Jazz Improvisation 1 - Tonal and Rhythmic Principles

The fundamentals of jazz are here explained and systemized in 70 lessons based on 60 jazz standards. It covers the styles of musicians from Buddy Bolden to Dizzy Gillespie.

Mehegan's works serve as indispensable sources for all jazz pianists since he devises lessons that are simply not found elsewhere; I have a good library of quality jazz books, but let me emphasize some of the things that are hardly addressed in other books. In volume one, you get:
1.) Complete right hand fingering suggestions for seventh arpeggios. Some may consider these obvious, but it's an erroneous assumption. This is the only book in my collection that gives clear instructions on practicing seventh chord arpeggios in all qualities (major, minor, dominant, half-diminished, diminished). Most other works focus exclusively on triads.
2.) Good fingering suggestions for diminished and half-diminished scales.
3.) Scale-tone sevenths in all keys.
4.) Inversions in all qualities.
5.) Dozens of progressions.
6.) Transcription exercises.
7.) Modal material.