I am doing Jazz grade 1 and am having some difficulty with aural test C.

This is where the examiner plays 2 bars of music and then I sing or play 2 bars of music while the examiner plays the bass only, then the examiner plays 2 more bars of music, then I sing/ play 2 bars of music and so on.
I have to improvise, keeping with the style and rhythm.

Does anyone have any suggetions as to how I can improve in this area?
Are there any cds available that support this area of the test (I have looked and can't find anything)?

All help is appreciated, thank you

If this is for piano, the CD for grade 1, was useful for me. Has some example answers on there. Are you self teaching?

Cheery Deb,

Wouldn't it be nice if there were play along CDs with masses of examples of phrases in a variety of rhythms, keys, tempos, styles, length and complexity for you to 'trade' with, but I don't think there's anything that out there that focuses just on this (I have looked, but not all that hard).

I’m doing the jazz exams (trumpet) and I’m up to Grade 5 now. Although I’m certainly no authority on the matter here are a couple of recommendations that I’m sure you’d find helpful.

Firstly, there is the ABRSM publication ‘Jazz Piano From Scratch’ (CD and book). This has quite a few examples of phrases for you to respond to, and it teaches you an approach to doing this sort of thing (e.g. not worrying about notes but concentrating first on the rhythm by playing just one pitch and then very gradually increasing the number of pitches and complexity as you become more comfortable). It’s perfectly possible to play a convincing response phrase using just two pitches.
Don’t worry about this being for piano – many of the principles and techniques apply to all instruments.

Secondly, I think that the Jamey Aebersold volume 24 – ‘Major and Minor in all keys' would fit the bill well. It contains backing rhythms for all major and (dorian) minor keys – one key per track, so it gives you plenty of time to get to grips with playing your improvisations in a key of your choice without having to worry about chord changes. You could use those keys introduced in the scales you have to learn for the Grade you’re doing. If there’s someone who can join you all the better – you could take it in turns to play simple phrases of maybe one or two bars and the other responds by copying it or varying it or whatever.

Once you get used to being comfortable playing along with these recordings with a knowledge of what notes fit in well with the key you’re in I think that the responding in a style that the examiner sets (which is what you’re asked to do in the exam) is the easy part.

Don’t worry, everyone can do this – just don’t try to do too much too quickly or you’ll trip up. Keep it very simple to start with and you’ll soon be picking it up.

Hope this helps,

Mark.