lupin62

So I just started learning how to improvise officially a year ago now (two years if you include when I tried teaching myself with no knowledge of what I was doing) and I'm wondering, how does everyone think when they're in the heat of the moment improvising. So far all I've been able to think like is scales for the chords, like a C major scale over a D-, G7, Cmaj7 (II-V-I) or just a F scale over a C7 (V7). I have dealt with chords like _7b5 but so far in the moment all I'm able tho think of is, and exactly which is kind of sad. ... ahhhhh ... ummmmmm ... I'll just play a C scale over this ... oh wait, now I'm 4 chords behind. I really am still just a noob I guess. I'm thinking the more adequate way to go about this is to think about what scale to play while keeping the notes in the chord in the back of your mind so as to be able to play whatever over it and add some spice through non harmonic tones. I don't know though. How does everyone else do this mid-moment. I'm just curious.

__________________
- Bryan Young

lupin62

by the way, how do you put spaces between what you write here between paragraphs, do you have to put something like < break > .

__________________
- Bryan Young

Brekelefuw

Fluidity comes with practice. Like reading music, when playing changes you don't look at each individual chord. Once you get quick at identifying ii-V's and other common chord progressions you will just have to look at the overall picture of what happens in a certain section of music instead of the quality of each individual chord.

All of this takes time. Learn as many tunes as you can, and you will begin to notice patterns in the way they are constructed. Once you recognize the patterns, you don't have to focus on the individual chords because your mind has a general idea where the song will go. Ear training helps this a lot.


To separate paragraphs just hit enter on your keyboard.

__________________
Schilke B3L
Schilke XA1
Bach 37 180 ML
Chinese custom horn
Yamaha 6310G
Wedge 5B, 5A and 5FLG

After silence, that which comes nearest to expressing the inexpressible is music. ~Aldous Huxley

lupin62

that makes sense. hitting enter on the keyboard dosen't work for me, but then again, maybe it's because i'm using firefox or something weird.

oh well.

__________________
- Bryan Young

lupin62

Heyyyyyyy it works today!!!!!

__________________
- Bryan Young

TrumpetMD

Hi lupin62. There are a lot of threads on this subject, if you do a search.

The scales and chords you are studying are important. You definitely need a vocabulary. I practice chords, triads, and various jazz patterns. For patterns, I use Jerry Coker's Patterns for Jazz. Emile DeCosmo has a woodshedding series that covers patterns. There are many other good books along this line.

Like Brekelefuw said, you should also learn as many tunes as you can. Jamey Aebersold includes a good approach to this in his free Jazz Handbook (Jazz Handbook: Jazzbooks.com).

You should also listen to other jazz trumpet players like Chet Baker, Miles, or whoever you like.

Have fun.

ltg_trumpet

when i improv, i like to listen to the peice a bunch, learn the scales that sound good on them and just jam... however, if your going after a peice with multiple changes, and you have to play on the spot, you just need to use those changes like the pope to his bible... when im jamming away, im thinking random thoughts about the music, what the melody is, what the rhythm section is doing (the bass may be jamin away or it could be doing some simple walk line, the drummer might be playing a cool beat, in which case, take that rhythm look him in the eye and just jam with him, itll work out... the pianist can be your pal too... ive never played with some one that good at it, but im sure you can jam away just the same , what the crowd looks like, if its a crowd that wants to jam shred it if its a crowd that looks fun, do something simple, all just spur of the moment thoughts that form into runs or rhythms that are created within a split second trill... thats my improv, i love it...

__________________
super collegiate tri-tone (raw brass)

duanemassey

Hear the changes; if you have to think about it, it's either too late or you're just playing notes with no meaning. As has been said before, listening is as important as practice.

Peter McNeill

This may help:

and practice, practice....

__________________
Peter
Stopped Counting horns,
But just 1 more will be perfect...

Markie

This is a great question!
When we hear a musician like Dizzy or Montero improvise, we are hearing the BIG PICTURE. However, they did not start out that way. They started like the rest of us, putting it together bit by bit, trying to copy others from listening, learning scales and progressions and making it fit within the melody. You have to develop a series of LITTLE PICTURES before you can put it all together. An improvisation is just a reinterpretation of the melody. Pending the person can read basic music, I recommend the SPIT Book for people who wish to learn improv. It helps the person learn how to play little motifs and blend it with the melody. Think of the little motifs as building blocks for improvisation.
The SPIT Book works great with play alongs and I've had students learn how to improvise in a session. Now granted, they didn't build a improvisational structure like Art Tatum but, they did understand how the concept of improv works and could improvise on simple tunes like slow versions of So What, Impresssions and other slow simple modal tunes. A new copy of the SPIT Book is kind of expensive. Sometimes you can find it used on Ebay cheap.
Good Luck