How to Fake Your Way Through a Solo
Before we begin, let’s get this out of the way:
I do not endorse improvising on tunes you don’t know, aka “skating.”
It’s especially bad form at jam sessions where lots of people are waiting their turn to sit in, and someone’s up there BS-ing their way through a tune they don’t actually know.
It’s like an arrogant and clueless prick butting in on a conversation they know nothing about.
Not cool.
All that said, it’s likely that at some point, you’ll find yourself in a situation in which you’ll need to solo over changes you don’t know.
Maybe you’re on a gig, and the bandleader calls a tune without asking if you know it first. Maybe you’re subbing for another musician and didn’t receive the book or set list ahead of time.
Whatever the case may be, I’d like to offer a few tips to make fake it through these sticky situations without embarrassing yourself.
The first thing to remember is that phrasing, feel, and rhythm trump pitches. You can get away with a lot of “wrong” notes if you play them in the pocket with confidence and style.
Remember this:
How > What
How you play is more important than what you play.
But let’s say you also want to make the changes on this mystery tune you’ve been forced to solo on.
This is where studying music theory and practicing ear training come into play.
Most jazz standards use the same kinds of chord progressions, including:
IIm7 V7 IMaj7
IIIm7 VI7 IIm7 V7 IMaj7
IVm7 bVII7 IMaj7
And then you’ve got your common modulations and tonicizations, which set up the usual suspects:
IV
vi
iii
ii
The more standards you analyze and memorize, the better you’ll get at recognizing these harmonic movements in tunes you’ve yet to learn.
And then, of course, there’s ear training, which, if worked on hard enough, can supplant the need for music theory entirely. I used to play piano for one of my roommates in college who played saxophone, and no matter what chord I threw at him, he could improvise on it without hesitation. That said, he has ridiculously good perfect pitch, so we mortals will probably need to continue relying on at least some music theory in order to stay in the game.
Here’s a great ear training exercise that you can pair with your music theory skills. I learned this one from the legendary saxophonist and educator, Jerry Bergonzi.
It’s called “Follow the Bass.” You put on a record or work with a partner who plays keys or guitar, and you focus only on the bass part in order to identify the roots of the chords. If you can also tell the chord qualities, great! But feel free to start with just roots.
And remember, because standards use the same handful of progressions, recognizing them by ear will become just as easy as recognizing them via theory.
OK, so we’ve now stressed the importance of “the how,” and you have some strategies for navigating “the what.“
But once you’ve figured out the chord changes, you still need something to play. Here are some options:
Play what you hear in your head
Improvise using chord tones (the etudes and videos included in Chord Tone Magic can help you with that)
Improvise using a vocabulary of phrases and ideas you’ve developed in advance (Sick Licks is the ultimate resource for this approach and includes 600 licks for various genres like Classic Jazz, Blues, and Modern Jazz. The licks are organized by chord progression and difficulty, which makes it easy to find the types of lines that are right for you. Get Sick Licks here.)
In sum, try not to BS your way through tunes you don’t know. But, when you’re in a bind, be prepared with acute theory knowledge, sharp ears, and remember, when all else fails:
How > What
Happy Shedding!
Jeff