Modal Jazz Composition & Harmony, Volume 2: Book

This book picks up exactly where Volume 1 left off, moving beyond foundational harmony into the real work of composing: melody writing and the reharmonization techniques that separate functional jazz writing from generic changes. Miller's framework, informed by the orchestral sophistication of Gil Evans and the harmonic fearlessness of Mingus, gives students permission to think beyond traditional jazz vocabulary.

Dense with information but methodical in its delivery. You move through melody construction, harmonic color, and reharmonization with the same structured approach that made Volume 1 valuable, building toward real compositional independence.

Jazz composers and advanced harmony students ready to move beyond basic modal concepts into the compositional strategies of the jazz canon. This is also essential for arrangers and educators who want to understand the harmonic architecture behind contemporary jazz writing.

• Study the reharmonization examples alongside recordings of the original compositions. Hearing how Miller's concepts translate to sound accelerates your internalization of the material.
• Work through the pentatonic chapters slowly. The intersection of pentatonic melody with modal harmony is deceptively tricky; writing one clean example beats rushing through ten.
• Use the appendices as a reference library, not a shortcut. Return to them when a concept doesn't land in the main text.
• Transcribe and analyze one complete tune from each style discussed in the melody chapter before attempting original composition.

Assign this as the core text for an upper-level jazz composition course, or use specific chapters to support private instruction with serious students. The reharmonization section works especially well for arrangers preparing original work for ensemble projects.

• Writing jazz melodies with modal harmonic awareness
• Reharmonization techniques (voice leading, chromatic approach, upper structure triads)
• Harmonizing pentatonic scales with modal foundations
• Analyzing and applying compositional strategies from Evans, Ellington, and Mingus
• Creating original compositions that balance melody with sophisticated harmonic language