Hal Leonard Running The Changes

Summary of This Method

Running the Changes is aimed at musicians who want to understand how to improvise in a jazz setting without getting lost in overly abstract theory. Mike Steinel presents a structured, concise, and musical method for learning how to build a coherent solo from chord changes, regardless of the instrument played or voice type.

The content progresses step by step, from essential foundations to more advanced techniques. The book covers melodic quotation and paraphrase, the use of riffs, basic chord theory, ornamentation, playing chord tones, scalar and modal approaches, and the use of bebop scales. For musicians who want to go further, the method also introduces color tones, altered harmonies, and pentatonic and hexatonic resources.

Beyond purely technical tools, this method also places improvisation within its stylistic context by exploring the history and practice of jazz, from the post-bebop era to more contemporary languages. This dimension makes it a valuable resource both for individual practice and teaching, helping students connect theory, listening, and musical application.

One of the key strengths of Running the Changes is its accompanying tracks, designed to immediately turn the concepts studied into real playing situations. They allow musicians to practise over chord progressions in several transpositions and to develop improvisational instincts more naturally. This is a particularly useful method for expanding one’s jazz vocabulary, sharpening harmonic awareness, and becoming more confident in shaping an improvisational statement.

Technical specifications

Artist	Mike Steinel	Genre	jazz improvisation method
Instrumentation	all instruments and voice	Difficulty	beginner to intermediate