ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the main characteristics of the bebop style and proposes a pedagogy of bebop improvisation. The Bebop revolution in the late 1930s was probably one of the most important musical events in the history of jazz. Bebop brought about the advent of modern jazz and, with it, jazz pedagogy. The chapter also discusses the pitch structure of four bebop scales: major, minor, dominant, and intermediary. The use of a chromatic passing note between 5 and 6 transforms the Ionian mode into the major bebop scale. The use of a single chromatic pitch like the one the bebop scale offers allows us to fully explore the metric, melodic, and harmonic potential of that note. There are two ways of rationalizing the pitch organization of the intermediary bebop scale. The former method of scale derivation suggests that intermediary bebop is an independent collection that establishes a relationship with the predominant minor 7th chord.
