introduction
Jazz Improvisation
This page contains my improvisation recordings from 2008. As you'll hear below, the recordings feature such highlights as cracked notes, poor note choice, unsteady rhythm, and meandering phrases! And that's why recording myself is so important. It's the best way to evaluate my playing and to chart my progress over time. I don't expect that I'll ever be a great jazz trumpet player, but I am anxious to hear how much better I can get with practice. As always, I welcome your comments and suggestions.
All daily recordings: 2004 - 2005 - 2006 - 2007 - 2008
JUNE 23, 2008
Aebersold #25, My Foolish Heart
Unless I overlooked a recording, it's been about four years since the last time I posted a ballad recording ( My Funny Valentine from 2004). Hoping to meet my unofficial ballad quota of one every four years, I gave "My Foolish Heart" a try tonight. This was my first time improvising over the tune. I don't think it sounds too bad, especially considering the fact that I didn't look at the changes. And for the sake of consistency, I even threw in one of my trademark cracked notes near the end!
APRIL 19, 2008
Aebersold #116, Trane's Ride
I recently purchased the "Miles Of Modes" Aebersold recording. As you might guess from the title, it has a lot of modal exercises and tunes. It also has a pretty energetic rhythm section, at least on some of the tracks. This clip features one of my favorite tracks from the play-a-long, "Trane's Ride" (written by Jamey Aebersold). If you've listed to several of my recordings, you know cracked/missed notes are par for the course. Heck, my recordings would probably be unrecognizable without them! Well, let's just say this recording doesn't disappoint. Near the end of the recording are two notes in a row which I totally miss. They're just tiny squeaks of air...
MARCH 9, 2008
Aebersold #104, Drone in E
As I often do when recording, tonight I set my Aebersold tracks to shuffle and tried playing with whatever was randomly selected. I was really in the mood to play something fast and hard-hitting, so when this track from the Kenny Werner - Free Play play-a-long began, I was tempted to hit the "next" button. I decided to give it a try, however, when I saw the title of the track, "Drone in E". Since that's the key of F# on the trumpet, I figured this would be a good chance to challenge myself to play in one of my less familiar keys. This is my first time playing with this Aebersold track, and it's the first time I've shared a clip quite like this, but I thought it came out good enough to share. Just pretend I actually hit those two notes at the end :-)
FEBRUARY 16, 2008
Clip #1 - Aebersold #56 - "I Mean You" by Thelonious Monk.
Clip #2 - Aebersold #56 - "I Mean You" by Thelonious Monk.
I first recorded with this "I Mean You" play-a-long track back in 2004 (). I've improvised with the track a few times over the years but I hadn't had the inclination to make any new recordings until last weekend. Above you'll find a clip from last weekend (Clip #2) as well as a clip from this weekend (Clip #1). As you'll hear, Clip #1 is similar in style to most of my other jazz recordings while Clip #2 is a little more adventurous (at least in parts).
When practicing jazz improvisation, I try to approach my solos with a variety of styles. I'll play a few choruses in a straight-ahead hard/bop style, then I might try something really sparse, or maybe I'll play in an angular or avant-garde style. These varied approaches aren't always successful, but they do help open new avenues of creativity that I might otherwise miss by playing everything the same way all the time. Variety... it really is the spice of life!
This page contains my improvisation recordings from 2007. As you'll hear below, the recordings feature such highlights as cracked notes, poor note choice, unsteady rhythm, and meandering phrases! And that's why recording myself is so important. It's the best way to evaluate my playing and to chart my progress over time. I don't expect that I'll ever be a great jazz trumpet player, but I am anxious to hear how much better I can get with practice. As always, I welcome your comments and suggestions.
All daily recordings: 2004 - 2005 - 2006 - 2007 - 2008
NOVEMBER 6, 2007
- Aebersold #108 - "Isotope" by Joe Henderson
So, what do you think of the cool record groove effect that I added to this track? It really gives a nice vintage quality to the recording, don't you think? Ok, ok, I know it sounds terrible... I wish it was something I had control over, but recently my computer has been adding those popping sounds everytime I try to record. I thought I fixed it last week, but obviously it's still really bad. I hesitated putting this clip online at all, but I figure it's better than nothing.
JULY 7, 2007
- Aebersold #34 - "Just Friends" by John Klenner
This is my second recording of "Just Friends." My first attempt was in 2004 ( here is the 2004 clip). As you'll hear in the new recording, my solo has a similar lead in and rhythmic pattern as my 2004 recording. I guess I've listened to my original recording a few too many times...
