Line-Drawing Jazz Ad-lib (線から描くジャズ・アドリブ)

Methodology source: Kado Takuhiro, Sen kara Egaku Jazz Ad-lib no Tsukurikata ("How to Build Jazz Ad-libs by Drawing Lines", Rittor Music, 2016).

Core idea: do not start from scales — start from the "line" (線, the melodic contour drawn before choosing notes). The root cause of "memorized every scale but still can't improvise" is not knowing how to use the memorized scales. The solution: take your humming (hana-uta) or the vague mental image of "roughly higher here, roughly lower there" (nantonaku) and draw it directly as a contour line (線) on the staff, then translate the line into notes — no perfect pitch required.

0. Overall Workflow (Three Steps)

1. Draw the line: draw the melodic direction directly as a polyline on the staff (ascending / descending / mountain / valley / zigzag). The line = the phrase's contour and guide.
2. Fill in notes: write notes along the line (eighth notes as the basic unit), filling it with three kinds of material: "scale + arpeggio + chromatic scale".
3. Adjust to the chords: following the "chord-tone priority beat-position ranking" (Chapter 3), change the notes on key beat positions to chord tones (chord tones / コード・トーン) of the current chord.

Conventions and terminology:

• Default environment in the book: C major, 4/4 time, demo progression Dm7→G7→C△7 (IIm7–V7–I△7).
• Note names use Japanese katakana fixed-do solfège: ド=C, レ=D, ミ=E, ファ=F, ソ=G, ラ=A, シ=B.
• オモテ拍 = on-beat (the first eighth-note half of each beat); ウラ拍 = offbeat (the second eighth-note half).
• Strong/weak pattern: beats follow "odd strong, even weak" (beats 1 and 3 = strong beats), and measures likewise ("odd strong, even weak": measures 1 and 3 = strong measures).