A Conversation with Quentin Walston on His Jazz Pedagogy Text: How to Teach Jazz and Improvisation

Quentin Walston, a distinguished jazz pianist and educator based in the Washington, D.C. area, has crafted an exceptional contribution to jazz pedagogy with his new text, How to Teach Jazz & Improvisation (This is Jazz, 2025). This concise yet effective 80-page text fills a gap in the jazz education landscape, offering an accessible, hands-on guide tailored specifically for young musicians and educators of private lessons and leading middle or high school jazz bands. Walston's work is helpful for those who may lack extensive jazz experience, providing a clear, jargon-free pathway to mastering the essentials of jazz improvisation.

The student-centered book demystifies the building blocks of jazz by focusing on chords, corresponding scales and pitch choices, presented with a refreshing simplicity that invites beginners to dive in without intimidation. Rather than overwhelming readers with dense theoretical explanations, Walston prioritizes practical engagement, fostering confidence through immediate, successful interaction with the material.

A standout feature of the text is its unique play-along component, featuring solo piano recordings of original compositions performed by Walston himself. Each of these has a scaled-down version as a play-along, which is particularly helpful if the teacher is not a pianist. Unlike traditional play-alongs that rely on a full rhythm section—often so polished they overshadow the student's efforts—Walston's minimalist approach places the spotlight firmly on the learner's improvisation. The bare bones accompaniment provides just enough harmonic and rhythmic support to guide the student, while leaving ample space for them to explore melodic and rhythmic creativity. This design ensures that students are not merely playing along but are actively shaping the music, building both skill and confidence.

Equally impressive is Walston's introduction to idiomatic jazz rhythms, an often-neglected aspect of jazz pedagogy. Through a series of rhythmic exercises, students practice dozens of simple, single-pitch rhythmic motifs that are idiomatic figures. This section equips learners with the rhythmic vocabulary essential to authentic jazz expression, all while keeping the process approachable and enjoyable.

The text's presentation is as inviting as its content. It is concise yet comprehensive, with a vibrant, fun and visually appealing format that avoids the dryness of many pedagogical works. Walston's clear, direct prose eschews jargon, making the material accessible to both students and educators new to jazz. This accessibility, combined with the text's practical focus, ensures that it resonates with its target audience—those navigating the challenges of teaching or learning jazz in a lesson or school setting.

How to Teach Jazz & Improvisation is a great addition to the literature, blending utilitarian teaching tools, a student-first philosophy, and an infectious enthusiasm for jazz. Quentin Walston has created an excellent jazz pedagogy resource that enables any teacher or student to bring the joy and creativity of jazz to life in the lesson or classroom.

All About Jazz: What caused you to cross the line from jazz pianist to author of a jazz pedagogy text? Did you sense a need that wasn't being met in the other texts out there?

Quentin Walston: I've been teaching jazz for over a decade and playing the music about twice that. Some of my earliest passions for music was in discovering jazz, blues piano, boogie-woogie, and ragtime. There was something so thrilling in the sound of those styles, I wanted to figure out how to emulate it. My teacher got me started with some great jazzy-sounding materials and I eventually moved up to Scott Joplin and some other advanced arrangements. However, it wasn't until far into my music studies that I ever received compelling instruction on improvisation; it's absent from so much of pedagogy.

This is not to place blame on music teachers. Jazz & improvisation is not a core part of pedagogy, and unless a music teacher seeks it out they will likely be unfamiliar with the genre and techniques. Many beginner method books have bluesy or jazzy songs, but they never include improvisation. And many of the common materials on improvisation start too advanced for a beginner or child to use without considerable theory knowledge and proficiency on their instrument.

The gap of material and training led me to write the book. I used my compositional experience—I write for student ensembles as well as my own trio—and my teaching experience of over a decade of private & group instruction—to create a book I believe any teacher can use, regardless of a student's musical background, age, ability or instrument.

AAJ: Did it develop over time with your own students? If so, what did you learn in your own teaching that prompted this text with these examples?

QW: I wrote the book and made the recordings over the course of 8 to 10 months. The composing process was probably the quickest. I wrote the seven pieces in about two months, then began recording the backing tracks—the teacher parts—so students could practice at home, or so teachers without strong piano skills could still use the materials in lessons or class. I also recorded sample solos that use the exact parameters of the student part.

Some of the material I had already been doing in lessons, such as the song "Hit It," as a way to introduce improvisation to students for the first time. I used experiences from teaching on gauging difficulty, student expectations and what types of pieces would best motivate students.

