Which of These Improv Techniques You Should Use

I was shedding an oldie but a goodie yesterday.

You know…that Duke tune in C Major with the II7b5 chord in measure three...

Okay, I’ll tell ya – it was “Take the A Train,” and that pesky D7b5 chord sure is tough to flow through in a solo.

Alas, non-diatonic conundrums are not what we’re getting into today.

Back to my story...

I’m working on “Take the A Train,” and I’m recording myself improvising over the changes.

As you may know, listening back to recordings of yourself practicing can get cringey real fast. It’s no wonder so many people shy away from hitting that big red record button in the shed, even though they’ve heard over and over again that recording yourself and listening back is one of the best ways to improve as a musician.

Let me tell ya one more time: recording yourself and listening back (with a constructively critical ear) will supercharge your musical development.

Alright, back to my story...

I do my best to listen to my recordings without wincing. The questions I’m trying to answer are: when do I sound my best, and what improvisational strategy am I employing during those times?

By improvisational strategy I mean my conscious intention while soloing. For example: 

• I’m going to focus on rhythm

• I’m going to focus on playing intervalically

• I’m going to focus on motivic development

• I’m going to focus on feel and phrasing

• I’m going to focus on anticipating the chord changes

• I’m not going to focus on anything

Unfortunately, it’s not possible to keep all of these approaches top of mind while improvising. The most you can hope for is to hold one in your front brain and trust that the others simmer just below consciousness.

Back to my story!

So, I keep trying out different strategies and listening back to determine which one yields the best results.

On that particular day, I was having the most luck with focusing on anticipating the chord changes.

But the point is that you, too, can try on these different strategies and listen back to your recordings to help determine what point of focus makes you sound your best.

Unfortunately, there’s no one-size-fits-all approach, so it’s helpful to experiment and log your results by...you guessed it...hittin’ record.

Don’t fear the big red button!

Happy Shedding,

Jeff

P.S. For everyone that’s struggling with navigating through non-diatonic chord changes like that wonky II7b5 chord in “A Train,” the chord tone solo strategy is definitely worth your time and attention. 

The objective is to improvise a solo using only chord tones to solidify your understanding of the harmony and ensure that you make the changes.

A word of warning: it’s really easy to sound lame while chord tone soloing. After all, you only have four notes per chord to play with. So, be sure to listen and play through the etudes in Chord Tone Magic – my etude book with hip and melodic chord tone solos on standards like “There Will Be Another You” and “Dolphin Dance,” both of which have ample non-diatonic chords that can easily throw you off unless you've prepared how to handle them in advanced.

Click here to learn more about Chord Tone Magic, and start mastering your chord tone solos today!