mctrumpet

jazz improvisation is very difficult for me for some odd reason. Do you have any tips that you think might help?

gridjam

Listen a lot, play a lot, ask MANY questions and play with people who are speaking the language fluently.
How many hours have you put in as a passionate, focused listener?
How much time have you spent playing along with your favorite recordings
(I don't mean play along CDS)
It seems to me that when something is difficult, it is either completely out of our reach because we have no clue to how to access it due to a massive lack of skills OR we are confusing the word difficult with unfamiliar. If improv is difficult for you, start by taking something familiar and start getting creative with it. It can be anything. From your favorite Beethoven melody/motif to a groove from the latest Radiohead CD. It doesn't matter, what matters is that you begin getting familiar with creating a new path through familiar territory and start expanding on your own impressions of that material based on related and seemingly unrelated material. Next step, a Blues or a two chord modal tune. Get playing with good players asap.
As Freddie Hubbard said- "this music takes a long time to learn". If you can get busy enjoying the process, you will have a better chance at overcoming your not-so-odd situation. Eventually playing will become more of a fun adventure game and less of a drag.

mctrumpet

Thanks for the tips. I have a CD that has a tune with a 24 bar basic "G" blues progression in it open for solos but its a play along CD should i still use it? Or should i just work on improvisation without it?

KSF2990

i find that just scat singing with whatever music happens to be on helps a ton - it lets you explore all your ideas without the constraints of getting it right on the horn. I find when I play my trumpet later I can reuse a lot of things that i've sung. does anyone else do that?

Firestas'1

Ingrid,
You mention playing with people who speak the language.
How do you go about finding them?
In my area aside from enrolling in a college program,there is a very limited (it seems) number of places where someone can go to gain experience at this sort of thing.

gridjam

Check out summer jazz workshops, get on forums and try to find people in your area that are into playing together, go to larger cities and check out live jazz. If you like what you hear, introduce yourself to the players and see if you can get a lesson. If they can't help you, there is a good chance that there will be someone in the audience (another musician) who can.
It's o. k. to use play-alongs but this is social music. You can only grow so much playing with people who are not listening to you.
:)

brem

mctrumpet: are you like me, concentrating on playing the "right" notes and not so much about the rythm?

mctrumpet

Brem,
i am probably alot like you. Its hard for me to find certain notes that work even if i know all of the chord changes and blues scales. I can think of really great sounding rythms but whe i try to play them on my horn it just doesnt wanna come out the way i hear it in my head.

My main problem is finding notes in the right key that i can fit into the rythms i think up. If that makes sense

gridjam

The more I play tunes through all keys, the easier it is to get the ideas flowing.
:)
Put your metronome on, play the melody--in time, play the changes (bass lines, permutations,etc), improvise. next key! Change the meter. Do it in 3/4.. 4/4 5/4 etc

brem

mctrumpet: exactly! :)