A comprehensive study text for students beginning a serious study of jazz. The first part of the book begins by teaching elements of jazz phrasing, articulation, vibrato and interpretation of rhythms through exercises and original pieces. Next, the book encourages improvisational skills through both theoretical and technical studies of scales and chords. The second half of the book builds on the skills learned in the first part with an in-depth study of the theory, which underlies improvisational techniques including scales, modal concepts and chord construction. Ear training, particularly the development of the ability to hear chord progressions, is also emphasized.