One more and I'll shut up. When I first started improvising I did it
totally by ear. I wasn't too bad at it, but then someone told me about
ii-V's and I was shocked- up to that point I didn't read chords and had to
have someone tell me when my chorus was over! But what happened when I
started to practice using the new information? I got worse because I was
thinking while I played! Nonetheless, after struggling through it I got
better until I would never go back to the point of relying on my ear alone-
too many modern tunes will dump me in the ditch if my ear's the only guide!
At 09:50 AM 12/12/96 -0500, you wrote:
>>I have asked the simple question ... what were you thinking when you
>>played that solo? I expected some type of guide tone, chord/scale,
>>etc. discussion, instead I got the answer "I just played what was in
>>my head". Some of these soloist could tell me AFTER THE FACT what the
>>solo was in terms of harmony, melody, etc. but swore that they did not
>>think about such things when playing it.
>>
>>Am I just naive, or is the technical application of theory concepts
>>(chord/scales ...) NOT used by the folks that most of us would hold in
>>high esteem as accomplished jazz soloists? This is not to imply that
>>the PRACTICE of some of these applied theory concepts did not help them
>>develop the seemily intuitive way they solos, but are they really using
>>them as they solo? Are these players just "pulling my chain" and
>>trying to keep us struggling future soloists in the dark as to how they
>>do what they do (what they did I can figure out by transcription, what
>>they were thinking to produce the solo I can not).
>>
>>Mike
>>
>
>
>RE: What jazz improvisers think
>
>So many jazz improvisers are asked what they are thinking about when
>soloing. Are they thinking about scales, guide tones, motivic devices. Most
>say "no" to all of these things, and in my own case it would be true also.
>However, it might be a better question to ask them what they think about
>when practicing. At sometime these artists have spent time thinking about
>these elements that they are using to make outstanding music. The actual
>terms they use, or whether their personal way of verbally expressing what
>it is that they do may be interesting, but not necessarily the important
>thing. When I learned most of what I know about jazz improvisation, it was
>from sitting in front of a tape player and picking out things I thought
>sounded good. I learned all the scales, guide-tones, theoretical concepts
>long before I learned the conventional names (which are not all
>standardized, even in traditional theory).
>
>
>
>
>
>_______________________________________
>Bert Ligon
>Director of Jazz Studies
>_______________________________________
>School of Music
>University of South Carolina
>Columbia, SC 29208
>Voice: (803) 777-6565
>Fax: (803) 777-6508
>bligon@mozart.sc.edu
>_______________________________________
>
>
>
>
Tim Walters @j
walterstr@fau.campus.mci.net
school:
Department of Music home:
Florida Atlantic University 5193 Lake Blvd.
Boca Raton, FL 33431 Delray Beach, FL 33484
(561)367-3824 (561)496-0463