Blazing Asian

This is really great advice, considering I have just started to play lead in my schools Jazz Band. Thanks!

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Trumpets--
Bach Stradivarius Bb 37
Bach TR300 Bb
Cornets--
King 602 Bb

Deecy

It is impossible to overestimate the importance of scales.
As Andre Segovia said (and I am now to the point of boring people with this, but it's so very important), Scales "will solve ALL your problems."
Think about it.

T//

Khora

Trent-

Do you have a source for the archaic Greek scales? I'm really interested in them and am looking for some documentation, etc. I've got lots of scholarly references, but if you have something concise, I could save some time reading through all the prose right now.

Thanks for your help!

Shermock

There are so many things involved in jazz improv. Listening, knowledge of chord/scale relationships, etc. And it can be a bit overwhelming!
:::Big announcer voice::: "But wait, there's more....!"

I think it's reeeeal easy to forget about good trumpet fundamentals when improvising. How many times have we all "lost our place" while soloing, usually due to no air? Then the necessity to stop and re-group to figure out what we *meant* to play?? The horn doesn't play itself, and when you're in the moment it's easy to forget about good tone, breathing, and such. That makes improv just that much harder!

Simple, basic, deliberate lines can be much more compelling and artistic than slathering away at the changes. I've asked many students and clinic session members to think in statement/answer (antecedent/consequent) phrases, no matter how simple, and the results are always better communication through jazz. Literally, the other players paid more attention to each other as a result. They liked what they heard!

One of the things that has been mentioned but needs reinforcement is playing with a group. Get some folks together, grab some tunes like "The Real Easy Fake Book" and start playing. Sometimes more of a trial-by-fire approach, while humbling, can really jump-start your ability to integrate improvisation with good trumpet.

Cheers!

Shermock

stingaree

"Jazz musicians have no fear of this "unknown world" which can be called
the unconscious.We frequent it continuously and have been doing so since our childhood"
This is a beautiful quote from Leon Merian and says it all! The most important thing is listening to what is going on around you in this "unknown world", and forgetting everything else that is going to get in your way and inhibit you. I'm pretty sure that Lester Young said he didn't know chords because he didn't want to limit himself in his solos. There are no rules in the unconscious!

Siegtrmpt

Be careful. A lot of the jazz education products that are out there can easily overwhelm anyone with lists of scales and chords and all sorts of advice that, while valid, can take years and years to master and can easily leave you uninterested in continuing. You know the advice....learn each of these 10,000 licks in all 12 keys from memory and know each these 500 songs in all 12 keys from memory. While some of these lofty goals might be attainable years down the road I suspect you want to improvise now and learn some skills that you can use today in the arena you actually will be playing in. Keep it simple early on. As a matter of fact keep it simple later on too. Too much improv that is out there today is needlessly complex and not really very listenable. I liked the example I saw in "Ray" where the bar room piano guy was starting Ray Charles out on piano improvisation. He said something like "just play these two notes" and then got him to groove with the music. Crawl, walk, run. Once you can run you don't always have to. You can take a walk and enjoy the scenery. Good luck.

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Bill S.- NY Bach 6, 38 Mt. Vernon 43 Bach "C" cornet, NY Bach trombone 6vii Monette mouthpieces

TrentAustin

Yusef Lateef's Book "Repository of Scales" has some patterns on these... it's fun!
-T

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Trent Austin
Taking a break to focus on my music but I am lurking around. If you want to chat PM me.
http://www.trentaustin.com
http://www.onlinejazzimprovisation.com