I think this new recording is a good indicator of the progress I've made over the years. My range is definitely stronger in this new clip as is my ability to play by ear. Thanks to ear training, I'm now better able to hear my way around the chord changes and I'm hitting more of the interesting notes. If perhaps I didn't mess up that ascending run near the end, it might have been one of my best solos yet.
MAY 18, 2007
- Aebersold #34 - "My Secret Love" by Mitchell Parish & Bobby Sherwood
Tonight was my first time playing along to this Aebersold track. As is often the case with the audio clips I share, this was one of my last recording attempts for the night and my chops were really tired. You can hear the fatigue in the thinness of the higher notes. While those high notes sound pretty weak, I'm at least glad to have hit them at all.
As far as the solo goes, the tempo was a bit fast for me, especially since I was totally unfamiliar with the tune. But, I think I managed to keep up and play an ok jazz trumpet solo.
MAY 3, 2007
- Clip #1 - Aebersold #25 - "A Foggy Day" by George Gershwin
- Clip #2 - Aebersold #25 - "A Foggy Day" by George Gershwin
Above you'll find two clips of me soloing on "A Foggy Day." Each clip illustrates a different approach to the tune. The first clip has a quite a lot of notes (too many, if you ask me) which fill most of the space. The second clip, however, begins with short phrases with some space in between them. It then builds as it moves into quarter notes and finally it ends with a simple eighth-note riff. While it's not the best solo I've ever played, I do think the second clip illustrates a decent approach to playing up-tempo tunes when you're fingers aren't ready/willing/able to play a bunch of eighth notes. A few notes with some rhythmic interest can go a long way...
MARCH 30, 2007
- Aebersold #33 - "Footprints" by Wayne Shorter
Here's my first recording of 2007. It's a short one, but I figure it's better than nothing.
This is my second posted recording of Footprints. The first clip appears in my Learning to Improvise - Motifs article. The first recording is mostly for demonstration purposes, so it's pretty easy for me to say I prefer this newer clip.
This page contains my improvisation recordings from 2006. As you'll hear below, the recordings feature such highlights as cracked notes, poor note choice, unsteady rhythm, and meandering phrases! And that's why recording myself is so important. It's the best way to evaluate my playing and to chart my progress over time. I don't expect that I'll ever be a great jazz trumpet player, but I am anxious to hear how much better I can get with practice. As always, I welcome your comments and suggestions.
All daily recordings: 2004 - 2005 - 2006 - 2007 - 2008
DECEMBER 28, 2006
- Aebersold #40 - "Softly, As In A Morning Sunrise" by Hammerstein & Romberg
This is my final recording of 2006. As you can hear, my range is pretty good throughout. In fact, it didn't take much effort at all to play the A's above the staff. And better yet, I also played 3 or 4 solid C's above the staff during this same recording session --if you've been following along, you know that's quite an accomplishment for me. Unfortunately, those C's were followed by lackluster solos, so I'm saving my C debut for 2007.
OCTOBER 24, 2006
- C# Dominant 7th... accompanied by my ear trainer!
If you've tried my latest ear trainer, you probably know that I added a rhythm section feature. Currently, the rhythm section feature supports Major7th, Minor7th, Dominant7th, Blues, and Rhythm Changes progressions in any key. It also lets you isolate each part of the rhythm section so you can play with as little or as much accompaniment as you like.
Lately, I've been using the rhythm section feature to work on my less familiar keys, like C# which I'm playing in this clip (C#7 is the trumpet key, it's actually B7 in concert key). When improvising over these less familiar keys, I like to isolate just the bass and hi-hat because it improves my ability to hear what I'm playing.
If you haven't played around with my new ear trainer yet, I encourage you to give it a try!
SEPTEMBER 19, 2006
- Aebersold #34, "Green Dolphin Street" by Kaper & Washington
This is my second time recording "Green Dolphin Street". The first time I recorded it was just over a year ago. You can listen to that older recording by visiting the 2005 recordings page or by clicking right here:
I prefer last year's recording due to the simple-song stuff that I threw in. That and the descending run near the end sound more creative to me. But... I must admit that I do prefer how much stronger my upper-range is in this new clip. As I neared the second half of my solo, I felt totally confident that I'd hit those high(er) notes. And, for me, that's really saying something! Of course, it's a relatively new phenomenon so I'm not going to celebrate yet...
UPDATE 9/20/2006 - It's a day later and I just gave my new "Green Dolphin Street" clip another listen. I noticed that I cropped it so close to the beginning of my solo that it's hard to get the feel of things the first time you hear it. Frankly, I was suprised by how bad it sounded the first time through. I listened to it a couple more times and each time it sounded better. Still not great, but definitely less lousy! Unfortunately, I didn't save the original un-cropped track so I can't do anything about it now aside from make excuses ;-)
JULY 23, 2006
- Aebersold #33, "Speak No Evil" by Wayne Shorter
We're over half-way through the year and this is only my third recording?! I'm really falling behind...
