Glossary

Alteration of flattening or sharpening an extension.

 

Bridge The middle ‘B’ section of a song. Also known as the middle 8.

 

Comp The piano accompaniment to a solo.

 

Extension Added note not within the basic harmony of a chord.

 

Head The original tune before and after the solos.

 

Horizontal improvisation The scale stays constant throughout chord changes.

 

Interval The space between two notes.

 

Key centre The key connecting a group of related chords.

 

Lead sheet Melody plus chords.

 

Mode A scale generated from the major or melodic minor scale.

 

Rhythm changes The chord sequence based on Gershwin’s I Got Rhythm.

 

Rootless voicing A left-hand chord that removes the root note from the bottom of the chord. It is usually replaced with 3 or 7.

 

Standard A well-known tune favored by jazz musicians.

 

Tonic The first pitch of a diatonic scale.

 

Tritone An interval of 3 whole steps.

 

Turnaround A chord sequence that takes you back to the start or on to the next section. A common turnaround is I –VI – II – V.

 

Vertical improvisation Each chord has an influence over the improvised notes.

 

Walking 3s Linking the 3^rd note of each chord.

 

Walking 7s Linking the 7^th note of each chord.