A Practical Approach To Jazz Improvisation - The David Hazeltine Method

For All Instruments! By Ben Markley. Learn how to create your own etudes in the style of your favorite players! Doing so reveals their favorite phrases and stylistic tendencies, allowing you to better understand and absorb their approach and concept (plus, you have unique, hip etudes that will be fun to play and share with your friends and students.) Well-known pianist David Hazeltine used this method to develop his own style and refined it over the years to help his students. Now, it is available in book form for all who want to master the art of better phrasing. This is NOT a piano book. This is a single-line approach designed for ALL instrumentalists, including piano.

“David Hazeltine is, quite simply, one of the finest musicians I’ve had the chance to perform with in my two-plus decades as a professional musician. His approach to the piano and his body of work, both on the bandstand and on the multitude of recordings that he has been a part of, place him in a position that is nearly peerless among musicians of his generation, and on a level that truly ranks him, to my ears, among the historical greats of his instrument. Dave is a complete player--flawless technique and execution of ideas, brilliant and daring harmonic awareness, sense of melody, feeling of time and swing, comping, etc., make him a true joy to perform with and to listen to.

Over the years, I’ve asked Dave to show me some of his harmonic and melodic concepts. Most times, he’ll present me with a portion of one of his etudes that he’s come up with. I’ve found them all to be tremendously informative. They are crafted in a way that makes the concepts contained in each exercise very organic, and readily accessible to me in my own improvisations. Dave’s meticulous study of the master’s of his instrument has yielded a treasure trove of information. His etudes are designed to maximize the internalization of particular styles and modern Jazz language in general.

I’m confident that this book will provide countless hours-- years even--of enjoyment and learning to all who take the time to look into the mind and the learning process of this brilliant musician.”
Eric Alexander