Basic Improvisation Facts

[IamGroot]

Dan Haerle has a great website (look at bottom for jazz information). He keeps its very simple. Highly recommended.

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Basic Improvisation Facts

1. The simplest way to improvise over a II-V-I in major is to play the
major scale of the I chord.
2. The simplest way to improvise over a II-V-I in minor is to play the
harmonic minor scale of the I chord.
3. The simplest way to improvise over a blues progression is to play
the minor blues scale of the key.
4. A V chord in major may be satisfied with any dominant 7th scale
except minor blues.
5. A V chord in minor should be treated with the 5th mode of the
harmonic minor or a Super Locrian scale. These scales supply
alterations that are consistent with the minor key signature and make
the resolution sound natural.
6. A bII chord in minor sounds best with a lydian, b7 scale which is
the same sound as a Super Locrian on the V chord. Lydian, b7 also
sounds good on a bII chord in major.
7. A IV7 in major sounds best with a lydian, b7 scale. It supplies the
#11 which is in the key signature.
8. A II7 in major often sounds good with lydian, b7 because the 2nd
and 6th (9th and 13th) are consistent with the key.
9. A minor 7th a 5th above a bass note is a dom7sus4 (like II and V at
the same time). Example: Dmi7/G
10. If a note sounding in one chord can continue into the next chord,
it's generally a good idea

 

[Malcolm35]

Nice summation.

 

[NoiseNinja]

I got an addition:

11. If you out up rules for your improvisation you are not really actually improvising.

 

[IamGroot]

Everybody who improvises uses rules, except the cat walking on the piano.

Improvising implies some concious regulated activity, which in tuen, implies rules. The rules dont have to be written out like the ones above. The blues guitarist may be not know a note of music but he has developed a system based on hand position plus his learned listening experience which is also a set of rules.

 

[Gramski]

For me it all depends on context but improvisation \ experimentation as such certainly doesn't require rules (although it doesn't preclude them either).

I can improvise by randomly playing notes and just seeing what works for me and what doesn't. No rules. Just randomly put a finger down on a fret on a string and see what noise comes out .... any excuse for a Victor Wooten link ...

 

[J_Bass]

That's not improvising. That's hitting notes at random.


It's like speaking.

When you speak, the others understand you because everybody knows the rules to speech.


If you improvise a speech, nobody knows what you're going to say, but you have to speak in a common language. You're not just going to say random words.



Of course it's a simple and vague explanation. Of course free improvisation or free jazz have a lot more freedom of improvisation.

 

[Whousedtoplay]

That's not improvising. That's hitting notes at random.

Let's use an example from the OP's comment:

"Basic Improvisation Facts

1. The simplest way to improvise over a II-V-I in major is to play the
major scale of the I chord."

A question.
If I play the following notes - A - F - G - D - B over Dmin-G - C, would you call them as the "random notes" or not?

 

[J_Bass]

Let's use an example from the OP's comment:

"Basic Improvisation Facts

1. The simplest way to improvise over a II-V-I in major is to play the
major scale of the I chord."

A question.
If I play the following notes - A - F - G - D - B over Dmin-G - C, would you call them as the "random notes" or not?

They are notes of the scale, so I wouldn't call them random, no. You're following the rules, see? 5th, 3rd, root, 5th, 7th, assuming you're playing a two feel.

You didn't put Bb, Ab or F# for a reason.

 

[J_Bass]

@Whousedtoplay, I was responding to post #5 and #3.

I agree with the OP.

I didn't quote the post I was replying, sorry for the confusion.

 

[Whousedtoplay]

@Whousedtoplay, I was responding to post #5 and #3.

My comment #7 (not #3 or #5); therefore, I agree with your post.
LOL.

 

[LBS-bass]

The blues guitarist may be not know a note of music

He probably knows more than one note of music, but he might not know much theory, or why the things he's playing sound right together.

As far as rules, I think we all have them, though we may not think of them as such. I play a lot by ear and I don't think much about keys or modes when I play, but I know when I hear a certain chord that there's a pattern of notes starting at the root that will work with that chord. If it's a diminished chord I know it's one of the few common chords where I need to flat the five, for example. I don't think about these things, my fingers just go to the places that my ear tells them to go. But in order to learn how to do that I have had to learn through playing a whole lot that some things work and some things don't. They are rules, all right, but they're applied as opposed to thought about.

