Questions tagged [improvisation]

For question about spontaneous composing in real time, typically during performance.

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67 votes
22 answers
6k views

Ways to get out of a scalar rut?

I'm a well versed and experienced guitarist. I have a decent sense for rhythm and melody, but I have a VERY hard time with soloing. I know you've heard it all before I'm one of those guys that got ...
InternalConspiracy's user avatar
50 votes
16 answers
162k views

How to know what notes will go together while improvising?

This is 3 questions in one, so it might take a slightly involved answer, or some good links. Edit--- tl;dr: How can you learn which keys to hit to make the notes you hear in your head? I know what I ...
temporary_user_name's user avatar
43 votes
8 answers
8k views

How to start playing by ear/improvising?

Up till now I've been playing music from the sheet, and eventually I've grown frustrated how after 3 years of playing I can't even play Jingle Bells if I'm asked to without figuring it out from a ...
neuviemeporte's user avatar
25 votes
6 answers
4k views

Mental approach to improvisation

Improvisation for guitar is a fairly well-covered topic, with good resources to be found within multiple contexts (Web, traditional literature, etc). However, most of what I've read is basically ...
Rafael Almeida's user avatar
24 votes
5 answers
3k views

What does one need to know to learn to improvise with other musicians?

I came across the following video on YouTube in which two random people play the same piano together and to me it sounds really amazing. It's something that I couldn't do myself if someone started ...
lunisolar's user avatar
  • 423
24 votes
4 answers
1k views

Where can I get started with my improvisation?

I have been playing the alto saxophone for a while now. I have also improvised from time to time and have some theoretical and practical background on the instrument, harmony, scales, etc. I have ...
Edgar Gonzalez's user avatar
23 votes
10 answers
5k views

Making Sense of Blues Soloing; differentiating major/minor pentatonics

Quarantine has allowed ample time for musical exploration. I'm a classically trained pianist studying music in college, and I'm using this extra time to be immersed in and learn how to play the blues. ...
eubio's user avatar
  • 355
21 votes
9 answers
35k views

How to improvise a walking bass line

When improvising or writing a walking bass line the bass note (usually the root of the chord) is played on the chord change, but how do you choose the other notes for a walking bass line? Is there a ...
Dom's user avatar
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21 votes
12 answers
7k views

How do you avoid falling into the same patterns every time you improvise?

I think every player that tries to improvise gets to a point where he starts playing things out of memory without focusing too much on the ideas in his head. It happens to me all the time. I just hate ...
Anthony's user avatar
  • 2,423
18 votes
7 answers
5k views

How to escape the C Major trap when improvising on the piano

I play/practice the piano for some decades and when improvising (Jazz, Romantic, and sometimes even Baroque), I observe a certain magnetism of the C Major key. I'm able to play scales, arpeggios, ...
Wolf's user avatar
  • 507
18 votes
3 answers
72k views

When creating a bass line, how do I know what notes I'm allowed to use?

I've been playing bass for about two years now. I've learned plenty of beginner/intermediate songs and play with some friends about once a week. I have no problem playing the songs, but I kinda just ...
D. David's user avatar
  • 183
17 votes
6 answers
885 views

My ear is not very well trained - what can I look for as easy hints when trying to identify a ii-V-I progression in blues music?

I'm looking to learn how to better analyze music I am listening to, and I'm having problems identifying ii-V-I progressions, especially when they're the basis for improvisation. What are some hints or ...
blueberryfields's user avatar
16 votes
6 answers
3k views

What does it mean to play in a mode?

So here's what I know about modes: Let's say we're in the key of C major. If you're just improvising in the key of C, you would say you're using the C Ionian mode, right? But here's where I get ...
Alec's user avatar
  • 406
16 votes
6 answers
13k views

Why do jamming musicians "trade fours" (rather than any other number)?

I've run across the idea of "trading fours" when playing in (and listening to) jazz groups; i.e. where two or more musicians take it in turns to play four bar licks or solos. I understand that it can ...
Peter Bloomfield's user avatar
15 votes
4 answers
16k views

In jazz, what is a guide tone?

I've heard that guide tones are very useful while improvising, and seems to be an important concept for jazz theory. What is a guide tone? How can it help improvisation?
TaylorSwiftFan5932's user avatar
15 votes
8 answers
25k views

How to learn piano improvisation

I am a self-taught piano player, played for about five years with shorter and longer breaks. I've never had any formal education, don't know chords or music theory. What should I do to learn piano ...
Maurycy's user avatar
  • 467
15 votes
4 answers
878 views

What to play instead of chords with an informal group?

