How Improvisers Improvise

Here I was expecting the fish emoji to stand for bass...

Rhythm IS the big deal!!!!

2:24 thanks for the lick

This is great. Thanks so much. I run a jazz band in Turkey and occasionally there are horn players that have professional classical training and have really good ears but they don't know harmony at all. Their solos sound like creative guessing but still kinda not great because they don't understand the harmonic context of their choices and often tensions show up in very strange places. These same players are occasionally very reluctant to learn about chords and scales because they want to jump right to your stage 5 and just play without worrying about that stuff. This video shares quite well all the things that I am trying to impart to them.

Don't always begin or end on standard notes. Don't always do the obvious. Miles Davis might say... "show that you're working on something". After all, we are talking about Jazz. To what extent is a matter of preference.

High school band teachers need that to understand that being a marching band robot is not the same thing as being a musician. This is the main reason students stop playing after 4 years. They never got to even listen to Miles or Coltrane. When I hear a talented student with swing and tone I go and buy them a Kind of Blue CD. I'm a physics and chemistry teacher.

trained jazz piano player and bass player here. Love the organization of this lesson. For all the folks saying rhythm matters too... of course it does, though my experience with a melodic instrument, gotta dig into that harmony first. Can't play in time with intention until you know what notes you want to explore and why. Trying to play in time (even very slow) before I understand a concept feels like giving a speech while learning what you are talking about live.. its just not the most productive way for most to improve. I don't know many people who can learn, while already playing what their learning haha. It's funny though, when teaching I usually bring up the idea of building energy and tension/release very early. As your target note gets higher in pitch and your rhythmic subdivisions get faster, energy goes up. Opposite to bring energy down. Then Levels 2-4 are all about harmony.. gotta hot the books... then level 5 would be where you bring back rhythm and dive deep using all that harmony you've learned as a vehicle for rhythm. Playing behind or ahead of beat, poly rhythms... etc... along with subdivisions and higher pitches building energy... that's how I'd define what's being worked on in level 5. At that point, the goal is pretty much to learn an advanced technique in practice and quickly convert it to an intuitive subconscious way to build or release tension/energy performing. When performing you are controlling emotion and energy with your band almost unconsciously because you've added progressively more advanced concepts in practice and cataloged how they make you feel. Eventually I don't even remember the name of what I'm doing or when I learned it. It's just there for when I want to make the music do... this! At level 5, these expand into your band. Like the keys and bass player can hear each other hinting at that upper structure triad together and drag the rhythm together to sound naaaasty.. and the drummer keeps the time straight so there is a reference to hear the time drag..... then pop back to the song almost telepathically, leaving most listeners not knowing what just happened, but it makes em wanna wiggle.. Sorry that replay got long, I got excited haha. Great video. Cheers!

I feel like in most pop and rock music you never need to leave level 2 (with a tiny bit of level 3). The next levels stray mostly into the jazz world and the niche folk world - but most amateur musicians I know stick in level 2 and are proud to get level 3 on the 'weird' chord in a song.

This is a great intro vid. I have been teaching myself improv over the past couple months and are around your Stage 3. Thanks for the video.

To speak requires memorizing words and phrases, and listening and responding to the situation. The notes are the musical alphabet. Improvising requires memorizing musical words and phrases, and listening and responding to the musical situation.

"funkus naturalis" : you killed me with that one 😂 It reminded me of that fun story about archeologists who named some fossiles after the band Gojira ! And amazing cotent as always 👌😎

Really great, clear and concise explanation!

Brilliant video, a fascinating glimpse into an esoteric subject. Great work!

This was an awesome primer. I play bass and want to expand my knowledge. You look like a great resource.

I'm lucky enough to be the "natural improvisor" type. And I know from experience that once you listen to people like charlie parker, you get humbled really fast.

what a great video man!

Great explanation. Thanks.

I can't thank you enough for all this insane info, all around this channel is beyond amazing!

Wow! Great lesson! Thanx! 😊

Nice vid and explanation! Music is about strong rhythm, therefore great improvisation is always rhythmically clear. When your fancy licks aren't played with a strong sense of time, they won't come across to the listener. I rather hear simple music played well, than a musician trying to convey a message that he/she/x doesn't fully understand or masters. Therefore listen to the greats, what you want to play is probably already there. Great improvisers have left us with an abundance of knowledge we can study in 12 keys. Have a great practice session!