In the second lecture of the four part series presented at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. Billy Taylor discussed the techniques and traditions of improvisation in jazz music. In this lecture, he also played examples, and ends off the program with "All the Things You Are".

• What did piano players play to fit with the ensemble? (with examples played)

• Examples playing harmony and melody (Happy Birthday!)

• What is meant by "chord voicing?"

• Were all jazz musicians formally trained?

• Can a classical musician, who has always played off written music, learn to play without written music? (with played examples of chords from lead sheets)

• When musicians play a song together, do they all play the same chord voicings?

• Where do ideas for improvisation come from?

• How much improvisation is new, and how much is a predetermined part of that song?

• Do you worry about other musicians improvising when you are playing with them?

• Do musicians ever want to repeat a particular improvisation?

• Who decides which musician will take a lead, and where?

• How do you teach your students to improvise?

• What's a II V I progression?

• Does changing the key of a song change the way it sounds?

• Is there a "blues scale"?

• When you are improvising what are you thinking about?

• What is the difference between improvisation in jazz, and improvisation in other genres of music?

• Why don't you use the term "Dixieland"?

• What is the difference in the feel of 8 bar compared to a 12 bar blues?

• Is there a structural difference between blues?

• Billy Taylor plays "Take the A Train" demonstrating the use of tenths in chord voicings.

• Do jazz musicians discuss key changes, etc. before a performance?

• What is stride piano?

• Are new artists paying tribute to past players?

• Dizzy Gillespie said in order to play your horn, you had to be able to play piano. Is that true?

• Billy Taylor plays "All the Things Your Are", one of his favorite pieces.

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