improvisations
- Thread starter cracko
- Start date
most of the time..u can fiddle around with the notes of the chords..but if u wanna add in the non-chord notes u gotta be sure that it doesn't land on the same time as the main beat,and dun hold it for too long(unless u want some special dissonant sound)..but a lot of knowing-what-to-play comes from experience
Improvs
Hi there Cracko,
Its a sign of musical maturity now that you wish to improvise music and Im sure musicians alive now like Wynton Marsalis to the Jazz Daddies of New Orleans like Louis Armstrong would smile and be proud of you. In fact Beethoven, Mozart, Liszt etc were all improvising musicians. Its a fact not widely emphasized because unlike today, there was no way of capturing music back then. Yeap. Mozart didnt own own an ipod.
Improvisation can be applied to many elements of music that you play already. For example melody, harmony, form, rhthym, color, theme, motiff's etc. Improvise melody and you get Louis Armstrong, harmony and you get Scott Henderson, Form and you get Wynton Marsalis, rhythm Jaco, Wooten etc.
Once you grasp the fundamental concepts of improvisation you would be more focused and more intent on learning the details such as chord progressions, dissonance etc. My advice is to identify the kind of music you listen to and see what elements are emphasized in it. Rock for example may not be the best place to play around with the element of harmony or form for example.
Godbless,
Clarence
Hi there Cracko,
Its a sign of musical maturity now that you wish to improvise music and Im sure musicians alive now like Wynton Marsalis to the Jazz Daddies of New Orleans like Louis Armstrong would smile and be proud of you. In fact Beethoven, Mozart, Liszt etc were all improvising musicians. Its a fact not widely emphasized because unlike today, there was no way of capturing music back then. Yeap. Mozart didnt own own an ipod.
Improvisation can be applied to many elements of music that you play already. For example melody, harmony, form, rhthym, color, theme, motiff's etc. Improvise melody and you get Louis Armstrong, harmony and you get Scott Henderson, Form and you get Wynton Marsalis, rhythm Jaco, Wooten etc.
Once you grasp the fundamental concepts of improvisation you would be more focused and more intent on learning the details such as chord progressions, dissonance etc. My advice is to identify the kind of music you listen to and see what elements are emphasized in it. Rock for example may not be the best place to play around with the element of harmony or form for example.
Godbless,
Clarence
rottenramone
Active member
...
other than the usual pentatonics and modes, what other concepts are there to play around with?
other than the usual pentatonics and modes, what other concepts are there to play around with?
Hmmm pentatonics and modes and concepts in the same sentence.. i would take that you want to know what scales, triads fit over what harmony right?
So once you are done with scales, you can try TRIAD based soloing. Meaning you take CEG the maj triad and u play that triad arpeggio over an Eminor chord for example. Certain triads will give you very nice sounds because the triad might actually be an extension of the chord you are playing under.
One thing to take note for jazz is that over strong beats you can virtually emphasize the more dissonant harmonies. Like a C# or Ab over a CMaj chord when its a 2 o 4 of the beat.. Weak beats dont really go well with weak harmonies on the other hand. Play around with it and see where it takes you
Godbless,
Clarence
So once you are done with scales, you can try TRIAD based soloing. Meaning you take CEG the maj triad and u play that triad arpeggio over an Eminor chord for example. Certain triads will give you very nice sounds because the triad might actually be an extension of the chord you are playing under.
One thing to take note for jazz is that over strong beats you can virtually emphasize the more dissonant harmonies. Like a C# or Ab over a CMaj chord when its a 2 o 4 of the beat.. Weak beats dont really go well with weak harmonies on the other hand. Play around with it and see where it takes you
Godbless,
Clarence
exin
New member
Re: ...
okay, this is hard to explain, i hardly use such concepts cos i don't have time to sit down and explore ... usually if there are chord changes people solo over let's say it was a C7 chord .. you'd play the C7 arpeggio over it right? ... what if the progression was like a 1 2 6 5 and you'd play the arpeggios accordingly right? ..
there's this concept that starts off with the degrees of the chords instead .. like instead of playing a 1 2 6 5 over the progression .. the progression stays the same but you'd play like . maybe if it were thirds .. erm .. a 3 4 1 7 over the whole progression instead .. this could actually bring out the colour of what you are speaking ... sounds complex .. you can PM me to find out more if you'd want to mess around with it ..
if your basic improvisation isn't there .. i'd recommend you'd stay away from this .. can get a little complex after a while ..
they said that if you want to improvise well .. sing your solos .. that's the key .. and plan them out .. even mr Jaco Pastorius plans his solos .. =)
rottenramone said:
okay, this is hard to explain, i hardly use such concepts cos i don't have time to sit down and explore ... usually if there are chord changes people solo over let's say it was a C7 chord .. you'd play the C7 arpeggio over it right? ... what if the progression was like a 1 2 6 5 and you'd play the arpeggios accordingly right? ..
there's this concept that starts off with the degrees of the chords instead .. like instead of playing a 1 2 6 5 over the progression .. the progression stays the same but you'd play like . maybe if it were thirds .. erm .. a 3 4 1 7 over the whole progression instead .. this could actually bring out the colour of what you are speaking ... sounds complex .. you can PM me to find out more if you'd want to mess around with it ..
if your basic improvisation isn't there .. i'd recommend you'd stay away from this .. can get a little complex after a while ..
they said that if you want to improvise well .. sing your solos .. that's the key .. and plan them out .. even mr Jaco Pastorius plans his solos .. =)
hmm.. im sure u can 
but, frequency wise, the futher away from the root note and chord tones the more dissonant it should sound.
so, improvising 5th should sound quite pleasing... (using the eg of 1 2 6 5, play over 6, 7, 3, 2).. then as u move to 3rd or flat 3rds.. still ok, but the melody will take on a different and more dissonant flavour.. and if u move totally out of the chord tones to 2nds, etc... i guess it can still work, but takes more thought, note choosing etc.
depart even futher..
...and u have jazz!
but, frequency wise, the futher away from the root note and chord tones the more dissonant it should sound.so, improvising 5th should sound quite pleasing... (using the eg of 1 2 6 5, play over 6, 7, 3, 2).. then as u move to 3rd or flat 3rds.. still ok, but the melody will take on a different and more dissonant flavour.. and if u move totally out of the chord tones to 2nds, etc... i guess it can still work, but takes more thought, note choosing etc.
depart even futher..
...and u have jazz!
rottenramone
Active member
..
i've got the modes down... basic ionian, dorian shapes etc. i'll need to memorise what mode is related to what scale etc....
then all of a sudden, i've been introduced to voicings. sounds damn power. that's why i'm quite intrigued by it.
but i'll still need to work on my basic pocket and groove stuff... i feel that i'm very poor in this area, esp after listening to pino palladino and jamerson. when i walk i tend to speed up and then somehow miss out on the turnaround. these are some of the basic things that i will need to work on.
i've got the modes down... basic ionian, dorian shapes etc. i'll need to memorise what mode is related to what scale etc....
then all of a sudden, i've been introduced to voicings. sounds damn power. that's why i'm quite intrigued by it.
but i'll still need to work on my basic pocket and groove stuff... i feel that i'm very poor in this area, esp after listening to pino palladino and jamerson. when i walk i tend to speed up and then somehow miss out on the turnaround. these are some of the basic things that i will need to work on.