The more I listen to this clip, the less I like it. There are a couple of times where I'm going for an idea and it just doesn't come out right. Those mistakes produce unwanted notes and throw off my rhythm, weakening the overall sound of my solo. But, that's part of the growth process. You need to try things that are outside of your comfort zone. Pushing yourself to play something you've never played before, regardless of the outcome, helps you become a better player. Of course, it would be nice if you don't have to share those goofs with the world.
On the bright side, my upper register is fairly solid in this clip. By upper-register, I'm of course talking about notes just barely above the staff ;-)
MARCH 17, 2006
- Aebersold #75, "Fifth House" by John Coltrane
This is my new favorite play-a-long track. True to the original Coltrane recording, the A sections start out with a vamp/pedal that provides quite a bit of freedom. You can play the changes, or you can play whatever sounds good to your ears. Then, the bridge swings on through before we get back to the A section groove. About half-way through, the entire tune is played with a swing feel and the pedal is replaced by the actual changes. It all adds up to a play-a-long track with enough energy and variety to remain interesting over several sessions.
This clip has my first instance of triple tonguing in a jazz recording. It's at the 25 second mark (I start on an A in the staff and go up through C E G). I played that run a few times today and got it a lot cleaner prior to this clip. Actually, now that I listen to it, you can barely tell there's any tonguing so I probably shouldn't even mention it. Oh well... better luck next time, I guess.
FEBRUARY 11, 2006
- Aebersold #12, "I Let A Song Go Out Of My Heart" by Duke Ellington
This was my first time improvising to this track. Since I had never played this tune before, and since I didn't have the changes in front of me, I spent the first few choruses figuring things out. During the first chorus, I didn't play at all. Instead, I just listened so I could learn the form and major points of change (if any). During the next chorus or two, I used vocal improvisation to further strengthen my familiarity with the tune. I didn't pick up my horn until I felt reasonably confident in my ability to sing a decent solo. This recording captures the 2nd or 3rd chorus of my trumpet solo.
When learning new tunes, I HIGHLY recommend singing before playing. If you can't sing a decent solo, how do you expect to play one on a tricky instrument?
Update 2/13/06: Whoops, I just realized that I did in fact play this tune before. In fact, I even made a (bad) recording of it last year. Yikes, how quickly the mind goes... Anyway, sing first, play later is still a good idea ;-)
Learning to improvise - introduction
LEARNING TO IMPROVISE - ARTICLE LINKS
LEARNING TO IMPROVISE - SERIES INTRODUCTION
During my first two years of college, I was a jazz studies major. Since I transferred schools after my first year, I got to experience (at least part of) the jazz curriculums of two different universities. In each school I did well in my music classes, however I wasn't dramatically improving as a jazz musician. Sure, I knew more information about jazz, especially jazz theory, but that knowledge wasn't translating itself into my playing. I wasn't alone, either. As the months passed, many struggling players (including me) would eventually drop out or change majors, each believing they'd never be good enough to play jazz professionally. Some of us even gave up playing jazz altogether, as I did for seven years.
When I finally started to play the trumpet again (summer of 2002), I was eager to find a new approach to learning jazz improvisation that would take me farther than my previous jazz education. I wanted results! During my search, I read several new books and visited dozens of jazz web sites and forums. For the most part, everything I read followed the same old approach that I was all too familiar with: start with a description of swing rhythms and accents, then briefly cover topics like transcribing, learning patterns, playing melodically, and finally move on to several chapters of complex and long-winded jazz theory lessons. No matter what I read, at least 50% of the discussion was about jazz theory.
At the same time I was reading about jazz improvisation, I started reading jazz biographies and interviews with legendary jazz musicians. Among other things, I learned that several top jazz musicians didn't know how to read music, and many more knew far less theory than was contained in the average jazz improvisation book. This really surprised me. After all, jazz education's heavy emphasis on theory would suggest that jazz theory is must-have information, as if you couldn't possibly be good without complete mastery. But that just isn't the case.
As I continued to read and learn about great jazz musicians, I found that there is a skill common to all of them. Oddly, it's a skill that is rarely discussed in mainstream jazz education. That skill is the ability to play by ear. All great jazz musicians can play accurately and effortless by ear. And actually, it's this skill that first and foremost guides them in deciding what to play.
