Jazz improvisation on descending chord progression

Question

The challenge on this topic is Jazz improvisation scales and ideas on the following chord progression: C#maj7 - Cmaj7 - Bmaj7 - Bbmaj7

So 4 chords are descending chromatically within 2 measures and repeat over again. (4/4, Tempo ~120) I am not sure honestly even what to try because every next chord has all different notes from the previous one which kills the idea to try some scales (Except chromatic scale)

What works for me is to choose certain notes from the chord present in given moment and create licks from those notes. That way I can be sure that the current note is compliant with the current chord but however that seems very difficult to think about and invent licks in real-time while improvising.

What would be your approach to improvise on this?

Answer 1

Thisd woud be tricky, indeed.

Root notes would be safe to work from, of course. Major 3rds and 4ths could work (in [loose] theory) across a couple of chords in the sequnce because the chords change by a semitone, for example a major 3rd of C#maj7 is a 4th of Cmaj7.

Similarly with the root and a maj7 note.

I'd steer clear of lingering 5ths and 6ths that straddle two chords as I would guess they'd end up as notes not in the scale (eg a 6th could become a minor 7th in the next chord).

I haven't got a guitar to hand to try it, but that's where I'd start.

As you say, the alternative is to play in the scale as of the chords as they change, which is safe and would work, but it's hard to come out with somehting that has some flow.

Answer 2

I disagree with John Doe's comment that "We can't tell you what sounds good to your ear, nor what will be acceptable and palatable to your audience." In order to sound authentic as a jazz musician, you want to play the chord tones on the correct chords. Your audience is other jazz musicians, and they will judge your skill based on your ability to hit the chord tones when the chords change. You are right that each chord has completely different set of notes, so you will have to play different notes on each chord.

While practicing, start by playing the 3rd of each chord in half notes (B#, B, A#, A) each time those chords come around. Then try changing the rhythm in simple ways, while continuing to play just the 3rd of the chords. Once you get comfortable with that, start over with the 5ths, then the 7ths. All of this will probably take several weeks of practice, but playing chord tones will sound like you know what you're doing, and it will train your ears to gravitate to those chord tones.

Don't worry about playing eighth note lines or hitting chord extensions until you're really solid on these chord tones. And especially don't worry about scales. Bassist Carol Kaye often gives the sage advice "Don't play OVER the chords, PLAY THE CHORDS."

Answer 3

You say playing scales wouldn't work, but you could play the scale of whatever chord you were playing (say C♯ major, then C major, then B major, then B♭ major). Then, from there you could get creative in mixing it up. Another thing you could do is play something, then play the same thing (or something similar) a half-step lower, which tends to sound cool in my opinion.

Answer 4

I usually put my saxophone aside and try to sing a melody over the harmony in question. Even try to think up some lyrics – then the line becomes more vocal- like and musical. Actually, it’s all not about scales, it’s about musical ideas that are being developed and lead somewhere. By the way, why not to try using Lydian mode on, say C#maj7 and major scale on Cmaj7, then the two measures will have a common tone F double# and G. As for me, I’d been trying to reinvent the bicycle for quite a long time then I decided to take lessons from a good teacher. I’ve been learning over the internet at https://usaxophone.com/private-saxophone-lessons/. Not overpriced, really helpful. You chose what you want to concentrate on, be it ear-training (which is vitally important for improvising), theory or improvising itself. You can always ask questions!