improv in front of live audience

[project_c]

the band i play in has a small gig saturday night, and the night is dedicated to improvised music. i have only been with the band a few weeks and although i'm connecting nicely with them, i'm finding the idea of jamming in front of a live audience a bit daunting at this stage. does anyone with a bit more experience than me have any advice, things to avoid / look out for, and just any words of wisdom on the subject? i'd appreciate any input. i'm concerned that i will get a bit lost amongst more experienced musicians.
thanks

[onlyclave]

Don't screw up.

[project_c]

thanks, that makes me feel a whole lot less nervous.

[Wicked_Bassist7]

just make sure you know what key the song or riff or jam or whatever is in

[Tenma4]

If you're not real comfortable with finding where to go harmonically, cram on the ear training. A few years ago I sat down with the bass and started training myself to recognize intervals. Once I could recognize those reasonably well I started three note chords by arpeggiating and playing the full chords. Then I started doing inversions. Before long with the combination of ear training and muscle memory, my hands knew where to go. Of course the sky is the limit on developing your ear and improvising skills. If you haven't done these things though, I would suggest them.

Another thing I do in practice is sing something and then play it. I'd say I've learned more about playing bass from singing than anything. In the 2nd real band I was in, all the rest of the players were smokin'. That band had a 30 min improvisation breakdown in each show. I had only been playing for a few months. I'd take a recording of a song from practice and then hum along with it what I wanted to play at home. Though I was almost a total beginner, now going on 9 years later those are some of my favorite bass parts I've ever written. I had to step up my game with those guys, and in order to play what I was hearing in my head.

OK, enough story time. Just remember to have fun and do what you do. No one else is going to play what you are going to play. Make what you say mean something whether it's technical or simple. Oh yeah, and don't forget to groove your butt off!

[DocBop]

Remember simple is good. Focus on locking in with the rhythm/drummer first. As the jam develops you can expand as you figure out the chords and start adding more notes. But playing simple and solid so the solo instruments can flail they will love you.

Now for the big secret,,, In general they aren't listening to you the rest are so into their own playing unless you drop your volume suddenly or turn the beat around they will think your doing fine. If you play a klunker note don't make faces, keep your volume up, and playing the rhythm. Loud and proud will get you thru it.

[BAW]

if all else fails find a note thats in and pedal on it till you figure out a bit more.

[ubone]

Listen to what's being played, Lay it down like it belongs to establish or support the groove, and when it's called for push it in another direction. Point/counterpoint.

[nicoli]

Keep it simple, stick with roots if you have to. As long as you keep things moving it'll be fine - the other players are relying on you to keep it solid, if you can make it interesting it's just a bonus. If you get totally lost, just yell at one of the other guys to find out what key you're in. If the other guys are more experienced, they should know what to do to help you out if you need a hand here and there.

I learned a ton from gigs like this, it'll make you a better player for doing it.

[Jim Carr]

You didn't mention the basic style(s) of music these folks may throw at you. However,
here are two basic pointers:

1) Listen to others playing for changes/direction/ideas to embrace.
2) Watch guitarist for chord changes (stand on the right of the guitarist).

[Dmanlamius]

Here's a quick tip that always works...

Use rundowns. For example, if your guitarist hangs on a B, run the bass down from a B, to A to A/ and finally to G. Repeat this, but run up every now and again.

Bring it right down with your drummer. Right down and quiet. Create a crescendo...a really long one.

Rundowns are always quite pleasing to the ear, and are a simple way of keeping improvs interesting. It's even easier for your guitarist, as they only have to hang on a note. The bass plays the melody.

Try it!

[Weerd Bass]

All very good advice.

Mine is to relaaaax. Just try to shut out the audience and pretend it's just you and your band-mates jamming out and having a good time. As long as you can ease that stress off of your mind, you will do fine with the actual musical aspect of it.

[Dmanlamius]

And just to add to what I wrote above....

If your guitarist plays a little riff, or something in a specific key, try dictating the melody yourself. Your guitarist could just hold one chord, for example.

This doesn't just work for rundowns.

