Improvisation: How Do I Begin? Harmony? Modes? Licks?
by Victor Prado, IHS 55 featured artist
One of the questions I get most from horn players and students is: I want to improvise, but where do I start?
My first quick answer to this question is to keep an open mind, get out of your "automatic" and standard mode for a while, look around for what is new, listen to different genres of music, and learn from them.
I often say that 60% of the process of improvisation lies in what you do without your instrument. If you are an open-minded artist, great, that is already a big step!
Now, going deeper into the question, I have various answers rather than one exact answer that works for everybody. However, some common ideas can help all people who want to start improvising. Let’s start with these.
Elements such as harmony, modes, ready-made phrases, rhythm, articulations, and effects are indeed extremely important for improvisation in any musical genre. However, you should not necessarily think of these as the main elements of improvisation when you want to start exploring this world.
When we focus our improvisation only on techniques and harmony, we are automatically assuming that only those who already have some prior knowledge of improvisation can do it, and THIS IS NOT TRUE. From beginners to the most advanced professional horn players, everyone can improvise.
So how do you start your improvisation practice in a more natural way? Answer: start from wherever you are today. You can and should draw on everything you have already learned about music and the horn.
Now, get to work!
Do you like duets? How about trying to do some duets with Milton Nascimento, Lester Young, Beyoncé, Chet Baker, Billie Holiday, or Alice Coltrane? That would sound great, right?
Start experimenting by playing along with recordings, without the notion of playing something right or wrong, but rather of just being part of the music, doing it together with the recording artist. This kind of practice can definitely help you enter and understand the world of improvisation.
Start by finding the key, trying major or minor scales, and even copying the little phrases you hear. Then try to modify the phrases by changing notes and rhythms. After doing this for a while, you will begin to feel more comfortable playing without any music written out. Do this as much as you think is necessary! Of course, this applies to any genre of music. Try not to stick to just one style of music unless you want to master just one specific musical language.
After you feel comfortable playing duets with your favorite recording artist, add more features such as bends, glissandi, vibrato, and whatever other musical effects you can think of.
Put aside the concept of right and wrong; the important thing is to feel good and free!
Improvisation can help you rethink certain concepts. It can be difficult to detach yourself from the idea of right and wrong in your horn playing, but in improvisation anything and everything can be right. Improvisation teaches you to let go. It is a world of spontaneity and surprises, so absolutely everything is valid! Every improvised note you play will serve as a stepping-stone to your future, so do not worry.
Forget for a while the "standard" way of practicing scales and arpeggios with a metronome. Choose a recording with a rhythmic feel that attracts you and play scales starting from different notes, accenting the notes in unusual places, playing whatever you feel. Make it fun.
I need to learn about harmony and patterns!
Take your time. The process of internalizing harmony is a long one, which means that you will not master everything in a year or two. The idea is to start slow and try to understand what you are doing. And you probably have already mastered the major and minor scales in all keys; you know how they sound and how each one feels.
Something important to consider in the study of harmony in improvisation is the sensation (rather than the rules). We must be able to feel how a diminished scale or a sharp-9 Locrian mode fits into the music. At first this may seem too strange or unfamiliar, but trust me, in time, by listening and playing, you will learn to create these feelings; this is very important in improvisation. When you are improvising, there is often no time to think precisely about the scale or the chord or the mode you are going to use, so this feeling of the harmony will be the most important tool at hand. As time goes by and you become more comfortable, musical feelings get stored in your subconscious mind and will be available for use when the right moment arrives.
Improvisation certainly does not happen by magic; you must work hard at it but have fun with it. What I always advise is that you start creating small phrases with the scales and arpeggios you are practicing. You can start with just two notes and some different rhythms. Then gradually increase to three, four, and five, until you feel comfortable with as many notes as you want.
You will see that the possibilities are endless. You will kindle a desire to go to new musical places, to create new musical gestures, to play phrases that are more challenging. And all this will be stored in your head as you create an improvisational vocabulary.
Jazz improvisation methods can also help a lot in this process. All the "tricks," such as transcribing solos, playing everything in all keys, coming up with licks and patterns, for example, can definitely guide you. However, you can explore many other more personal musical places as well. And remember that in the world of today, there are many kinds of music that we can fit into as horn players.
