Proactive vs Reactive Improvisation: What you need to know...
I wake up in the morning one of two ways: before the baby cries or after the baby cries.
When I rise before she wails, I’m able to start the day off on my terms. I might even be able to squeeze in some semblance of a morning routine... Maybe a little reading, some meditation, brushing my teeth – real wild stuff.
But on the mornings when baby beats me to the punch, I’m immediately thrown into scramble mode – falling out of bed, frantically searching for my glasses, and rushing into her room before she wakes up my son.
So yeah, not an ideal way to start the day.
What’s the moral of this woe-is-me story? What’s the connection to improvisation?
Here ya go:
Avoid “scramble mode” at all costs when soloing.
Everything goes wrong when you’re in scramble mode on the bandstand. You lose the time. You play wrong notes. Your sound falls apart.
One of the main culprits of scramble mode is not knowing what chord is coming up next in the changes. It’s why I am a huge proponent of thinking ahead and anticipating the harmony. It’s the difference between proactive improvisation and reactive improvisation.
This is especially true when playing tunes by memory without sheet music. If you’re trying to think of what chord you’re on and the downbeat has already come and gone, you’re pretty much destined to end up in scramble mode.
In addition to thinking ahead, you can also play ahead, meaning playing notes that align with the upcoming chord before that chord even hits.
I do this a bunch in Chord Tone Magic – my book of chord tone solos over popular jazz standards like Fly Me to the Moon and Sunny Side of the Street.
Look for instances where a chord tone comes in on the “and of four” of the previous measure. Then try it out in your own chord tone solos to ensure that you’re able to improvise proactively rather than reactively to ensure you stay out of scramble mode for good.
By the way, if you want to pick up a copy of Chord Tone Magic and make some real strides in your soloing skills, clickaroo the link below:
https://go.jeffschneidermusic.com/chord-tone-magic
Happy Shedding!
Jeff