If the ability to play by ear is shared by all great jazz musicians, why do very few jazz method books and classrooms ever mention it? And, if knowledge of jazz theory isn't essential, then why do ALL jazz books and classrooms spend so much time talking about it? (for possible answers, read my jazz theory article). These questions are even more perplexing when I think about the fact that NONE of the struggling players I've known can play well (or at all) by ear, yet most have had a decent grasp of theory. We didn't need to learn more theory, we needed to learn to play by ear!
Convinced that jazz education missed the mark on the importance of playing by ear, I started thinking about the other key issues plaguing struggling players and how those issues could be overcome. Once I felt I had some worthwhile suggestions, I started writing, and that's how my Learning to Improvise series was born. Since my Learning To Improvise guide is geared toward beginners and otherwise struggling players, it's pretty light on details. My goal is simply to present a foundation from which developing players can grow. There's a lot more out there that you can and should learn about jazz improvisation.
The topics I'll cover include:
Topics like transcription are already mainstays of jazz education, so I'm not exactly breaking new ground with this series. But, I do think I'm presenting each topic in a somewhat original fashion that's easy to understand. As you read, keep in mind that all of this stuff requires practice and patience. You won't improve simply by reading alone (I wish it was that easy!). In fact, many of topics can take several years of practice to master. That's fine. Keep at it. The rewards are well worth the effort…
HELLO, MY NAME IS RICK AND I'M A STRUGGLING PLAYER
If you've listened to any of my audio clips, you know I'm not a great player. Occasionally I play a halfway decent solo, but most of the time I sound mediocre at best. With that said, you might be wondering why I think I have anything worthwhile to share about learning jazz. And certainly, how can I claim to have better advice than so many educators and professional musicians?
In general, I don't think great players can relate to the specific issues that impair those of us who are struggling. Playing by ear is a good example of this disconnect. I think it's rarely mentioned in jazz education because great players assume everyone can do it and/or they simply don't understand how impossibly difficult it is to improvise without the ability to play by ear. Instead of emphasizing ear training, they might suggest that we learn chord substitutions or some other form of advanced theory, because that's what helped them get to the next level. But, how can advanced theory really help someone who can't even play "Happy Birthday" by ear? If you can't play something that easy by ear, what hope could you have to improvise a musical jazz solo? Not much. Yet, I assure you that most college music schools have students who are are struggling to do just that.
And that's where I come in. I may not know as much about jazz and jazz improvisation as the average jazz educator, but I'm extremely familiar with the challenges facing struggling jazz musicians. I know what it's like to start a solo and have no idea what I'm going to play. I know what it's like to play one bad note after another when I lose my place in the changes. I know what it's like to play the same licks over and over again because I can't play the ideas in my head. I know what it's like to be terrified to play a solo, and I know what it's like to feel embarrassed when I play poorly. I know all of this because I am a struggling player myself. I've lived through the issues (some of which I continue to face) and I believe the lessons I've learned along the way can help others in their own musical journeys.
If by any chance I'm wrong in my assumption that I can help, well, at least the lessons were free!
Play in all keys with Audacity
Great jazz musicians can play well in any key. For the most part, I believe their key-fluency is tied to their ability to play by ear. They hear something in their heads that they want to play and they play it. The actual key that they're playing in isn't important. Aside from possible fingering issues, there isn't anything that makes one key harder than another if you can play by ear.
You've no doubt experienced some form of key-indifference while singing along to the radio. Assuming a song is within your vocal range, you probably have no trouble matching the pitches you hear. You can probably even sing harmony and scat sing, all without knowing (or caring about) a song's key. And certainly, you've never stopped people from singing a song like Happy Birthday because they were singing in a "tricky" key for you (imagine how they'd respond you did!).
While great players can play well in any key, beginning and otherwise struggling players (myself included) typically favor certain keys more than others. Most often we have a few keys that we're confident in and we totally stumble in the rest. As stated above, I think this inadequacy is tied to our inability to play by ear. Since we can't accurately play our ideas by ear, we depend on some mix of theory, scales, etc., to tell us what to play. And, since we spend most of our time playing in keys with 0-3 sharps or flats, we naturally become more familiar with those scales, patterns, and chords.
To become comfortable in any key, we need to do (at least) two things: 1) We need to work on ear training so we can play what we hear in our heads, and 2) we need to practice playing in the keys that give us problems until they are easy.
I'll be the first to admit that I don't spend enough time practicing in my weak keys. When I practice jazz improvisation, I'll play along to a jazz recording or Aebersold track. In both cases, I tend to spend most of my time playing in keys that I'm already familiar with, simply due to the fact that most tunes are in "easy" keys. There just aren't a bunch of tunes in F# major, for instance.
