Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
JAZZ IMPROVISATION
PART ONE
Version 2.07
www.greatscores.com
Digital Sheet Music for Everyone
CONTENTS
Introduction
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Let us start by playing all the chords in the left hand. Dont worry
about the timing, just get a feel for the chords. There are three in
total:
C7, F7, and G7, so chord I, IV and V of C major.
Once you have done that, try playing them in time. You can use a
metronome for this.
All the chords are in root position, which means the progression of
chords is not that smooth, but it will do for now. You will also have
noticed that the chords are all dominant 7ths, yet we are supposed
to be in C major? How does that work?
Well, jazz does not follow traditional Western harmony, as it was
born out of the meeting of African music and Western Music, with
many attributing New Orleans with its mixture of French, Creole,
English and African Slaves as the birth place of Jazz.
So traditional rules dont apply, which brings us to the blues scale:
This scale has a flattened 3rd, 5th and 7th note, the so called blue
notes, and the presence of a flattened 3rd may indicate some kind of
minor scale, but the blues scale does not really sound like a minor
scale. So traditional theory fails us in trying to explain this scale.
You should try getting familiar with this scale, so your fingers can
find their way around it fairly comfortably.
The fingering for pianists is:
Let us take just the first three notes of the scale and try and play
anything that comes into your head whilst playing along to the 80
bpm Blues in C play-a-long. If possible, be aware of the chordchanges, and the beginning of each new chorus.
Blues No. 1
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N.B. If you try the above example, you may want to finish on the
first chord of the piece.
It is best to experiment with just these three notes until you feel
comfortable with the speed of the piece, slowly become aware the
chord changes and generally everything will appear to be happening
a bit slower. This is no different to learning to ride a bicycle or to
drive a car or learn a language. At first, everything appears to be
happening far too fast. So give yourself time, and relax, as when
you play with an tense frame of mind, this will show in your music.
Once you feel as though you could do with using more notes,
extend to the G flat, then add the G and so on, until eventually you
use all of the scale.
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This is and the previous example are only one chorus long; dont
limit yourself to just one chorus. As I mentioned earlier, give
yourself time and space.
One important thing to consider is not to think of the scale just
consisting of the notes from C to C. Did you find yourself just
playing within that octave? Start branching out using more than just
one octave of the blues scale:
Blues No. 3
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You may find that your own improvisation at this point does not
sound as convincing as the examples given, but do not worry, you
have only just begun; we will now have a look at what you can do
to improve your soloing on the Blues scale.
There are several factors that are contributing to the lack of spice in
your improvisation.
One of the most common things that happens to people when they
start improvising, is that they just run up and down the blues
scale, i.e. play from one note to the next with no smaller leaps in
the melody. This makes the solo sound very predictable, as the
listener can guess where you are going next for there are only
really tow options: up to the next note or down to the next note.
So if you find yourself playing something like this:
Not So Good
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But be careful not to jump around too much, as melodies with many
large leaps sound disconnected and comical. It is a question of
getting the balance right. The example above also has several other
features that make it stand at out compared to the Not So Good
example:
So the next exercise is for you to try and play phrases that consist
of the odd larger leap of melody; and remember not to overplay.
For some reason it always feels safer to play, than not to. Silence is
indeed brave. People also often think that they can rescue a phrase
(a coherent section of melody) that has gone wrong by playing
more. This hardly ever works, you will just end up noodlin around.
A method to stop overplaying is to play not on every impulse you
have to play, but let it pass and wait for the next urge you feel to
play a phrase. So: try and play and every second urge you have (to
play a new melodic line)!
You should spend a good few hours over several days on improving
the variety of melodic leaps in your soloing.
The problem of overplaying however, is one that even professionals
have, so you will be practicing that forever, really.
Rhythm
Another important aspect to spend some time on is that of the
rhythms you employ in improvisation. You will probably find that
your phrases use straight quavers or just crotchets, with little or no
syncopation. So let us work on this.
First of all, what is syncopation?
Syncopation is the rhythmic displacement of one our more notes
from the main beats in a bar.
So instead of playing:
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Obviously you dont want to play exclusively on the off beats (the
ands), but vary your rhythms. Below is a list of two-bar rhythmic
patterns that are typical of jazz phrasing. Clap these along to a
metronome, or keep time with your foot, and clap them or play
them on note of your instrument.
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Next you should try and make up your own phrases using these or
similar rhythms. I have included the same list again with actual
pitches inserted. But do try and come up with your own rhythmic
and melodic variations.
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All our examples so far have been played with a swing feel, and this
guide will not specifically deal with the intricacies of playing in this
style, as separate guide will be available for this.
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Timing
Another important aspect to consider when trying to improve ones
soloing is where in the bar does one start the phrase. If your solo
sounds leaden footed, then you are probably guilty of starting every
phrase on the same beat of the bar, most commonly people head
straight for beat one. Again, this will make the solo rather
predictable and boring.
In swing time, the strong beats are in fact the 2 and the 4, as
opposed to beat 1 and 3 in classical, folk and popular music.
This gives swing that very particular rhythmic feel. Starting your
phrases on beat 1 or 3 will therefore sound particularly leaden in
music that swings.
So, vary the places in the bar that you start your phrases on.
First of all:
just
just
just
just
on
on
on
on
beat
beat
beat
beat
1
2
3
4
Then head for the off-beats. This is much trickier. Beats 2 and, as
well as 4 and are particularly strong, but also difficult to start a
phrase on, so practice these especially.
Hence, practice starting your phrases on:
1
2
3
4
and
and
and
and
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Here is an example:
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15
16
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18
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20
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