The First Edition of My New Book is Now Available!

Well, here we go again—it’s time to push the go button on another project.

I’m excited to share that my new book, Bebop by the Numbers – Band Director Handbook — A Super Fun, Super Simple Step-by-Step Guide on How to Teach Jazz Improvisation, is now available. This is a 172-page spiral-bound book that you can order online here.

It will soon be available on Amazon and other retailers once another round of revisions is approved, but if you want to get a jump on the school year in jazz band, you can grab the first edition now. Additionally, I recommend getting the Lulu version because it is spiral-bound and lies flat on your piano or music stand, rather than a regular paperback copy.

This project has been a long time in development. How did this one start? Well, after releasing my first book, Bebop by the Numbers two years ago, I started getting questions from band directors literally from all over the world:

  • Where do I start?
  • How do I teach this to my group?
  • What should I actually do in rehearsal?
  • How do I apply these concepts to a big band chart?

This book is my answer to those questions. It’s not a reprint of the method — instead it is a step-by-step guide for directors sharing how I teach this stuff to my band. Including how to warm up your band using numbers, how to get every student improvising, how to apply riffs, circles, and chord tones to real charts and help your students sound better.

Get out your pencil when you read this book and start taking notes. It is packed with 160 pages of examples, ideas for warming up, talks that I give to students on various subjects, practical instructions on how I teach songs and concepts, with more sample songs, sample transcriptions, details on how to run rehearsals for learning how to solo, and an appendix full of resources; including pictures from my working whiteboard sessions showing exactly how I teach this stuff. If you are a band director wanting to use a method to teach improvisation to ALL your jazz students, this may a great book for you to get started with this school year.

I believe every student can learn to create music and improvise — not someday, but right now. And every band can sound good doing it. This guide is built to help directors, help their students, make that happen.

Book Description: “The Band Director Handbook — Bebop by the Numbers provides educators with a step-by-step method for teaching jazz improvisation through scale degrees rather than individual notes. With warm-ups, riffs, games, and rehearsal strategies, directors can help any level band build fluency, confidence, and shared language—making improvisation accessible, engaging, and effective This book is a complete, practical guide to teaching and learning jazz improvisation through the Bebop by the Numbers method. It begins by introducing the mindset of thinking in numbers, squashing common myths, and making the shift toward always teaching and playing with numerical relationships. From there, it offers warm-ups, scale work, riffs of the day, and rhythm section fundamentals, all presented in a way that builds confidence and fluency. Readers are then guided through learning songs, writing blues etudes, embellishing melodies, and applying the method to jazz standards. The later chapters focus on big band solos, interactive games that reinforce concepts, and a “bebop prescription” to keep students growing. Finally, the book closes with practical teaching tips, lesson plan ideas, and an extensive appendix of nursery rhymes, jazz standards, transcriptions, and riffs—all designed to help players and band directors make jazz improvisation accessible, structured, and fun.”

If this book is for you, you can order this book from Lulu.com today.

I’ll share more soon, but for now — thanks to everyone who has encouraged me along the way. This one’s for all the directors who believe in their students.

For more about the Bebop by the Numbers method, visit bebopbythenumbers.com.

— Danny

PS. Any questions? Hit me up here on this contact form:
https://dannykolke.com/contact/

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