Aebersold does have several play-a-longs geared toward playing in all keys, but they don't quite give me the workout I'm looking for. For example, I own "Blues In All Keys," "Getting It Together," and "Major & Minor." All of these have entire tracks devoted to single keys or to cycles in all keys, but to me they are really dull play-a-longs. I just don't feel inspired when I put them on. And, while there are some more energetic Aebersold play-a-longs with tunes played in all 12 keys, they typically spend only a single chorus per key. My weak keys go by so quickly that I don’t have enough time to experiment and improve.
For some time now, I've been wishing there was a play-a-long that is both exciting to play with and that has entire tracks devoted to each of the 12 keys. Recently, while playing with "Homestrech" from the Joe Henderson #108 play-a-long (one of my favorites), it suddenly struck me… I can convert any play-a-long track into different keys on my own! How can I do this? Well, I'm glad you asked, because I'm going to tell you all about it.
REQUIREMENTS
1. At least one play-a-long track (that you like) in mp3 or wav format.
2. Software that allows you to change the pitch and resave the file.
You'll need to provide your own play-a-long track, but I can help you out on the software end of things. There's a rather powerful multi-platform and open source audio editor called Audacity that you can download and use for free! So, go here to download the software (yes, it's safe). One of the coolest things about this application is that it allows you to change the pitch WITHOUT changing the tempo. Aren't computers awesome!
AUDACITY INSTRUCTIONS
Note: These instructions apply to Audacity version 1.2.4.
1. After installing the software, start it up and open your play-a-long track (File -> Open).
2. Once the track opens, select all of it by typing Ctrl+A, or you can use the Edit menu (Edit->Select…->Select All).
3. With the entire track selected, go to the Effect menu and select Change Pitch (Effect->Change Pitch…).
4. On the Change Pitch window, set the Pitch: from to the key that the original track is actually in. Then, select the new pitch in the Pitch: to menu. Note: the application doesn't actually know or care about the actual pitch/key that the track is in. This menu simply assigns letters to the transformation to make it easier for you to understand what you're doing.
5. After selecting the Pitch: from and Pitch: to, select up or down. It seems like the results sound better with shorter distances, so select whichever option keeps the distance shorter.
6. Now that you've set Pitch: from, to, up/down, click the OK button. It may take a minute or two for the application to change the pitch.
7. With the pitch changed, you are ready to save the new track. From the File menu, you can Export as WAV… file or Export as MP3…. When you save the file, I suggest you rename it and make the new key evident in the filename.
AUDACITY MP3 EXPORTING
If you do want to export as an MP3, you'll probably need to do the following before exporting (you'll only need to do these steps once).
1. Go back to the Audacity website and download the optional "LAME MP3 Encoder". The link for that should appear on the download page for your operating system.
2. Once you've saved the mp3 encoder to your computer, go to Edit->Preferences… in the Audacity application.
3. At the preferences window, select the File Formats tab. In the MP3 Export Setup section, click Find Library button and select the mp3 encoder that you just downloaded. Lastly, I'd recommend that you increase the Bit Rate to improve the MP3 quality. Something like 192 or 224 should be good.
ALL DONE
And that's all there is to it! The above might look complicated, but I assure you it's pretty easy once you give it a try. Audacity also has other effects such as tempo changing (with and without changing the pitch) that you can experiment with as well. I think you'll find that this is a great way to work on your problem keys. Happy pitch shifting!
UPDATE 5/14/2006: 'TRANSCRIBE' SOFTWARE
A couple people have told me about another application that also does pitch and speed altering. It's called "Transcribe" and sells for about $50. Even though Audacity is free, there is one great reason to buy Transcribe: you can modify audio files in real-time! That luxury allows you to simply open a file, set the transposition increment, and press play. To change keys again, just select a different increment. There's no waiting and no need to pre-save files in each key. Click here to purchase or download a free 30-day trial version of Transcribe.
Learning to improvise - jazz theory
LEARNING TO IMPROVISE - ARTICLE LINKS
JAZZ THEORY
As I mentioned in the introduction to this "Learning to Improvise" series, jazz theory is typically the most heavily emphasized part of any jazz education method. In your average jazz improvisation book, for instance, you might find a couple of chapters on rhythm, phrasing, or other topics, but you'll ALWAYS find several chapters devoted to jazz theory. Similarly, classrooms typically spend more time on jazz theory than on any other aspect of jazz improvisation.
Because jazz theory is the primary focus of mainstream jazz education, most students end up believing it's the most important skill to master. Consequently, they'll spend the bulk of their time studying, memorizing, and practicing theory-related material. It's great that they're studying jazz theory, however such a narrow focus can lead students (and educators) to forget about other topics like rhythm, phrasing, and ear training. Ironically, it's these overlooked topics that will likely have the greatest impact on your playing. For instance, without solid rhythm and phrasing, nothing you play will sound good, regardless of how theoretically "correct" it might be.
