II. Improvisation
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Art Pepper
Benny Goodman
Clifford Brown
Paul Desmond
Wes Montgomery
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A. Basic Definition
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Simply put, improvisation means doing, saying, playing, or singing something extemporaneously, that is, not planned ahead of time. |
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B. Jazz Improvisation is Similar to Conversation
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C. Learning to Improvise
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Jazz musicians learn how to improvise in a way that is similar to how kids learn how to talk. |
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Young jazz musicians learning how to improvise listen to other jazz musicians improvise and try to imitate them; kids (even babies) learn how to talk by listening to others talk and trying to imitate them.
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Jazz musicians play their instruments a lot; kids learning how to talk, talk a lot.
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To play better, jazz musicians study instrumental technique (the physical mechanics of playing an instrument) and music theory (how notes and chords fit together); to speak better, kids study pronunciation and grammar.
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D. "Hearing" Notes in Your Mind
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When jazz musicians improvise, they are playing the notes that they “hear” (imagine) in their mind; they “hear” these notes just a split second before they play them (just like when you are talking, you “hear” the words in your head just a split second before you say them, that is, you are thinking the words in your mind immediately before you speak them -- it happens so fast and so naturally that it seems simultaneous, but in actuality, the thought occurs a microsecond before the action). |
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