Jazz Improvisation: The Traditional Approach

It's another day and we're ready to play, or so they say.  Ok, so what is this all about.  Today I'm going to introduce you to the traditional approach of learning to improvise jazz, and the traditional approach of jazz improvisation is all about playing and listening.  So lets get started.

We have all been there.  We find ourselves asking how can we really learn to improvise.  You have questions and you want answers.  So what do you do you search the web.  You read books.  You might even get the guts to ask the best improviser in your area how they do their stuff.  In the end you find that there seems to be many ways to learn to improvise, but if you look closely you will realize that they all have one thing in common.  Listen to as much jazz as possible.  Those who follow the traditional approach of jazz improvisation take this to heart.  In fact the traditional approach to jazz improvisation is solely based on listening.  Other approaches might focus on theory, scales, or developing technique, but with the traditional approach the answer is found in the music.

What do I mean.  The traditional approach to jazz improvisation is all about learning music aurally, meaning learning to improvise by ear.  They do this by listening to recordings of the great improvisers and transcribing them.  As part of the process a traditionalist doesn't just try to get the notes, but they also try to match the sound, articulation, and phrasing.  Over time a traditional improviser gets to the point where they can play almost anything they hear instantly.  This becomes a great benefit for them, because it allows them to play the ideas that go through their head fairly effortlessly.  There is also the other benefit that they are learning to speak the jazz language the way it is supposed to be spoken. 

One thing to keep in mind with the traditional approach is that it requires a lot of playing and listening.  Not only do traditionalists play with the recordings of the jazz greats they also take every opportunity presented to them to play, and they do it all by ear.  They learn tunes by ear.  They learn chord changes by ear, and they learn how to groove and swing by ear.  The traditional approach is very much a non scholarly more intuitive approach to jazz improvisation.  It becomes more about the sound, color, and feeling you can create.  Then the actual theory involved.  For a traditional improviser the winning formula is listen to jazz as much as possible.  Copy the greats, and then to experiment and play when ever you get a chance.

Well that about sums it up.  The traditional approach is all about the ear.  How well can you hear, and how well can you express yourself through the medium of music.  Until next time.

Caruso