Another Improv Question

[ryanowens]

this was posted in another forum and I'd love to hear Janek's response.



this is a question.... I'm really asking if this is what other people do as I am just learning to really improvise:

I realize that when you study modes they each have a place with each scale tone.
The four is - Lydian
The two is - Dorian etc....

But it seems to me that if we always play the correct mode over the correct chord (ie the Mixolydian over the 5 chord) then we will always be playing diatonically and while that is OK we might be missing out on some really cool sounds by placing the "wrong" mode over a given chord.

Is this what you guys do? Do you find combinations that you really like and use those as your bag of tricks. For example you like the sound of the lydian mode over the 1 chord so you play that instead of the ionian, or you like to play dorian over the 6 chord because you prefer the raised 6th over the 6 chord?

Am I on the right track? If so, are there any standard substitutions that work really well?

[janekbass]

Well my answer would be no different from what I always talk about when it comes to imporvisation.

When you're truly improvising you're not thinking about modes, or scales, you're improvising. I'm going to go out on a limb and say that modes and scales have nothing to do with improvising.

They have to do with analysis and theory. Which your brain is not processing in a long drawn out method as you improvise.

Improvisation is speech on your given instrument. It's a connection of a musical idea from your brain through your instrument to the listener.

There are a lot of musicians in the jazz world who are considered to be improvisors, when in actual fact they are musicians that do have a bag of tricks and licks that they drag out for each solo.

That's not to say that artists with recognizable phrases in their language, are not improvisors. But when you really listen to a soloist for a while you can tell who is telling the truth and who is not.

Wayne Shorter, for me, has to be the most honest improvisors alive right now. His sound is what defines him to your ear within one note, and the freedom and honesty in his lines are what draw you into the story and take you to places you can't even comprehend.

This is improvisation. This is connection with a listener. Modes, scales, theory, analysis..... these are not. These are for study.

And where I always find myself back at is transcription. That's the most important part of developing a language. Understanding the language, understanding other people's process, understanding other people's thoughts, and then developing your own thoughts within that language. And then of course, inventing new dialects, new words, new phrases, new accents to define you as a unique voice.


Easy,

Janek