With all of the emphasis placed on jazz theory, you'd think it's a must-have skill where total mastery is needed to succeed as a jazz improviser. But, this just isn't true. There are several legendary players who never learned how to read music (examples: Erroll Garner, Wes Montgomery), and there are several who were pro-level players before they learned how to read music (example: Dave Brubeck), and many others who knew little or no theory (example: Percy Heath), and even more who knew less theory than the average jazz studies major. If these great players didn't rely upon theory, then how did they know what to play? They used their ears! And that leads us to a true must-have skill: the ability to play by ear. Without the ability to play by ear, you'll never be able to accurately play the ideas in your head and you'll never be able to fully express yourself on your instrument.
If theory ISN'T essential, but being able to play by ear IS essential (see my ear training guide for more info), then why do so many jazz educators and aspiring musicians devote most of their time to theory? And more importantly, why isn't the ability to play by ear emphasized as a must-have skill for jazz musicians. Well, I've got a "theory" about this.
MY THEORY, PART 1
Most people fixate on theory because it's relatively straightforward to learn and teach. This stems from its similarity to the subject of mathematics. Like math, theory forces us to learn a bunch of rules and formulas. The notation even looks mathematical, with its use of numbers, roman numerals, various symbols, and plus and minus signs. So, on this level, it's familiar territory and somewhat palatable to those of us who did well in math class. You read it, memorize it, and move on to the next chapter.
I'm not saying jazz theory is easy to master. I'm just saying that for most people, it's easier and faster to learn than ear training skills. In a few months you could learn everything you need to know about theory (at least the basics), yet it might take several years/decades to similarly develop your ears.
Adding to its unpopularity is the fact that ear training is unpredictable. While you'll certainly improve with practice, that rate of progress will differ greatly from one person to the next. You'll have good days and bad days. And, you'll probably experience a lot of frustration along the way. Hey… that sounds a lot like playing the trumpet!
And this brings us to the second part of my theory:
MY THEORY, PART 2
Most people neglect ear training because it's such a gradual and often frustrating process to develop these skills. I think there's also a belief that you're simply born with great ears and if you aren't, there's nothing you can do about it. This is nonsense. Through ear training, you can definitely strengthen your ears and your ability to play by ear. You may not reach a level where you can play everything perfectly and effortlessly by ear, but you can at least reach a level where you can play most of your ideas by ear.
The two parts of my theory combine to explain the dominant state of jazz education today: Educators and students focus the bulk of their time and energy on jazz theory, not because it's absolutely essential to jazz improvisation, but rather because it's easier to teach and learn than other must-have skills like the ability to play by ear.
Right about now, you either agree with me or you think I've got it wrong. If you're in the latter category, you might even think I've come to these conclusions because I was too lazy to learn jazz theory myself. Or maybe you think I wasn't good at it, so now I just want to bad-mouth it.
MY EXPERIENCES WITH THEORY
When I entered college, I had no ear training skills and very little knowledge of music theory. My lack of ear training skills coupled with the fact that I don't naturally have a good ear led me to severely struggle in my freshman ear training classes. On the other hand, I did extremely well in my music theory classes (classical theory) during that same year. To me, theory was just memorization and math -- two things that have always come easily to me.
During my sophomore year of college I had to take my first jazz theory class. This class had a reputation for being very challenging and most of the jazz students dreaded its arrival. I breezed right through it. Once again, just memorization and math. I was so good in that class, that after I dropped out of music school (I transferred to the business school) the teacher used to bring up my name from time to time to pressure the students into learning the material. He said stuff like: "If Rick, the insurance salesman, knows all of this stuff you guys better know it too. You wouldn't want to be upstaged by an insurance salesman at a jam session would you?" I'm paraphrasing based upon what another student told me, but you get the idea. And no, I couldn't tell you why he thought I was going to become an insurance salesman ;-)
As you can see, I was very good at theory and I did manage to learn and retain quite a bit. But, while I continued to build upon my knowledge of theory, that knowledge wasn't really helping me to become a better jazz musician. Rather, I was simply using theory to minimize the potential of playing a "wrong" note. Meandering through my solos, I'd randomly choose one "good" note after another. I couldn't play the ideas in my head, and I didn't even know exactly what my solo would sound like until I played it. I wasn't even close to being a true musician.
Of course, I now know that the problem wasn't theory. The problem was my inability to play by ear. The bigger problem that plagued me, and which continues to plague many aspiring musicians, is the fact that few people are really drilling this message home -- the message of ear training. You absolutely MUST be able to play by ear if you want to be a good jazz improviser. If you can't play well by ear, you'll have to rely upon a bunch of pre-learned licks and you'll never truly be able to play the ideas in your head. It might sound like jazz, but it isn't true to the improvisational spirit of jazz music.