Move it all around.

Take a look at this vid of my old band jamming. Bad quality and all improve'd, etc, but you'll get an idea of what I mean. Notice it's me that's dictating the main melody, as a bass player. I did that a lot in that band...

Watch it come up and come down. Maintain the energy of the tune with your drummer. Make sure you have a good relationship and communication together!

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=z4BvUfB-_iw

[Tenma4]

Cool jam there Dmanlamius. Makes me look forward to my gig next Friday. Jazz improv gig backing up poets. The poets sometimes describe what they want. Otherwise we just listen to the poem and start improvising something that we think fits the tone of the poem. Makes life interesting.

[DocBop]

Originally Posted by Jim Carr

You didn't mention the basic style(s) of music these folks may throw at you. However,
here are two basic pointers:

1) Listen to others playing for changes/direction/ideas to embrace.
2) Watch guitarist for chord changes (stand on the right of the guitarist).

+10 Learn what common guitar chord look like so you can pickup roots or complete chords from looking at the guitarists. Also learn enough keyboard to watch KB players left hand. They tend to play root as lowest note.

[project_c]

this is all great advice, thanks everyone. i love the rundowns suggestion, simple but it really works.

[paganjack]

as songs peak, play simpler lines way low and dig in really hard, on the B or E string, depending what you've got. if you have a shredder or a great soloist then that will compliment what they play a lot better. just ride the energy waves and provide those low and loud notes for a little while.

a big key to improvised music is dynamic contrast. No matter how many cool notes and grooves you can play, everything at the same level is boring. vary between heavy loud grooves and really quiet breakdowns and everything in between.

I know I'll get flamed for this but Phish was AMAZING at their communication and peaks/valleys in their playing. Dunno if you sound anything like them, or even want to, but their skill at that facet of playing was simply incredible. worth a critical listen.

Watch what the other players do and play off them. Sometimes it's fun to do a little call and response thing. Even just mimicking the rhythm works well too. In my jammy band, I am always trying to fuse what I'm playing with what the other guys are playing. Although sometimes I gotta lay something down that's all me and let them play off it.

In summary- a good jam is comprised of a few things, in my opinion. There are lots other things involved, but these I consider critical.

1. LISTENING to the others and playing off each other
2. Dynamic Contrast as a band
3. interesting licks/grooves
4. Technical Skill

one last thing. there are NO wrong notes, only wrong facial expressions. heh heh heh

if you want to hear some of the stuff I've done, check out "Blue Light" on my Cinnamonforce page (right below). That is, I think, my jam band's best recording to date.

[cosmicevan]

i only play in jam bands and every now and then have been forced to last minute cancellations to play shows of *just* jamming. what i've learned from these gigs is to try not to plan on anything. everytime i try to revert to something that worked in rehearsal or in other jams, it ALWAYS feels stale at the gig and that pulls me out and hurts the performance because i find myself trying to hard instead of just letting the music play itself. stay relaxed, and don't be affraid to just let go and let the jam find itself. sure, there may be moments that are eh, but in the long run if it hits...it'll be the best stuff you've ever heard yourself play.

also, don't be affraid to put space in there. let the others you jam with take the lead...and then listen and follow. listening is key...and when you are thinking about what to do next, you aren't listening. when things sound stale, add in space...it'll make things funkier and will open things up for shifting and musical morphing (which is what jamming is all about).

enjoy yourself. if you aren't, it'll shine through in what you play. don't be affraid of being boring...be boring, sometimes that's what's needed. don't try and cram in everything you've been experimenting with, but also don't be afraid to try to let those new techniques and ideas find their way during the jams.

it is a delicate balance, but the most important thing to do is to listen to what's happening around you and find your spot.

[Hoover]

Originally Posted by ubone

Listen to what's being played

Originally Posted by Jim Carr

Listen to others playing

Originally Posted by paganjack

I consider critical...LISTENING to the others

Originally Posted by cosmicevan

listening is key

I see my work here is done...

[project_c]

this is all really great stuff, thanks again for all these replies, i really appreciate it.