LearnJazzPiano.com archives: solo 'problem'

ayolt -- 11/01/2006, 16:03:33 -- #30876

Hi all, My solos are steadily improving and i am happy with that. However I have a problem to overcome: my solo's seem to follow the melody of the tune i play too much! I mean i terms of frasing etc. Have you guys also experienced this? And more importantly... how can i practice to overcome this? Any tips?

Scot -- 11/01/2006, 18:00:33 -- #30876

Play your solo very slowly so that you can really listen.  Then make an exercise and force yourself to do some things differently. Here one idea- play eighth note five not phrases. Start the first one on 1 (and it will finish on 3).  Start the next phrase one and a half beats later, on the and of 4.  That one will wind up on the and of two after five eighth notes, and the next phrase will start one and a half beats later on 4, and so on.   All you need to do to play something differently is to force yourself to do something differently in your playing.  Most people dont' do this because they don't like playing slow for two hours. But the great pianists do. Benny Green would spend an entire day practicing a little phrase really slow in all keys in all possible time locations until it was just what he wanted.   Playing slow is one of the best ways to change things up. When you're going faster, or jamming, it's more difficult to play new stuff that means anything because it's going too fast to think about. Bill Evans worked up tons of ideas at very slow tempos that he could then use in faster situations. Go really slow, play stuff that is new, make exercises, etc... it will all come together. Of course one of the most important things to do when trying to "own" a song so that you can really play with it is to know it very well. Know it so well you can play it in any key at any time.  Play the melody with your left and, the chords with the right. once you "own" a song like that, it's much easier when trying to break out into a more interesting solo.

Styles -- 11/02/2006, 11:32:12 -- #30876

What I've done that may or may not be good for your style is to learn Charlie Parker heads well enough where I can double the melody up to speed in both hands. I haven't done the more complicated Parker melodies yet, but what I've done has helped a whole lot... Give it a try and see what you think?

Scot -- 11/03/2006, 11:00:11 -- #30876

Yes, spending time learning some heavy bebop heads in both hands, with a metronome, will do wonders for your feel and time.  That's what happened to me back in the late 80's, I remember the day when I felt like I "had it".  It was like I opened a door to another world where I completely sucked again, but at least there was a clear path to get better :)

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