SHOULD WE LEARN JAZZ THEORY?
If you're serious about learning jazz improvisation, then I strongly suggest that you learn at least some jazz theory. In the case of jazz improvisation, theory primarily serves to explain which notes sound good over which chords. Without this knowledge, you'd have to figure everything out by ear, and your skills/talents would have to be good enough to do that in real-time. My ears aren't that good, and even with constant ear training I probably won't ever reach the level of those legendary players who could play everything entirely by ear. So, for people like myself, theory bridges the gap between what we can and cannot hear. Rather than wonder which chords are being played, we can look at a chart and have everything spelled out for us.
There are several other benefits to knowing jazz theory, including:
COMPOSITION AND ARRANGING
When writing tunes, you can use theory to combine chord progressions and harmonies in sequences that you know sound good together. Likewise, you can use your knowledge of theory to reharmonize existing progressions into new and/or more harmonically interesting progressions.
SIGHT READING
If you have to play unfamiliar tunes in front of an audience or for a recording session, you'll definitely want as much information ahead of time as you can get. Being able to read chord changes will take a lot of the burden off of your ears (and nerves).
EAR TRAINING
That's right, theory can help you with your ear training studies! Rather than rely totally on your ears, theory can help you find those next notes. For instance, if you identify a perfect 4th (1st 2 notes of "Here Comes the Bride") and you know the starting note is an F, then you can use theory to determine that the next note is a Bb. Ideally, you want to be able to do all of this with your ears, but as mentioned earlier, theory can bridge the gap between what you can and cannot hear.
LEARNING THE SOUND OF JAZZ
Playing scales, arpeggios, and chord progressions will help train your ear to identify the sound of jazz melodies and harmonies.
UNDERSTANDING MUSIC
The old phrase "knowledge is power" comes to mind. The more you know about something, the easier it is to understand and use. While this is true with jazz, it's important to remember that jazz is an artform. All the knowledge in the world will not make you an artist. It's how you apply that knowledge that counts!
STIMULATES NEW IDEAS
Advanced theory concepts such as chord substitutions and alterations can help players unlock new sounds and directions in their playing. For some people, these ideas are easier to come by when visualized and/or thought of from a mathematical/structured approach.
Of course, all of the above can be accomplished solely by ear, but to do this you'd need exceptional aural skills. Believe me, you know if you're one of those people. If you make mistakes playing by ear, or if you accidentally play "wrong" notes, then you aren't one of them... sorry!
SO, WHAT SHOULD WE LEARN?
Most jazz musicians know at least some jazz theory. The following list is a decent starting point for your theory studies:
SCALES
All keys: Major, Dominant Seventh, Dorian Minor, Blues. As you advance, learn Diminished (H/W and W/H) and Whole Tone scales
Develop enough fluency so you can start on any note and play through to that note (and beyond) for any key and quality. Also, be able to play scales in a variety of intervals (skipping 2nds, 3rds, 4ths, etc). The goal is to develop enough dexterity so you can play well over any key at fast tempos. You'll probably never actually play a whole scale from top to bottom in a solo, but you will likely find many instances where you play 3-5 note portions of scales or interval skipping scales as you join one idea to the next.
ARPEGGIOS (1, 3, 5, 7)
All keys: Major, Dominant, Dorian Minor, Half Diminished, Diminished
As you listen to and transcribe solos, you'll likely notice that most players incorporate arpeggios in their solos. Arpeggios outline chords, grounding your solo to the changes. As with the scale exercises, practice playing arpeggios in a variety of sequences (7-5-3-1, 1-5-3-7, 7-3-5-1, etc…).
CHORD SYMBOLS & PROGRESSIONS
Now that you know the scales and arpeggios, you can learn which ones to play as you encounter various chord changes, and you can practice playing over common jazz chord progressions. This is where people generally get hung up in theory. It's also the reason whey there are dozens of books on jazz theory that go on for hundreds of pages. No need to get carried away at first (or ever!). You can read the vast majority of charts simply by being able to play over the following chord types: Maj7, Min7, Dom7, Half-Diminished
AND MORE...
It's really up to you how far you want to go with theory. Whatever you do decide to focus on, be sure you spend AT LEAST as much time working on ear training skills as you do working on theory. And be sure you aren't moving too quickly from one skill to another. For instance, it would be silly to start learning chord substitutions if you still haven't learned the blues.
