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Jazz at Spinkscorners has two tools. Pick a section from the menu on the left, or scroll down for the full reference.

Practice Sheet Generator

Use the Practice Sheet Generator to build a one-page exercise over a tune, a chord progression, or a single scale across keys. The Wizard walks you through four short steps. If you'd rather describe what you want in plain English, switch to the Chat tab at the top of the generator and ask for an exercise.

Quick start

Step 1 — Source: pick Songs and type a tune title, Chord progressions and enter something like ii-V-I, or Scale practice to drill a single scale across keys.
Step 2 — Exercise: pick a preset (arpeggios, guide tones, bebop scales, Barry Harris, pentatonics, improv strategies, etc.). For Scale practice, this is where you choose the scale and starting key.
Step 3 — Modifiers: optionally add free-text details like range, direction, rhythm, or a starting note.
Step 4 — Instrument: choose your instrument transposition (or output format for progressions), then click Generate Exercise.

The sheet music preview appears after generation. Download a PDF or MusicXML file from the result panel; for guitar output, a tab-aware PDF is also available.

Wizard vs. Chat

Wizard — walks you through the four steps with all pickers and presets visible.
Chat — type a plain-English request like "Bebop scales over Autumn Leaves, eighth notes, descending starting on G5" and the generator builds the exercise from your description. Useful when you already know exactly what you want.

Source modes

Songs — generates an exercise over a tune from the library; type to search or pick a popular suggestion.
Chord progressions — turns one bar per chord into an exercise. Roman numerals (ii-V-I, iiø-V7b9-i), scale degrees (1-6-2-5), and borrowed numerals (bII7, bVII7, bVI7) are all supported. Basic and Full preset banks are available if you need a starting point.
Scale practice — cycles a single scale across keys. Pick the scale family, the starting key on the circle of fifths, the key cycle (Circle of 4ths, Circle of 5ths, Chromatic, or Random), and the starting scale degree (1st through 7th).

Exercise presets

The Step 2 preset buttons are starting points; modifiers in Step 3 fine-tune them.

Scale practice — runs the chord-quality default scale (Lydian on maj7, Dorian on m7, etc.) or a scale you specify in modifiers.
Arpeggios — outlines 1-3-5-7 on each chord, returns to the root, and fills out the bar with rests. (A plain "chord tones" request falls back to a connected chord-tone line — chord tones on the beats with scalar passing notes between them.)
Guide tones — a line built around the 3rds and 7ths with smooth voice-leading; default pattern is 3-7-3-7. Add only 3rds or only 7ths in Step 3 to narrow the targets.
Tritone subs — substitutes each dominant for the dominant a tritone away, then plays the exercise over the substitute. In progression mode the preset rewrites the V as bII7.
Bebop scales — Major Bebop on major chords, Dominant Bebop on V7, Dorian Bebop on minor.
Barry Harris — the 8-note Barry Harris scale with chord tones on downbeats and passing notes on upbeats.
Barry Harris arpeggio — chromatic approach into an ascending arpeggio, resolved with a descending scale fragment.
Pentatonics — major pentatonic on major chords, minor pentatonic on minor; supports starting from the root, 2nd, 4th, or 5th.
Shifting pentatonics — picks a different minor pentatonic for each chord quality so the color shifts bar by bar.
Improv strategies — detects familiar progressions (ii-V-I, turnarounds, tritone subs, backdoors) and writes a guide-tone line with strategy annotations above the staff.

Several less-common families — bebop enclosures, diatonic triads, diatonic 7th chords, pivot arpeggios, and leading-note arpeggios — aren't on the preset bar, but you can ask for them by name in Step 3 modifiers or in Chat (e.g. "bebop enclosures").

Modifiers (Step 3)

Step 3 takes free text. The parser understands:

Range — note pairs like C4-G5.
Direction — ascending, descending, both directions (default: ascending).
Rhythm — whole, half, quarter, eighth, or sixteenth notes.
Starting note — start on C4 or starting C5.
Instrument names — naming an instrument applies a practical range (see below).
Scale-name overrides — type a scale name like major blues, dorian, mixolydian, melodic minor, or altered to override the chord-quality default.
Guide-tone narrowing — only 3rds or only 7ths.

