| LearnJazzPiano.com archives: Some thoughts on learning to improvise | |
| marksdg -- 01/06/2005, 10:30:01 -- #10159 | |
| One thing that I have not heard mentioned here as a practicing technique is planning out and practicing solos that you have made up yourself. This is different than improvising or transcibing. You are making up your own music but have the time to develop it carefully and analyze it. I found that my personal path to improvisation was to plan out solos carefully, which at first would take a long time. As you get better, you reduce the amount of time it takes you to plan out a solo until you can do it on the fly. Especially if you are just playing alone, I think this method works pretty well in teaching you how to "spontaneously compose". In essence, you are more working towards improving speed than improving quality, trying to keep up a high quality of composition from the beginning. Of course, as you get to true improvisation there is an added level of quality which surpasses anything you could do in planning out solos. | |
| Paul -- 01/06/2005, 16:04:46 -- #10164 | |
| I think this is a good practice. I think guys like Bird did this sort of thing when they wrote bebop tunes using standard chord progressions. Thanks for reminding me of this practice- I'm gonna give it a try! Paul | |
| 7 -- 01/07/2005, 13:40:21 -- #10189 | |
| As has been said many times in this forum, most musicians go into an improvisation with a few relatively concrete ideas in mind. (Of course some go in with a completely set solo, but that's not totally kosher. is it?.) Having a bunch of solid ideas about what you're going to do over the solo changes gives you some points of departure (and can also save you if you're not feeling particularly inspired that night). But by not "over-solidifying" those ideas, you leave yourself room to experience some nice surprises and allow yourself a good deal of lattitude in case the number is faster or slower or a completely different groove from what you practiced at home. Of course, the best way to solo is to "pre-hear", but that's takes a lot of years of listening to let your mind "feel out" the melodic improv suitable to the current changes. And it can often take a few more years to be able to spontaneously execute with your fingers what you hear in your "mind's ear" (that's when you realize how lucky good singers really are). | |
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