Ever felt like your improvising just doesn’t sound like you want it to?
I think we’ve all felt that from time to time and most commonly the issue lies with the way we are constructing our melodic lines.
One of the most common mistakes I see players making, particularly those who are pretty new to improvising, is trying to fit too many ideas into a single solo. It’s one of the most overlooked elements of an improvised solos and often makes players feel like they have an improvising roadblock.
Does that sound familiar? So how do we fix it?
Telling a story
It’s important to remember that improvising a solo is the same as writing a melody to a song. In fact, as improvisers, that is exactly what we are doing – writing song melodies in real time.
Really memorable song melodies work because of they way they are constructed. And actually, there are a lot of similarities between great melodies and great written stories.
Thinking about it in this way makes it seem a little easier to get your head around the concept. After all, most of us are really pretty good at telling stories. We do it every day in conversation.
Starting the conversation
So, think about the way we might tell a story to another person about something that has happened today. Generally we talk in sentences, with each sentence having one or two pieces of information. Often we like to give more details about that information too, so your second sentence might share some more detailed information.
Perhaps you know someone who is really good at bringing stories to life. Generally they will have lots of details on each piece of information, all broken into sentences with a flow.
And there’s a good chance that the energy in the conversation will increase as they get to the really important stuff.
If we convert “sentences” to “musical phrases” and “pieces of information” to “melodic ideas” you can see how the familiar rules of good conversation transfer to improvising.
Start simply
The first step in applying this “conversation” approach then is to start with a single musical idea. This can often seem easier to say than do, particularly when your adrenaline is pumping.
It’s important to remember though that a great melody can use as few as two or three notes. It doesn’t need to be complicated rhythmically either.
So, start by limiting yourself to creating a single simple melodic idea to start your solo with. Keep that melodic idea in a single phrase and use this as the foundation of your solo. Build from that idea by embellishing it and remember to take your time.
Tell a story
A really good conversation explores one subject and doesn’t flit around between a million different topics. It’s the same with a great solo. Once you’ve
made a good start with a single clear melodic idea, don’t feel that you need to keep coming up with an endless stream of new ones.
Take your first idea and really explore it. Try adding some more notes to it. Pull it apart and use part of the melody to build a new idea or try moving
the melody line into another register.
By building a solo in a logical way from a single idea you will create a solo that makes more sense, feels better and will connect with your audience much more effectively.
Next steps:
Grab the “Playing Melodically” worksheet with practice track :
Playing Melodically worksheet – Alto Saxophone