Blog - occasional, random thoughts on music - June 2016
Thoughts on improvisation
08.06.2016
When I started playing guitar at age 20 I new nothing whatsoever about improvisation. This lack of knowledge continued for some years until I became part of a jug band which became progressively more jazzy. At which point I became increasingly puzzled about how musicians improvised. Where did they start? How did they get their inspiration? What were the rules? Were there actually any rules? And so on.
When I joined a jazz band around 1978 or so, I started to fumble my way through solos. In the middle of playing a number, the trumpet player would look round at me to see if I wanted a solo. Sometimes I would nod and have a go. More often than not, I would shake my head and pass. One of the reasons for passing was my then relative lack of familiarity with chord sequences. I actually collected chord sequences for new tunes and wrote them religiously into a thick, 4-pronged binder. I don't look at the book these days, except to remind myself of tune titles that might be nice to play, and the main reasons are, not only that I'm more at home with basic jazz (and other) chord progressions, but my ear has become more attuned to the structure of the material - including the inescapable cycle of fifths - and my knowledge of the fretboard has increased a little after 50 years of playing!
So here are some basic thoughts on improvisation:
1. Learn the tune
That sage of the guitar, Duck Baker, once said to me that improvisation is about taking a melody and creating a new melody from it. Wise words, and you can't really create such a new melody unless you know the 'old' melody - the original melody - thoroughly. So, before you try to work your way around a melody line with different notes, make sure that you can play the basic melody in as many keys as possible
2. Know the harmonic structure of the tune thoroughly
By harmonic structure I mean the basic chord sequence - and therefore the harmonic and melodic possibilities of the tune. Play it until it becomes second nature. Listen to the different notes within the changing chords and use those notes as the basis of melodic variations.
3. Become familiar with chord alternatives and substitutions
One of the really valuable things about knowing the cycle of fifths is the ability to use simple alternatives to chords. For example, studying the cycle will tell you that a G7 chord leads naturally into a C chord, and that a C7 chord leads naturally into an F chord. However, a G minor chord also leads into a C7 chord, a C minor chord leads into an F7 chord, and so on. So, the chord sequence: G7-G7-C7-C7-F7-Bb could be slightly more interesting by becoming G7-Gm-C7-Cm-F7-Bb. Simple chord substitution. Worth looking into - i.e. increasing the tools in your musical toolbox.
4. Play scales
I started guitar by learning chords and neglected to learn scales. A great mistake. My scale knowledge on 6-string guitar is still very amateur. By contrast, I started playing tenor guitar from the point of view of melody and, as the instrument is tuned structly in fifths, got to grips with scales much more quickly. Consequently, I believe my soloing on tenor is much more fluid and a little more lyrical than on the 6-string instrument. Scales are good.
5. Play what's in your head
One of the most difficult aspects of improvisation is hearing something good in your head and then translating that into notes on the fretboard - just as you heard it in your head. The only way to get to this point - and it's not easy for the beginner - is to sing phrases that sound nice, and then play them slowly on the fretboard This not only increases the tools available to you, but also improves your routes around the fretboard itself.
There's much, much more to improvisation than my few notes here, but these tips - basic though they are - indicate some good starting points from which to begin the joyous work which is improvising.
08.06.2016
When I started playing guitar at age 20 I new nothing whatsoever about improvisation. This lack of knowledge continued for some years until I became part of a jug band which became progressively more jazzy. At which point I became increasingly puzzled about how musicians improvised. Where did they start? How did they get their inspiration? What were the rules? Were there actually any rules? And so on.
When I joined a jazz band around 1978 or so, I started to fumble my way through solos. In the middle of playing a number, the trumpet player would look round at me to see if I wanted a solo. Sometimes I would nod and have a go. More often than not, I would shake my head and pass. One of the reasons for passing was my then relative lack of familiarity with chord sequences. I actually collected chord sequences for new tunes and wrote them religiously into a thick, 4-pronged binder. I don't look at the book these days, except to remind myself of tune titles that might be nice to play, and the main reasons are, not only that I'm more at home with basic jazz (and other) chord progressions, but my ear has become more attuned to the structure of the material - including the inescapable cycle of fifths - and my knowledge of the fretboard has increased a little after 50 years of playing!
So here are some basic thoughts on improvisation:
1. Learn the tune
That sage of the guitar, Duck Baker, once said to me that improvisation is about taking a melody and creating a new melody from it. Wise words, and you can't really create such a new melody unless you know the 'old' melody - the original melody - thoroughly. So, before you try to work your way around a melody line with different notes, make sure that you can play the basic melody in as many keys as possible
2. Know the harmonic structure of the tune thoroughly
By harmonic structure I mean the basic chord sequence - and therefore the harmonic and melodic possibilities of the tune. Play it until it becomes second nature. Listen to the different notes within the changing chords and use those notes as the basis of melodic variations.
3. Become familiar with chord alternatives and substitutions
One of the really valuable things about knowing the cycle of fifths is the ability to use simple alternatives to chords. For example, studying the cycle will tell you that a G7 chord leads naturally into a C chord, and that a C7 chord leads naturally into an F chord. However, a G minor chord also leads into a C7 chord, a C minor chord leads into an F7 chord, and so on. So, the chord sequence: G7-G7-C7-C7-F7-Bb could be slightly more interesting by becoming G7-Gm-C7-Cm-F7-Bb. Simple chord substitution. Worth looking into - i.e. increasing the tools in your musical toolbox.
4. Play scales
I started guitar by learning chords and neglected to learn scales. A great mistake. My scale knowledge on 6-string guitar is still very amateur. By contrast, I started playing tenor guitar from the point of view of melody and, as the instrument is tuned structly in fifths, got to grips with scales much more quickly. Consequently, I believe my soloing on tenor is much more fluid and a little more lyrical than on the 6-string instrument. Scales are good.
5. Play what's in your head
One of the most difficult aspects of improvisation is hearing something good in your head and then translating that into notes on the fretboard - just as you heard it in your head. The only way to get to this point - and it's not easy for the beginner - is to sing phrases that sound nice, and then play them slowly on the fretboard This not only increases the tools available to you, but also improves your routes around the fretboard itself.
There's much, much more to improvisation than my few notes here, but these tips - basic though they are - indicate some good starting points from which to begin the joyous work which is improvising.