On 4/14/2018 11:09 PM, 'J. Vega'
JVegaTrio@... [jazz_guitar] wrote:
"This ain't an
easy tune" if you try to think/play it the way you suggested
below, that's fo' sho'. Try this instead: &c.
Your answer is solid, as was Ming's.
We tend to get into discussions about scales and key centers, &c
in depth, and that is, of course, very important to the
understanding of music. But it's rarely what a player is thinking
when he is improvising - it can be too cumbersome. We learn that to
internalize it, and to be able to draw upon it. Usually, he is
thinking about the chords, the melody, and the form, and usually he
is using ideas he's gotten down after a long period of years and
experience to push into new territory (on a good night). He usually
finds remembering the lyrics far more useful than the scales
involved.
One has to study great solos by great soloists. Yes, understanding
the scales and key centers is an invaluable help in that endeavor,
but it does not replace hours spent poring over solos until you can
actually play and HEAR them for what they are.
Improvising is the process of putting it all together, and
on-the-fly. Playing is a hands-on sport. Most students today simply
do not practice, play, jam, and listen enough. They simply don't
live music, but, rather, squeeze it in when they are not too busy
with something else. They are more interested in the 'understanding'
than they are the real work it takes to actually perform. I say
'most' because this was pretty much always the case. Those rare ones
who actually love music in their very core and? 'shed'? to rise to
the challenge are always exactly that - rare.
Just my 2-cents,
Bobby
