Episode #6 -Thematic Improvisation
Posted on Jan 7, 2009 | 5 comments
Today I cover setting up simple motifs in your solos so you can tell your improvisational story.
Question for you:
What areas of Jazz Piano would you like me to cover next???? Leave in the comments below:
Hi!
I have some suggestions for future topics:
- Transcribing (Is it better learn a complete solo,
or pick phrases you like? Is it better to write down
solos first and practice it afterwards, or vice versa?)
- Solo piano (Tips on creating varied comping underneath
soloing, tips on developing better hand independence).
These are some of the things I´m thinking about at the
moment. Thanks for being open for suggestions!
toebr
Hi Peter, thanks for sharing your knowledge. Here are my suggestions:
-your wisdom on accompanying vocalists
-tips on playing longer running lines (often mine sound in 2 bar chunks) and playing lines that are not as governed by the “fenceposts” of the form
-as the above person suggested, solo piano tips! When you have a 3 hour solo gig, could you share some advice (especially with regards to the left hand) to create more variety?
Thanks for the suggestions markus and toebr! I’ll try and address these in the next few episodes, hopefully this coming week.
Hi Peter. Thanks for excellent 2 min tips for improving playing – I find it very helpful.
A few comments about topics that I would greatly appreciate:
- How do you go about adding the funky feel to your jazz? (I was amazed at the fantastic funky jazz feel to some of your solos on Joshua Redmans Freedom in Groove- for instance 4:00-4:10 from your solo on from the album version of Hide and Seek). Tips about choosing of tones (phrases for instance) and timing would be very exciting.
- Another topic I would like to hear about would be how to develop improvisational fluency. Often a problem for me is that a solo gets very “on and off”, and when I want to hit the high intensity, I woud like to be better able at “speaking fast/intensively” more fluently. Does this make any sense?
These are just suggestions. I look forward to follow your next lessons, no matter what may come.
BjornAtle
There’s no video on this or the next one! Haven’t checked any further.
Heard you at Botanical Garden in STL…very nice, indeed.