The Many Challenges of Jazz Improvisation

[ardenik]

Ok, I fixed this thread. I deserve a medal!

awesome emil! thanks

now tell us YOUR thoughts about jazz improvisation! hehe

[loseyourname]

I agree with Mousy. This should be in the music forum. Don't be afraid to start serious threads about music there. The music forum needs a little love too.

[loseyourname]

I used to play trumpet and trombone in a jazz band when I was a lot younger, like 12-15. I loved improvising, but I hardly remember it.

[Genuine_Stud]

I played piano for about 6 years.... and I loved improvising in jazz. It just lets you play what you feel without caving yourself into the confines of the composed piece. Of course you have to make sure that the band is with you during improvisation..... but after that..... you're free to fly like a bird in improvising. That's what I love about jazz.

[ardenik]

I agree with Mousy. This should be in the music forum. Don't be afraid to start serious threads about music there. The music forum needs a little love too.

i already said, i dont care, u guys can put it in whichever forum u want. to me it could go either way. i had put it in intellectual lounge initially sort of by accident. cuz we got onto the topic from the poetry thread, which is there, & i just started the thread from the forum i was already in at the moment. i guess since there IS a music forum, then it belongs there.

loseyourname: I used to play trumpet and trombone in a jazz band when I was a lot younger, like 12-15. I loved improvising, but I hardly remember it.
Genuine_Stud: I played piano for about 6 years.... and I loved improvising in jazz. It just lets you play what you feel without caving yourself into the confines of the composed piece. Of course you have to make sure that the band is with you during improvisation..... but after that..... you're free to fly like a bird in improvising. That's what I love about jazz.

play what u feel... thats what the true essence of jazz is & i think all music should be that way, but unfortunately for plastic throwaway entertainers such as britney spears, fitty cent, etc., music is not what it used to be....

what do u mean u dont remember, lose? the whole idea of improvisation is that ure playing what ure feeling at the moment. ure not supposed to remember. lol
Stud, did u have some good players to jam with? what kind of stuff did u guys jam? what tunes?

[ardenik]

by the way.. i just need to say this. i just bought the double CD of Clifford Brown & Max Roach. "the best of the Mercury years" these guys are PHENOMENAL!!

MAX ROACH RULES!!!
FUUCK is he awesome..........

[Genuine_Stud]

i already said, i dont care, u guys can put it in whichever forum u want. to me it could go either way. i had put it in intellectual lounge initially sort of by accident. cuz we got onto the topic from the poetry thread, which is there, & i just started the thread from the forum i was already in at the moment. i guess since there IS a music forum, then it belongs there.



play what u feel... thats what the true essence of jazz is & i think all music should be that way, but unfortunately for plastic throwaway entertainers such as britney spears, fitty cent, etc., music is not what it used to be....

what do u mean u dont remember, lose? the whole idea of improvisation is that ure playing what ure feeling at the moment. ure not supposed to remember. lol
Stud, did u have some good players to jam with? what kind of stuff did u guys jam? what tunes?

It was for my high school jazz band. I don't remember the name of the tunes we used to play but we had, One drummer, bass guitar, electric guitar, 3 trumpets, 1 trombone, 2 keyboard players, and 3 percussionists. Oh man, it was great. When you play what you feel and you got a band as big as this to play along with you, you can really "feel" the music.

[Tres Bien]

I went to music school as well..
sometimes jammed with some of the jazzpianists at school after or in between lesson hours..my major was classical piano though..and i had only lessons in that...the last year i got 20 minutes jazz lesson on the piano..It was all good.
I had really fun playing with other jazz musicains ...y gotto go out and find those guys,and maybe form a band or something.. as it seems everyone dissapeared after graduation(including myself)..

[ScavengerOfHumanSorrow]

Ardenik: Do you have any books to recommend on scale/chord theory? I need to brush up on my theory (all I know so far is the Major scale and its modes). And are there any exercise books you recommend as well?

Oh yea, are you self thaught, or have you ever taken private lessons (I know you studied music in college, but I'm talking about a private instructor)?

[ardenik]

Ardenik: Do you have any books to recommend on scale/chord theory? I need to brush up on my theory (all I know so far is the Major scale and its modes). And are there any exercise books you recommend as well?

hmm.. scales & chords eh..... to tell u the truth, i never learned so much from any particular book. most of the time, my teachers would either explain stuff & i would make sense of what they said, or if it was something i didnt think i would be able to remember, then i would take notes.. a lot of it is based on the Major scale, the 3 minor scales (natural, harmonic, melodic) & their modes.. the pentatonic scale serves some really important purposes & the many different alterations of the pentatonic scale as well...

i cant recommend any books for theory right now. i could ask some teachers or ex-teachers what books they would recommend, but this thread is not here for nothing u can post any questions or comments u might have & somebody (if nobody else, than at least me.. lol) will answer the best we can.

as for exercise books, im not sure if ure still talking about theory or if u mean instrumental exercise books. i know u play guitar. im actually just stepping out to go meet a guitar player friend of mine. ill ask him what he would recommend. i would take his word for it. he started off as a metal-head also, actually... then he got into classical guitar so that he could get into music school. improved his technique IMMENSELY & played a lot of J-S Bach pieces, which sharpened his contrapuntal playing (2 to 4 melodic lines happening at the same time) & memory capacity. & in the last coupla years, he's gotten into jazz, which is the ideal application for his talent & all his acquired skills. ill ask him if he could recommend any particular exercise books.

Oh yea, are you self thaught, or have you ever taken private lessons (I know you studied music in college, but I'm talking about a private instructor)?

ive been playing both piano & guitar for the same time. (approx. 10 yrs now) i took 7 years classical piano private lessons & took up jazz in college. on the other hand, i was completely self-taught on guitar until my 3rd year of college, when i was allowed to take guitar as a second instrument during my last year at Vanier.