How To Improvise Jazz Piano: The SCO Method

If you’re considering learning how to improvise, or maybe you just started learning but feel stuck, you’re in the right place. In this blog post, we’ll delve into the SCO method, an approach to improvising for beginners that will help you create great melodic lines!

Let’s begin.

What Is The SCO Method?

The SCO Method, short for Scale-Chord Tone-Omission, offers a structured yet flexible framework for developing improvisational skills on the piano for beginners. This method provides a systematic approach to navigating scales, chords, and melodic outlines, helping pianists to express themselves freely in the language of jazz.

Scale

In music, every chord has a scale/mode that it is derived from. When improvising using the SCO method, you will start by playing the scale/mode associated with each chord in the tune using an “eighth note flow”. Let’s try this out in the standard “Autumn Leaves”.

You can play any left-hand voicing of your choice. In this example, shell voicings are used.

Note that when a chord lasts for more than a bar, you can play the corresponding scale up to the 7th and back down.

When a chord lasts for less than a bar, you play the 1, 2, 3,nd 5 of the corresponding scale, demonstrated in bar 20.

Chord Tones

Chord tones are notes that belong to a specific chord, providing its essential harmonic color and stability. Once we’ve identified the scales that each chord comes from, we can start practicing chord tones.

The way that we do this, is by playing 1-3-5-7-9-8(1) over each chord as an arpeggio. When a chord lasts for more than a bar, you can arpeggiate from the tonic in the first bar and then from the 3rd in the next bar with the same shape.

Put It Together

Before we move on to the last step of our method, we have to put the first two together! After practicing your scales and chord tones, try to improvise over a standard using them both. My favorite way to do this is to play the scale up to the fifth, back down and then arpeggiate 1-3-5-7-9-8.

You can also play the scale up to the 7th, down to the 5th and then arpeggiate 5-7-9-11-10(6).

Don’t forget that you can also improvise your own patterns and try to connect chords with the closest chord tones available, but make sure that chord tones land on strong beats. (1-2-3-4) This way, your ideas will sound neat and cohesive.

In bars 13 to the end, you will realize that different techniques were included, such as:

• Resolving to the nearest chord tone (Bar 13-14)
• Ascending and descending arpeggios (Bar 16)
• Descending arpeggios (Bar 17)
• Descending scales and then arpeggiating up (Bar 22)

In your own practice, you may also realize that you need extra notes to be able to land on chord tones. Adding them in is allowed, but the focus of this practice method is to be able to improvise using scales and chord tones without depending heavily on chromaticism and other embellishments.

The time for chromaticism and enclosures will come very soon. Practice one thing at a time!

Practice one thing at a time!

The Music Educator

Omission

The only thing more important than notes in music is the silence between them. In this last step, we start removing notes from the lines to create space. As pianists, we have an advantage compared to brass and wind players. We don’t have to breathe to be able to play notes, but, this advantage can easily become a disadvantage if abused.

There is a time for an improvised flurry of notes, but we must be mindful enough to leave equal flurries of space too.

No one talks in long run on sentences about a topic that never has a pause or an end so it creates this massive word salad that makes it hard for people to remember and comprehend the words and the idea behind what you were trying to sa…

I think you get the point.

Your improvisations should be memorable. One of the greats actually said that people should be singing your solo on their way home from the show.

This will only be possible if you give each phrase some space to breathe and register in the listener’s ears.

In the example below, notes are omitted from our last example at random to create space and rhythm.

Conclusion-Improvise Jazz Piano: The SCO Method

In the world of jazz piano improvisation, using the SCO Method can be your gateway to unlocking creativity and sophistication in your playing. By systematically exploring scales, chord tones, and the art of omission, pianists can cultivate a deep understanding of harmony, develop melodic fluency, and craft memorable improvisations that resonate with listeners.

Remember, the journey of improvisation is as much about self-expression as it is about technical ability. Embrace the process, allow yourself to experiment, and, above all, give your music room to breathe.

With dedication and practice, you’ll soon find yourself navigating the vast world of jazz with confidence and flair.

Happy practicing!