In this sense every account of improvisation that equates it with playing certain scales or melodic combinations or rhythmical figures over certain harmonic combinations is simply false. It is true that scales or certain set melodic phrases – so called licks – can indeed play a role in the ability to improvise. In playing a composed work, a musician can consider in advance how to play a certain passage. This is an edited extract from Philosophy Of Jazz by Daniel Martin Feige (Lexington Books). You can read Andy Hamilton’s review of the book in The Wire 497.