"As a non-jazz person, this method book has made it so much easier to teach improv. After just three lessons, my students are amazed at how comfortable they are feeling about improvising." - Emily S.
Beginning Jazz Improvisation Method
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Explore 9 Pathways to learn
how to improvise in a jazz style. 
The step-by-step lessons, visual aids, and play-along tracks will help you play amazing solos!
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AFFORDABLE
The 48-page book with 2 CDs is available for under $20. For school band teachers the Reproducible Classroom Set makes Improv Pathways very affordable. FUN FOR KIDS & ADULTS
Improv time will be the highlight of your jazz ensemble rehearsals! Click here for 2 sample lessons. |
9 PATHWAYS
Explore 9 essential paths to develop improvisation skills. 18 LESSONS
Each of the 18 lessons takes only 30 minutes to complete, and provides several instructional and play-along audio tracks. At one lesson per week, the entire method can be finished in only 5 months! |
FOR ENSEMBLES
OR PRIVATE STUDY Easy and effective for individual study and school jazz ensembles. POWERFUL AND EFFECTIVE
All the best of jazz pedagogy is merged with innovative features. Teachers LOVE using this method with their students. Click here for Reviews. |
Meet the Author of Improv Pathways
As an undergraduate at Brigham Young University, Curtis played trombone in a variety of ensembles including the Jazz Legacy Dixieland Band and Synthesis. He studied conducting with Dave Blackinton and Clynn Barrus, and jazz improvisation with Steve Call. He was drum major of the Cougar Marching Band, and performed at the Montreux Jazz Festival with Synthesis, appearing as a soloist on their Live at Montreux album.
While finishing his BM in Music Education at BYU, Curtis accepted an internship offer from Orem Junior High School and is now in his 19th year at this small Title 1 school, currently teaching 5 band classes and 3 orchestra classes. Parents recognized him as Teacher of the Year with the school’s Golden Apple Award in 2007, and the Utah Music Educators Association presented him with the Outstanding Achievement Award in 2017. His ensembles have all been accepted to the Utah State Junior High Festivals, and have received multiple Superior ratings.
Curtis has been blessed to work alongside Jazz Educators Network President Caleb Chapman for nearly 20 years, and is currently the director and producer of the youngest jazz ensemble at his award-winning Soundhouse, the New Bop Big Band (ages 9-14). At summer jazz camps Curtis has team taught improvisation classes with Grammy Award winning saxophonist Jeff Coffin. Curtis also serves as a staff composed and arranged for the Soundhouse’s flagship ensemble, the Crescent Super Band.
While earning a Masters in Music Education at BYU, Curtis received a BYU Graduate Research Fellowship allowing him to create the Improv Pathways Jazz Improvisation Method and launch websites devoted to (1) improvisation and (2) beginning band & orchestra materials. His StepWise Fingering Charts were published in the Scale and Rhythm Chunks series by Richard Canter, while his “old-school” StepWise Flashcards were recently “upgraded” into the NinGenius Music iOS app, allowing students to learn and demonstrate mastery of notes and fingerings with gamified appeal. He has presented clinics on jazz improvisation to music educator conferences in Utah, Colorado, and Ohio. In 2017 he was invited to present at the Midwest Clinic in Chicago.
His wife Christie continually inspires him to improve as an educator and as a person, and their six children fill his life with love, purpose, and adventure.
While finishing his BM in Music Education at BYU, Curtis accepted an internship offer from Orem Junior High School and is now in his 19th year at this small Title 1 school, currently teaching 5 band classes and 3 orchestra classes. Parents recognized him as Teacher of the Year with the school’s Golden Apple Award in 2007, and the Utah Music Educators Association presented him with the Outstanding Achievement Award in 2017. His ensembles have all been accepted to the Utah State Junior High Festivals, and have received multiple Superior ratings.
Curtis has been blessed to work alongside Jazz Educators Network President Caleb Chapman for nearly 20 years, and is currently the director and producer of the youngest jazz ensemble at his award-winning Soundhouse, the New Bop Big Band (ages 9-14). At summer jazz camps Curtis has team taught improvisation classes with Grammy Award winning saxophonist Jeff Coffin. Curtis also serves as a staff composed and arranged for the Soundhouse’s flagship ensemble, the Crescent Super Band.
While earning a Masters in Music Education at BYU, Curtis received a BYU Graduate Research Fellowship allowing him to create the Improv Pathways Jazz Improvisation Method and launch websites devoted to (1) improvisation and (2) beginning band & orchestra materials. His StepWise Fingering Charts were published in the Scale and Rhythm Chunks series by Richard Canter, while his “old-school” StepWise Flashcards were recently “upgraded” into the NinGenius Music iOS app, allowing students to learn and demonstrate mastery of notes and fingerings with gamified appeal. He has presented clinics on jazz improvisation to music educator conferences in Utah, Colorado, and Ohio. In 2017 he was invited to present at the Midwest Clinic in Chicago.
His wife Christie continually inspires him to improve as an educator and as a person, and their six children fill his life with love, purpose, and adventure.