JAZZ THEORY LINKS
Learning to improvise - vocal improv
LEARNING TO IMPROVISE - ARTICLE LINKS
VOCAL IMPROVISATION
During my early playing years, I never gave any thought to vocal improvisation (also known as scat singing). I was totally focused on becoming a good trumpet player, and I figured everything I practiced should be played on the trumpet.
Today, however, I view vocal improvisation as an essential part of my practice routine. Actually, I don't even consider it part of my routine, as it's something that just happens throughout the day. If I hear a song and I'm feeling the groove, I can't help but sing along. Where I might have once sung words (assuming the song has words), I now sing harmonies and/or improvised rhythms and melodies. I do this with all styles of music, not just jazz. Improvisation is improvisation...
There are several benefits to vocal improvisation, however a personal favorite is the fact that it doesn't wear out my chops. I can work on any aspect of improvisation, from rhythm to motif development, and I never have to worry about using too much pressure!
SIMPLIFIES IMPROVISATION
You've most likely been singing songs your entire life, and you've probably done so rather effortlessly. This natural ease we have using our voices should be taken advantage of when learning to improvise. I'd go so far as to say that you shouldn't even bother trying to improvise on your horn until you've achieved a basic level of competency with vocal improvisation. I mean, if you can't sing a simple blues solo, what makes you think you can play one on a relatively unfamiliar instrument?
IMPROVES MELODIC CONTROL
There are a lot of tunes that I think I know, especially when I'm singing the words. A song like "Autumn In New York" is a good example. If I sing/fake the words I can easily fool myself into thinking I'm getting all of the pitches correct. But, if I sing the melody without saying the words, I instantly notice that some of the pitches aren't quite right. I'm close to the right notes, but not close enough to truly know the tune. Until I am able to sing the melody accurately, I won't know the tune well enough to play it perfectly by ear. Similarly, if I can't scat sing a decent solo, then I don't have the familiarity necessary to improvise well on my instrument.
EAR TRAINING SPOTLIGHT
As you work on vocal improvisation, you should ask yourself whether or not you can play the ideas that you're singing. If the ideas are within your technical limits as a player, but you can't play them on your horn, what's the explanation? I'll give you a hint: it has nothing to do with theory. Vocal improvisation is yet another way we can identify the limitations we have in our ability to play by ear.
INCREASED CONTROL
Before I began working on ear training, my solos were almost as much of a surprise to me as they were to my audience. I meandered through my solos, picking notes because I knew they theoretically fit into a particular chord signature. The notes might have been "correct" for the chord, but I never knew exactly how each note was going to sound until I played it. I found this lack of control to be terribly frustrating. How could I effectively express my ideas if I couldn't accurately play the notes on my horn? And, how could I develop new and better ideas if I couldn't play my existing ideas?
Ear training is the obvious solution to this issue, but it's a (very) gradual process. The good news is that if you struggle to play by ear, you can use vocal improvisation to work on the musical aspects of your playing (motif development, rhythm, inside/outside playing, etc) while you work on ear training exercises to help you play those ideas on your horn. The added control you have with your voice can advance your progress much faster than if you try to play everything on your instrument, and as your ability to play by ear improves, you'll be that much farther ahead.
KEEP THE JAZZ FRESH
Vocal improvisation is a great test to make sure you actually have good spontaneous ideas. On your horn, there's sometimes a tendency to fall back on pre-learned patterns and/or notes that you're simply plucking from your knowledge of theory. While singing, you'll probably be less likely to play those same patterns, and, unless you have perfect pitch, you won't be thinking about note names or chord theory to determine which notes to sing. It's just you and the music!
EXERCISES
Following are a few exercises that should get you started with vocal improvisation.
EXERCISE 1: SINGING TUNES
If you haven't done much singing, it might be best to start out by singing jazz tunes. Sing the melodies of any tune that you know. This exercise will get you used to singing precise notes and intervals. It's also great way to learn tunes. If you learn a tune well enough that you can sing it effortlessly, you'll likely remember it a lot longer then you would if you simply memorize the note names/fingering.
EXERCISE 2: SING BEFORE PLAYING
When working on ear training, sing back the intervals and melodies before you attempt to play them on your horn. Singing first will ensure that you've accurately heard each note before attempting to play the notes on your horn. As with singing tunes, forcing yourself to be accurate in your pitches while singing will improve your musical accuracy when you try to play the ideas in your head.
EXERCISE 3: VOCAL IMPROVISATION
Try vocal improvisation with the exercises presented in the rhythm and motif guides. Pay close attention to articulation and phrasing. You should approach singing with the same intensity and focus that you'd use if you were playing your primary instrument. If you're sloppy while singing, you'll probably be sloppy on your horn…
