Approaching the Standards, Volume 2: E-flat Instruments Book & Online Audio

Hill's sequencing of eight essential standards gives students a manageable but substantive toolkit for learning jazz language. The recorded accompaniments transform solo practice into real ensemble experience, and the progression from blues and swing through modal territory (Maiden Voyage) to Latin feels (Caravan) builds repertoire knowledge organically.

Eight different moods in one book: the bluesy swagger of Now's the Time, the cool refinement of Maiden Voyage, the energetic bounce of Sugar, the Latin propulsion of Caravan. You move between eras and styles without losing your footing because each tune teaches you something about jazz vocabulary that carries forward.

E-flat players (alto and baritone saxophones, primarily) who are ready to move beyond basic jazz reading into the repertoire that defines small-group and big-band traditions. This works for high school jazz ensembles, college jazz combos, and self-directed learners who want structure with musical substance.

• Start with the recorded accompaniment at a slower tempo to lock the melody and basic changes before improvising. Most students underestimate how much listening matters in the early stages.
• Isolate the melody first without the harmonic complexity. Sing it, play it straight, own it. The tune is your map; everything else builds from there.
• Trade solos with the recording or with section partners. Even if your chorus feels rough, the call-and-response builds confidence and teaches you to listen in real time.
• Pay attention to how the comping voices sit behind the melody in the accompaniment tracks. This teaches you the textural relationships you'll need when playing in a full ensemble.

Assign one tune per week or two weeks in a jazz fundamentals course, using the recorded accompaniment for daily practice and the melody for section rehearsals. These standards also anchor a jazz combo curriculum; each book in the series allows your E-flat players to work through the same repertoire as your saxophones and brass, ensuring cohesive ensemble repertoire.

• Reading jazz chord symbols and navigating changes on eighth-note swing feels
• Improvising blues-based lines and approaches to chord tones
• Listening and responding to comping and rhythm section dialogue
• Phrasing and articulation appropriate to swing era and contemporary jazz standards
• Understanding form and head arrangement in small-group contexts
• Playing with confidence over recorded accompaniments in real time