trumpettrax

Before you can start learning to improvise, what must you know? Scales obviously (but probably not just the major scales either huh?). Ideas, thoughts?

Thanks

matthoffner

In my opinion, the most important thing you can do in jazz music is to listen to as much as you can. You need to have a great feel for the music. Its always great to find a great solo and listen to it everyday and be able to sing along and play some of the licks back on your horn.

The rest of it, like you said, is matching scales/arpeggios with a chord type or group of chords. Thinking of scales in modes will help. That is, starting a major scale on different scale degrees.

I'd also recommend picking up an Aebersold CD @ http://www.aebersold.com/

-Matt

PH

The next ITG Journal Jr. will include an article I wrote on the things you should do to begin learning to improvise jazz.

The most important thing, IMO, is to listen a lot to great jazz recordings and then, after lots of listening, try to play along with the recordings by ear.

Other important things are to learn music theory (intervals, chords, and scales, etc.), learn to play jazz harmonies on the keyboard, and simply to experiment with improvising. Play-along recordings are particularly useful, because they don't mess up and they are patient enough to play a tune a thousand times while you pull yourself together. No living accompanist has that tolerance for my ineptitude!!!

That Journal Jr. should be available very soon.

NickD

I would add, as a prelude to learning jazz, would be to learn tunes - memorize them. Then learn to play them by ear in all keys.

Just a thought.

Nick

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grasshopper

Thank you for the post. I am new to TM. This is something that I am very interested in too. I will look for the article in ITG.

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slybootz

Listen Listen Listen!

Get recordings of the greats, the not-so-greats, and the unknowns. Transcribing never hurt either! Arpeggios, theory, etc. nothing should hurt

kitjacoby

I agree with the previous posts on listening to get a good feel for the music. A good way to develope this is to find solo's by your favourite trumpet players that are within your grasp (I, for example, shan't be playing many Diz solo's for a while )....ideally, transcribe them, but if you're not sufficently advanced to be able to hear what Wynton is doing, there is no shame in using the internet (try www.jazztrumpetsolos.com to start with)...and play along with the recordings. This will help develop your feel, as well as begin to develop your language.

Another thing you can then do is, from these transcriptions, highlight any licks that YOU like the sound of. Then, learn those in all 12 keys (again, advice that I've been gven and have yet to impliment fully!!).

In terms of theory, you can't go wrong with the Mark LeVine book - it's got just about everything you'd need to know in it.

You can be taught the theory of jazz. You can be taught the practise techniques that will help improve your improvising. You can be taught to improve your overall technique. You can be taught to listen critically. But you can't be taught how to improvise. That comes from yourself. Listen to yourself critically. Try to produce sounds that you like. Above all, almost any Jazz musician will tell you that they'd rather hear someone's personality in a solo with bum notes than a note perfect solo without a soul.

Just strive to do make the best music you can, and people can only respect you for that.

I know how hard this music is...good luck!!!

K

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trpt2345

Another good thing to do is play with just the metronome: set it on 2 & 4 (and don't turn it aaround to 1 & 3) and play quarter notes on the chord tones. Start in root position but then as time goes on start from any note in the chord and try to hit the note closest to the one you're on when the chord changes.

Listen a lot. I like whoever said learn solos from trumpet players you have the technical ability to copy. Art Farmer, Miles, Kenny Dorham, all excellent. As your chops build up, move to Clifford Brown, Roy Eldridge (the best!), Buck Clayton, Freddie Hubbard. Don't neglect Louis Armstrong. Learn the history of the vocabulary of your instrument. It all has to sink into your brain, your ears, your soul. Eventually you want to build up a circuit between you ears and fingers so you can play what you hear without thinking about it. Takes a long time, but that's the goal.

Once you can play a chorus or two of a song playing eighth notes on the chord tones, you know it. I prefer the metronome to Abersold records.

My $.02

Michael McLaughlin

"First you learn your horn, then you learn the music, then you forget all that shit and just play." Charlie Parker

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wlrube

The advice of one of my old teachers:

"Listening to jazz is 99% of playing jazz. The other 1% will come eventually."

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bigtiny

You don't have to know ANYTHING before you can start to learn.....all of the respondents to your question have made good suggestions, however it's important to realize that if you want to improviser, then you should spend some time everyday....IMPROVISING! Working with play alongs is good, but so is just sitting in a room and playing musically each day. Try to play what you're hearing in your head and get your instrument out of the way.

bigtiny