Jazz & Pop: Book

This book approaches jazz and pop harmony as a learnable system rather than an intuitive mystery. Busch's step-by-step structure gives students concrete tools for understanding chord construction and application, making it invaluable for ensembles adding jazz repertoire to their program.

Working through this book feels like learning a language with a patient grammar guide. Each section builds logically on the last, moving from foundational chord formulas through extended tonality and color harmony, with downloadable MIDI examples that let you hear the theory in context.

Musicians across all instruments who want to deepen their understanding of jazz and pop harmony. This is especially useful for ensemble members preparing to play jazz or pop-influenced literature, or for music teachers who need a comprehensive reference for explaining harmonic concepts to mixed instrumental groups.

• Download and listen to the MIDI files before assigning exercises; hearing the harmonic context first helps students internalize the concepts they'll encounter on the page.
• Work through the basiswissen (foundational knowledge) section systematically rather than jumping ahead; each concept builds directly on previous material.
• Have students sing chord progressions from the akkordformeln section aloud before analyzing them; ear training and theory work best together.

Use this as a staff resource when preparing jazz or pop-inflected repertoire for your ensemble. Teachers can assign specific chapters to students working on genre-specific auditions or solos, and the MIDI files make it possible for remote learners to engage with the material independently.

• recognizing and constructing chord formulas in jazz and pop contexts
• applying extended tonality and color harmony in improvisation and arrangement
• understanding harmonic analysis beyond classical functional harmony
• connecting theoretical concepts to aural perception through MIDI examples