How to Practice Improvisation
Students often find it difficult to practice improvisation, mainly because they don't know where to start. Here are some helpful hints on getting better at this skill.
Scale Patterns
Everyone knows that practicing your scales is important, but if you only practice them up and down, you never really know the key center. Practice your scales in lots of different ways.
For example, a normal scale is 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8. How about trying it 123, 234, 345, etc.? Or, 1234, 2345, 3456, etc.? Also, practice your arpeggios, minor scales, etc.
Everyone knows that practicing your scales is important, but if you only practice them up and down, you never really know the key center. Practice your scales in lots of different ways.
For example, a normal scale is 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8. How about trying it 123, 234, 345, etc.? Or, 1234, 2345, 3456, etc.? Also, practice your arpeggios, minor scales, etc.
Drone Practicing
One way to start playing in key centers that are perhaps a little less familiar is to practice with a drone. Use an app like the Tonal Energy Tuner, an electric keyboard that will play a note without stopping, or something else similar. Play a note on the drone, and just start experimenting on your instrument over that pitch. When you get some ideas, incorporate a metronome along with it, and try ands solo with different styles, like swing, rock, etc.
One way to start playing in key centers that are perhaps a little less familiar is to practice with a drone. Use an app like the Tonal Energy Tuner, an electric keyboard that will play a note without stopping, or something else similar. Play a note on the drone, and just start experimenting on your instrument over that pitch. When you get some ideas, incorporate a metronome along with it, and try ands solo with different styles, like swing, rock, etc.
Once you start getting some knowledge about scales and keys, it's time to start incorporating that knowledge into some tunes. Jazz standards are tunes that most jazz musicians know, and are great ways to start to learn the language. Using the button above will take you to a website with 50 great tunes to start with. Once you find a tune to start on, find a play-along to jam with...some ideas to use are YouTube (many people have posted play alongs for all of these tunes), IRealPro (an app that you can download on your phones), or Jamey Aebersold CD's (for those of you that still have a CD player).