Introductions and Endings

Paul Bollenback dedicates a full class to crafting jazz introductions and endings — how to set the mood and tempo from the first note and bring a tune to a close that flows naturally instead of grinding to a halt. He has touched on the topic in other Mike's Master Classes, but this session goes in depth, with Stella by Starlight as the running example.

What's covered

• Building an intro from the last eight bars of a tune — modeled on Herbie Hancock's rubato intro from Miles Davis's My Funny Valentine live recording, which echoed Bill Evans's earlier eight-bar introduction
• Setting the tone with pedal-point chords and a short vamp before the melody arrives
• Reharmonization devices: diminished substitutions, altered dominants, and sus voicings (with chord-by-chord walkthroughs and fingerings)
• Suggesting the tune with changes and fragments of melody before stating it outright
• Moving between rubato and in-tempo playing, plus vamps and tags for endings

Paul demonstrates everything on the guitar and breaks his choices down in plain terms, so you come away with a plan for framing your own performances rather than a list of licks. PDF materials accompany the class.