Improvising
Sat, 03/09/2024 - 10:05
Multi-part question to all. I have completed L3 in the LOA progression. I am looking forward to spending more time playing, as I really enjoy it!
When it comes to improvising, do you:
* Feel comfortable making up riffs to backing tracks?
* Have you played out at Blues Jams?
* If yes, at what level did you start to feel comfortable doing so?
* Is your improvising consisting of mostly "memorized riffs," or more spontaneous, based on principles you've learned?
I appreciate hearing any of your feedback here! Thank you.
Peter757:
Fun questions! Here are my own responses:
When it comes to improvising, do you:
* Feel comfortable making up riffs to backing tracks? Yes. It's great ear training. And if you're talking about using backing tracks for practice, there are not "mistakes," only useful feedback.
* Have you played out at Blues Jams? Yes. I've also been invited to sit in on harp and vocal for one or two songs by bands at local shows.
* If yes, at what level did you start to feel comfortable doing so? After about a year of private lessons with David, which I started after about four years of working on lessons here on the website, and after working on leading bands, both through School of the Blues workshops, and workshops at harmonica camps. Plus a lot of going to jams just to observe and listen. My main questions to myself were "Can I competently explain to the band the song structure, key, groove and tempo, and give them timely hand signals that everyone will understand?"And then, from experience and practice, if it's a song I haven't rehearsed specifically (e.g., call out by someone else on the bandstand), figuring out very quickly in what position my part will work best, and whether to play chromatic rather than diatonic.
* Is your improvising consisting of mostly "memorized riffs," or more spontaneous, based on principles you've learned? A combination. When I do known blues songs, I listen to the originals, use transcriptions when available, and adapt the original artist's solos to my own style and skill level. (E.g., some of my prepared solos are essentially things like "Little Walter for Dummies.") But I also improvise spontaneously, using parts of practiced solos, and keepng in mind that an audience can really enjoy my playing just a single note, so long as I do it rhythmically, with dynamics, and that note fits the musical structure of the song. E.g., an audience would rather hear a single note played with the right technique than a whole bunch of notes played quickly, but where some of the notes don't fit. The trick is, "does it work?" Over 12 bars, someone like Jason Ricci might play 600 notes, all of which fit perfectly, where I might use just six notes, 'cause I'm no Jason Ricci!