Originally Posted by Jazz Man

There are all different levels of natural ability, and lack thereof...

There have been amazingly gifted musical geniuses, who had so
much natural ability, that even though they knew absolutely none
of the music theory behind jazz... were still able to spontaneously
improvize circles around most of their peers. I'm thinking of guys
like Chet Baker and Bix Beiderbeck. Bix never even learned how
to read music, but he could listen to a song once, and then play it
back to you immediately in any key, with improvized choruses on
top of it all. Chet baker could do the same. In fact it used to drive
his fellow players crazy because he would play the same songs in
different keys each night! These geniuses are extremely rare.

There are also a very rare few that simply can't learn to improvize
at all. These people are absolutely tone deaf, and though they may
be able to "plug in a lick or two" here and there, it will never really
be musical or truly artistic. These folks are also extremely rare.

For the vast majority of us who fall somewhere between these two
extremes, we have varying amounts of natural ability, or talent for
improvization, but we can pretty much all learn to do this very well
if we are willing to develop our abilities. Improvization is very much
a craft. We start with the basics of music theory, and combine that
with the gradual training of the mind and body, and in time most all
of us can absolutely become quite proficient at it.

Like most things, the big factor is how much we are willing to work.
If you listen to jazz quite regularly, and practice in an effective and
efficient way, you will succeed. It takes a little time of course... but,
with all the educational materials now at our disposal, improvization
is something that is definitely within all our grasps.

In the early days, jazz players were very secretive about their craft,
and would pretend it was simply a "gift from heaven"... They liked to
make it seem quite mysterious. The perception that only a few could
learn to do it comes from those days, but it simply wasn't true. There
is indeed a talent factor, but with some practice... we can all share in
the fun, and the learning process itself is very fun and satisfying too!

"Jamey Aebersold Play-Along Books and CDs". No secret here at all.

This has been a public service announcement...... from...... Jazz Man