Step 4 — instrument transposition and output format

For songs, choose the instrument transposition:

C instruments
B-flat instruments
E-flat instruments
Bass clef instruments
Guitar (Standard + TAB)

For chord progressions, choose the output format:

Standard notation — sheet music only.
Guitar (Standard + TAB) — sheet music plus tablature.

Progression substitutions

In progression mode, Step 4 also offers optional substitutions over the V chord:

Flat 9 diminished over V — chord substitution: rewrites V7 as bII7.
Tritone substitution over V — chord substitution: replaces V7 with the dominant a tritone away.
Altered dominant over V — scale-color overlay: applies the altered scale without rewriting the chord.
Half-whole diminished over V — scale-color overlay: applies the half-whole diminished scale without rewriting the chord.

Output and downloads

PDF — printable practice sheet, generated in your browser from the rendered score.
MusicXML — open in DAWs and notation software (Finale, Sibelius, MuseScore).
PDF with TAB — appears when guitar output is selected; rendered with tablature included.

General defaults

Default direction is ascending unless you ask for descending.
Default range is C4–G5 unless you give a note range or an instrument range is applied.
Default start octave is 4 unless you specify a starting pitch or an instrument override changes it.
Guide-tone exercises default toward quarter-note style.
Jazz-scale, bebop-scale, and enclosure exercises default toward eighth-note style.
In progression mode, the default 4/4 chord-tone shape is: root, 3rd, 5th, 7th in eighth notes, then the root as a quarter note, then rests to fill the bar.

Jazz-scale defaults by chord quality

Major 7 — Lydian
Dominant 7 — auto-selected from suffix/context
Minor 7 — Dorian
Half-diminished — Locrian natural 2
Minor-major — melodic minor
Diminished — diminished

Dominant-scale nudges

Plain V7 → Mixolydian.
V7#11 → Lydian dominant.
V7 with alt, #9, #5, b5, or b13 → altered.
V7b9 → diminished.

Barry Harris formulas

Major: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Dominant: 1 2 3 4 5 6 b7 7
Minor: 1 2 b3 4 5 6 b7 8
Half-diminished: 1 2 b3 4 b5 b6 b7 8

Roman-numeral to chord defaults

Major keys

I → maj7
ii → m7
iii → m7
IV → maj7
V → 7
vi → m7
vii → m7b5

Minor keys

i → m7
ii → m7b5
III → maj7
iv → m7
V → 7
VI → maj7
VII → 7

Instrument and range nudges

If your modifier names a common instrument, we apply a practical range unless you give an explicit note range.

Trumpet
Tenor saxophone / saxophone / sax
Trombone
Flute
Guitar

Set List Manager

The Set List Manager helps small jazz combos and pickup groups plan a gig together. The Organizer creates the gig and adds Players. Each Player gets a one-time email link to vote on tunes. The Organizer then generates an ordered set list, refines it, and publishes a final stage-ready link to each Player.

Roles

Organizer — creates a gig, invites Players, generates and publishes the set list. Becomes an Organizer by request — we approve and email a sign-in link.
Player — receives an email invite from their Organizer, votes on tunes, then receives a personal link to the final set list.

Organizer quick start

Request access — open the Set List Manager tab and click Request an invite. We'll email a sign-in link once approved.
Sign in — every time you come back, request a fresh sign-in link from the Send me a link button. We email Organizers a one-time magic link rather than asking for a password.
Create a gig — give it a name, an optional date, the number of sets, and the tunes per set.
Add Players — name, email, and instrument for each. You can add more later.
Open voting — each Player gets an email with a one-time link to rank their picks.
Review votes — see what each Player picked and how they ranked it.
Generate and tweak the set list — the tool builds an ordered list from the votes. Adjust as needed.
Publish — every Player receives a personal stage link with the final set list.

Player quick start

Watch your inbox — your Organizer will email you a one-time vote link when voting opens.
Search the library — find tunes by title.
Rank your picks — drag rows to reorder; the top of the list is your top pick.
Send to Organizer — submit your ranking. You can update it until the Organizer closes voting.
Get your stage link — once the Organizer publishes, we email you a personal link with the final set list. Open it on your phone or tablet at the gig.

Tips

Sign-in links are one-time and expire — request a fresh one from the Send me a link page any time you need it.
Players don't create accounts. Everything works through the email links your Organizer sends.
The final set list view is designed to be glanceable on stage from a phone or tablet.