I typically play guitar with an informal group and we mostly play traditional and old-timey songs. When I am not soloing I usually just play the chord progression of the song. Recently however I ...
DQdlM's user avatar
  • 669
15 votes
4 answers
4k views

How can I produce any melody on my guitar as effortlessly as I do with my voice?

When I improvise on the guitar, I rely too much in theory and muscle memory. However, I can do creative vocal improvisations. I want to be able to let my inner ear command my guitar playing as well. ...
Costagero's user avatar
  • 906
14 votes
7 answers
3k views

What do you have to do to sound like you're improvising when you're actually reading from sheet music?

There are several reasons I often can't think fast enough to improvise a trumpet solo live over an unfamiliar set of chord changes, things like: if there are upper extensions on the chord (e.g. #9, ...
Brian THOMAS's user avatar
  • 11.5k
14 votes
3 answers
13k views

What is a parallel mode?

What is a parallel mode? How are the parallel modes used in composition and/or improvisation?
TaylorSwiftFan5932's user avatar
14 votes
6 answers
4k views

Does improvisation in the classical idiom differ significantly from jazz and folk improvisation?

How do musicians who actually improvise in classical music, such as Robert Levine, JS Bach, Edgar Meyer, church organists and classical ballet pianists, compose in the moment? Are there any ...
empty's user avatar
  • 12.2k
14 votes
5 answers
19k views

Melody improvisation over chords

My question deals with what scale to play over a given chord progression. For example, consider a progression containing I,II,IV,V in C. I.e., the rhythm guitar is playing C, Dmin, F, and G... My ...
Joe's user avatar
  • 589
14 votes
7 answers
3k views

What kind of practice leads to the ability to play the exact melody in my mind?

Just like when we're singing ,we just sing it out without thinking what the next note, whereas I have to translate my melody in mind to corresponding "do re mi ..." and play the instrument, which is ...
ming's user avatar
  • 369
13 votes
6 answers
2k views

Lead guitar improvisation strategies for young intermediate guitarists

One of my 15 year old students is progressing quite nicely in her ability, including playing live and playing learned guitar parts including lead lines. She reads music and can play many classical and ...
user1255441's user avatar
13 votes
6 answers
2k views

Piano questions from a former bass player: Is it better to think in note names or think in intervals?

So I was a (mostly Funk/Jazz) bass player for a long time, and as a bass player, I had a strong understanding of music theory. The reason that I had such a strong practical/intuitive understanding of ...
William Oliver's user avatar
13 votes
5 answers
4k views

How to find scales to improvise with for "How Insensitive" by Jobim

I am pretty new to improvisation. So far I have improvised over a 2 5 1 change using the diatonic 7th chords and the underlying scale tones that fit in with that chord. I am playing on a guitar. As a ...
cuppajoeman's user avatar
13 votes
6 answers
4k views

Breaking out of pentatonic scales for guitar riffs

I've been playing guitar for about 9 years now. From a young age, my teachers focused a lot on pentatonic scales. So that's what I'm defaulting to when improvising, soloing, writing stuff, etc. ...
DavidSalib's user avatar
12 votes
8 answers
2k views

Is all this modal theory for guitarists truly necessary?

A common strategy to learning to improvise is to learn modes. On quite a few different guitar sites (source), I've found a strategy presented that goes like this: Learn all the modes in a parent key....
nuggethead's user avatar
  • 5,074
12 votes
6 answers
458 views

How to close the gap between ideas and capabilities when improvising?

I'm a drumset player. I just finished a B.A. in Percussion Performance, marched 4 years of DCI drum & bugle corps, and am now working on a degree in jazz studies. As I've begun to play more and ...
hitstuff's user avatar
  • 121
11 votes
9 answers
4k views

Caffeine / Alcohol Before or During Rehearsal

I have been rehearsing an average of once a week most recently. We have a decent stock of songs, but are continually adding new candidates. I find that on the days where I have been drinking coffee, ...
Jason P Sallinger's user avatar
11 votes
4 answers
1k views

Keeping track of theme when improvising

Improvisations in jazz is done over the song itself, typically. However, I don’t hear the theme in plenty of recordings, the harmonies and solo are so far away that I can’t see the connection to the ...
Frans's user avatar
  • 979
11 votes
1 answer
2k views

In jazz, what is diatonic substitution?

What is diatonic substitution? How is it used in improvisation?
TaylorSwiftFan5932's user avatar
10 votes
5 answers
3k views

Can the I IV V chords harmonize any major scale melody?

