Jazz improvisation advice from a beginner
Here are scattered thoughts and things that I have found helpful and continue to work on, after working on my jazz improvisation skills for the last few years. Hopefully I won’t rant too much, but it’s helpful for me to think about this too, so bear with me.
These thoughts are from message I sent to a friend.
Scales, arpeggios
Scales, arpeggios (and enclosures to a lesser extent) are really, really foundational. E.g, playing arpeggios for any chord without thinking too much about it.
Phrasing
Phrasing is extremely important.
A couple years ago I was like, “I know scales and enclosures and licks, why do I sound so bad”. And an important part of it is because I don’t have the right phrasing! This includes dynamics, articulation and micro-timing.
Playing the changes
This includes connecting phrases across chords, resolving melodic lines, and rhythm. So, contextualize the scales, arpeggios, licks, etc., that you play by playing to a set of chord changes.
There was a time when I improvised over (say) Autumn Leaves in all twelve keys every day. I only stopped because it was boring but it was actually very helpful and my playing has gotten worse since I stopped.
Licks
Understand and analyze phrases at the “lick” level. When I hear a phrase in a solo that I like, I learn it and try to find where and how i’d play it in tunes that I’m jamming to.
Development
Development as in music composition: develop motifs, think about ranges and dynamics, and the intensity of your playing as your solo progresses. Think of the solo as a musical composition.
This right here is one of my greatest weaknesses. I often noodle too much. I think that being disciplined from the start and avoiding noodling is a good idea.
Groove
Very related to phrasing, but with emphasis on swing and other rhythmic micro-patterns, and locking in with rhythm section.
There is one video of a bassist that goes “I’ll play literally random notes and I’ll sound awesome check this out” and proceeds to sound great. If you have groove and articulation you have a LOT to work with. At least as important as all the fancy theory in the world.
Play with real people
This has helped me so much. Listening to and interacting with the way other people solo and comp is a really efficient way to get jazz language in your system.
Also, listening to other people talk about how they approach improvisation is really useful.
What is jazz anyway?
Study the classic recordings across the entire jazz history, which continues to unfold as we speak. This will make you realize the extent to which there is no one “jazz language”, but many. So all the things that I listed above are different for different styles of jazz, and knowing that is very useful.