking notes, particularly in relation to any information that the tutor has not provided in a handout.
At the start of the course, the tutor will provide an ISL email address through which they can be contacted to provide help with your learning, ‘homework’ or for any course related reason. If you need for any reason to have a conversation with the tutor outside of lesson time, send an email with convenient times to call you, which they will do as soon as possible, although without revealing their phone number.
If you will be late or absent from any lesson, please inform the tutor asap.

Extra Support

Firstly, let your tutor know. In addition, contacting one of our experienced and friendly Learner Support and Advice team is likely to be helpful. For further information, email ideastore@towerhamlets.gov.uk and a member of the team will get back to you.

A0978 - (TSCR) Jazz Improvisation Skills (improvers)

Dates: 21/09/2026 - 23/11/2026 Times: 19:00 - 20:30