Are the primary chords of the major scale (I IV V) enough to make any major scale melody sound good? These chords together seem to encompass all 7 notes of the key. I ask this because as I'm learning ...
user avatar
10 votes
5 answers
2k views

How to break out of playing scales up and down when improvising

I play piano, and when I am playing a gospel or a blues song, I always improvise with my right hand. I have been practicing major scales and pentatonic scales for a while now, and when I play, i ...
Ricky Bascom's user avatar
10 votes
8 answers
25k views

What is a good solo to learn in the Dorian mode?

I understand that Dorian is a commonly used mode in rock. I am starting to play / improvise in the mode and would like to learn some guitar solos that are good examples of this scale so that I see how ...
10 votes
5 answers
766 views

Comfortable notes in a key

I've been playing guitar for some time, and often when i do improvisation exercises, I hit notes which sound too tense to finish a run/lick/riff on. Kind of like having a sentence which no full stop. ...
Dave's user avatar
  • 367
10 votes
6 answers
4k views

Incorporating modes in solos

I have been playing and improvising quite happily for many years on a few different instruments but can't seem to get my head around incorporating modes into my day-to-day playing. I am from a blues /...
Addsy's user avatar
  • 283
10 votes
3 answers
3k views

How to develop soloing vocabulary

Background: My first guitar teacher used to show me small licks or note patterns that had that special quality of arousing interest during a solo improvisation. They were essentially "tools" in my ...
Jared275's user avatar
  • 123
10 votes
4 answers
4k views

Should I learn the notes of all the scales

I'm playing guitar and therefore have learnt all the major,minor and harmonic minor patterns. But while improvising I usually forget the right notes of a scale(the problem comes when switching the ...
user20256's user avatar
  • 101
10 votes
2 answers
2k views

Finding the "Starting point" when creating a composition or score

This is a fairly simple one, and hopefully not too wide-open to be permitted here: what approaches are available when sitting at a fresh screen or sheet of paper, or at your instrument, to create the ...
Luke's user avatar
  • 741
9 votes
7 answers
646 views

How can you listen and judge where you are in the music whilst improvising?

When improvising over a chord progression, I have a hard time knowing where I'm at. I'm thinking about what I am trying to play and not listening to what going on in the background. I know this comes ...
mike628's user avatar
  • 1,161
9 votes
7 answers
3k views

Guitar solo techniques

I have been playing guitar for a while now and I've decided (after playing with a guy I know and seeing how expressive his solos are) that I need to improve my improvisation. My improvisations are ...
Tim Hargreaves's user avatar
9 votes
8 answers
1k views

Can anyone precisely describe what it means (or feels like) to play exactly what your "inner ear" is hearing?

I've been improvising jazz and other styles on piano for decades, and yet there is still a very significant amount of my improvisation which is based on physical patterns developed over the years, ...
Bruce Kamolnick's user avatar
9 votes
5 answers
2k views

How does improvisation in Indian ragas differ significantly from jazz melodic improvisation?

I have heard that Ravi Shankar once said that ragas are not jazz. However, Ravi Shankar had a significant influence on some jazz performers. How does improvisation in Indian ragas differ ...
empty's user avatar
  • 12.2k
9 votes
10 answers
17k views

What is a good solo to learn in the major scale?

I am starting to play / improvise in the major scale and would like to learn some guitar solos that are good examples of this scale so that I see how other people use it. What are some famous solos in ...
9 votes
10 answers
21k views

How to improve/solo over a song/backing track besides staying in key?

I recently bought an electric guitar and am looking to start soloing/playing along songs/backing tracks - I have learnt all positions of the pentatonic scale, know a handful of licks and have a basic ...
David Valduriez's user avatar
9 votes
7 answers
1k views

Theory of improvisation

I am looking for improvisation theory ressources. I mainly focus on free jazz and improvised music but I am also interested in dance, drama and pictural improvisation. I want to know if a ...
1213's user avatar
  • 209
9 votes
6 answers
16k views

What is a good guitar solo to learn in the minor scale?

I am starting to play and improvise in the minor scale, and I would like to learn some guitar solos that are good examples of this scale so that I see how other people use it. What are some famous ...
9 votes
3 answers
1k views

My Jazz Piano Improv Phrasing Sounds Horrible

I've been working at this for a while. I've listened to a lot of records and I have done some transposing, but my phrasing sounds very amateurish. Are there any overarching rules/principals to how ...
02fentym's user avatar
  • 2,344
9 votes
3 answers
288 views

In which music should I add my own embellishments?

I know that music from the baroque era was composed with the assumption that performers would add their own embellishments (when viable, not for canons or fugues). I've also heard that Mozart didn't ...
Hagel's user avatar
  • 91

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