One of the biggest concepts that spans the whole book is the importance of soloing with your ear. I love music theory and I'm very analytical, but it's easy in jazz to rush into memorizing modes and licks and complex patterns way before students can clearly play what's in their mind's ear. Each song gives students parameters for soloing. Not full, elaborate scales that keep changing as the chord progression moves, but rather small collections of notes that sound great with the entire progression. This allows students to play ideas they are actually hearing, and it gets rid of the fear of playing a wrong note. Beginners are so much more confident when they don't have to worry about playing a note that will clash and stand out dissonantly.

I had a chance to interview Stefon Harris, and he told me he uses similar pedagogy even with his college students. Start with the ear and master a few notes, then you can build from there.

The rest of the book, the informational section, took longer as I wanted to be sure all areas of jazz pedagogy were covered. What about a section for teachers whose students are taking jazz band in school, what would they need to know? What's up with jazz chords? Or what would be helpful for a bassist to know about constructing bass lines? Or what about the nuance of jazz articulation? All of that I wanted to include. Lastly, I had a close teacher friend and copy editor, Lisa Fiorilli go over everything and give great feedback and assistance on polishing up a final product.

AAJ: How did you choose the tunes to use?

QW: As many know, jazz is a rich music filled with countless varieties. There's bebop, swing, hard bop, modal jazz, and so on. When I wrote How to Teach Jazz & Improvisation, I wanted to ensure students and teachers had a chance to play different styles and benefit from improvising in different contexts. The book has seven compositions with subgenres including: bebop, modal jazz, Latin jazz, waltz, boogie woogie, and more.

AAJ: Most of the play-alongs feature a full quartet, but yours is solo piano accompaniment. Why did you choose to pare it down compared to others?

QW: I decided to leave the play-alongs as solo piano accompaniment for a number of reasons. First, the play-alongs are note-for-note exactly what are in the teacher's duet part. They were specifically composed to match the student's melody and improvisation. This means if a music educator doesn't have strong piano skills, they can use the recordings instead to achieve the same effect in lessons or classes. Secondly, since the play-alongs can be used for practice, I wanted students to experience the same accompaniment as they would hear from their teachers in a lesson. Students can already be nervous to play in front of their teachers, let alone improvise! Having the consistency in the play-along eliminates extra stress from adapting to a different-sounding accompaniment. Lastly, the solo piano accompaniment helps the student listen and feel the time, and as you put it, there's less for the player to hide behind.

AAJ: Your approach to the rhythm of jazz is one that most other methods overlook. You're giving them a few dozen stock rhythmic motifs to repeat on a single note, or multiple notes. How has that worked in your own teaching experience?

QW: Yes! Jazz articulation and rhythm are often misunderstood by non-jazz musicians and are poorly notated. So much of a good swing feel depends on strong rhythm and articulation. The rhythmic exercises help students with their swing and phrasing, but can also be applied to much more complex exercises. One of the best applications that I have used with my students as well as public school band students and even in teacher workshops is improvising melodies with fixed rhythms. It forces players to get out of rhythmic and phrasing habits they don't realize they are in, helps in constructing complete ideas, and helps to conceptualize phrases rhythmically. It seems easy, but even sticking to a single rhythmic motif for an entire solo is difficult!

AAJ: Where did you record the play along?

QW: I recorded both the play along and sample solos at my home studio. I enjoy recording at my home studio since I'm familiar with my instrument, and there's less pressure of spending money on studio time.

AAJ: What were the recording sessions like?

QW: It was a fun process! The sample solos all use the exact parameters the students are given, so students can hear the extent to which the material can be creatively applied. There's even a page in the book that offers brief analysis if students want to connect what they are hearing to the parameters involved. The solos were transcribed and released on Piano Marvel this June, so pianists have an option to learn them note-for-note.

AAJ: Where do you see this text in regards to the other jazz pedagogy texts in the literature?

QW: I think this book has a wide appeal to all music teachers of all instruments. Private music instructors use the book as a way to expand their lessons and motivate students with new material. I've used the book with middle school and high school band directors—and the county ended up providing books for each high school band teacher in the school system. I believe the text has a place in every studio or classroom. Also, the book contains transposed parts for C, Bb, Eb, F, and bass clef so every pitched instrument can benefit from it.

AAJ: Who is your target audience?

QW: My target audience is music educators without a strong jazz background. This can include private lesson teachers of all instruments, high school band directors, or even hobbyists interested in teaching themselves. Many teachers unfamiliar with jazz either find the idea of improvisation too daunting and they feel out of their realm, or they see jazz as too complex and unapproachable due to the theory aspect. Either way, the book tackles these hesitations in a fun way with clear language that teachers can implement on day one.

AAJ: Where can people find your book?

QW: It is found on Amazon and at This is Jazz.

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