 

[Whousedtoplay]

I can improvise by randomly playing notes and just seeing what works for me and what doesn't. No rules.

And, after seeing what works for you and what doesn't, your brain creates/establishes (new) rules for you.

 

[Gramski]

It is all semantics but the dictionary definition of improvisation is "improvisation is something that is improvised, in particular a piece of music, drama, etc. created spontaneously or without preparation." so if you are improvising by following a prepared set of rules then are you really improvising at all?

The only rule for me is to have some fun. So I'm now off to hit some random notes .. enjoy ;-)

 

[Whousedtoplay]

It is all semantics but the dictionary definition of improvisation is "improvisation is something that is improvised, in particular a piece of music, drama, etc. created spontaneously or without preparation." so if you are improvising by following a prepared set of rules then are you really improvising at all?

The only rule for me is to have some fun. So I'm now off to hit some random notes .. enjoy ;-)

There is a long and interesting thread in the DB forum about improvisation:

The different ways of approaching Improvisation..

 

[Papageno]

It is all semantics but the dictionary definition of improvisation is "improvisation is something that is improvised, in particular a piece of music, drama, etc. created spontaneously or without preparation." so if you are improvising by following a prepared set of rules then are you really improvising at all?

The only rule for me is to have some fun. So I'm now off to hit some random notes .. enjoy ;-)

When you have a discussion with someone else, you improvise: you do not read a text written in advance, and you adapt your responses to what the other person tells you and to what comes spontaneously to your mind in the moment. Yet, you can do that because (and only if) you speak the same language as the other person. You cannot improvise a discussion in a language you don't speak. The content of your discussion is improvised, not the language itself. The language is learned, whether by formal education or by imitation.

In music, the various "rules" are those that constitute the language and make your musical statement consistent; the improvised content of your music is still unlimited. Of course, you can also bend or break intentionally the "rules" if that serves your musical statement; as long as it does not sound like gibberish, that's perfectly fine.

 

[Bob_Ross]

It is all semantics but the dictionary definition of improvisation is "improvisation is something that is improvised, in particular a piece of music, drama, etc. created spontaneously or without preparation." so if you are improvising by following a prepared set of rules then are you really improvising at all?

Captain Semantics says "if you are improvising by following a prepared set of rules" you are really improvising at all if you use those rules to create something spontaneously. It's right there in the definition.

 

[Whousedtoplay]

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"What Improvisation Is NOT
Before we get into how to develop your piano improv toolbox, it’s important to understand what improv is not. So without further ado, please understand:

Improvisation does not mean randomly pressing any key that comes to mind.

Let me say that one more time, simplified: Improv isn’t random. I know you’ve probably seen some cool videos of pianists or performers playing some awesome, seemingly random things off the top of their heads. But I promise you, there is logic and structure to even the most fantastical riffs and imaginative jams you’ve seen or heard."

 

[Whousedtoplay]

From "Jazz Improvisation Instructions" by
Robert A. Zwick, B.M.E., M.M.E,
Denton, Texas

"Incorporate the following into pattern development:
1) do not always begin on beat one,
2) use the popular pentatonic scale in patterns whenever possible,
3) add chromaticism to the patterns for an unlimited choice of notes from which to
b u i l d musical phrases,
4) use c y c l i c movement and consecutive fourths i n the melody l i n e ,
5) develop patterns by assigning the scale number to the tones ( d i g i t a l
patterns), and
6) develop double-time passages i n jazz
patterns."

"The jazz student collected material to be used in the
solo from a number of sources:
1) the tune itself (rhythmic, harmonic or melodic aspects),
2) ideas that suggested the mood of the tune (pretty, slow),
3) ideas from outside the tune (ideas from other similar compositions),
and
4) "licks," "cliches," and "patterns" (favorite patterns
or melodic phrases that were well entwined in the players."
memory).

 

[Sid Fang]

...
If I play the following notes - A - F - G - D - B over Dmin-G - C, would you call them as the "random notes" or not?

That rather depends on the phrasing, doesn't it?

 

[Whousedtoplay]

That rather depends on the phrasing, doesn't it?

You are absolutely correct.
It's all about phrasing.