[Trombone-l] Improv in daily routine

Thu Jan 3 00:49:41 CST 2008

Great question and some great responses.

What a great start to 2008 on the trombone list!

A few things to add...

1. "Improv" can mean many things to many people...playing songs by  
ear, embellishing a song you already know [an under-valued skill!!],  
free form composition with your horn [check out Ed Neumeister's book  
for some ideas there], blowing a lick in every key, transcription,  
etc etc.

We tend to think of "improv" as the thing we have to do when we  
confront a set of changes on a big band chart. If that is your first  
exposure to "improv", you are being placed at a huge disadvantage!!  
The most important skills for this task...which involves creativity  
and hearing stuff in your head...are developed independently of  
theory and scales and even certain fundamentals of playing most  
traditional/classical music. Theory, scales and the rest only help  
you if you are already on the path to creating and experimenting with  
non-written music.

2. No offense to the works Aebersold, Jerry Coker and all the other  
great books out there about improv, but this kind of "thinking" is  
only useful to someone who is prepared to make use of it in the kinds  
of music these guys know best.

I might take some flak for this, but here goes... I do not adhere to  
the "in order to improvise you FIRST have to know all your scales"  
type of thinking. Theory-based improv is largely a product of the  
academic world and the benefits from knowing this information depends  
largely on the kind of music you want to make. Did Louis Armstrong  
"know" all his scales? Does BB King play in ALL 12 keys? Or even use  
much more than a blues scale in his solos? Yet both these gentlemen  
are among the top of their respective  fields...and deservedly so!!  
It's not how much you know, it's how you create given what you DO  
know. The other day at a clinic, I had a young player who could get  
through "Mary Had a Little Lamb" starting on a C [key of Ab...she  
didn't even know THAT!] using all the "wrong positions". She used her  
ear and got through the exercise even though she didn't know an Ab  
scale. You can be sure that when she does eventually learn the scale,  
she'll appreciate having that knowledge that much more!!

[On the other hand, if you want to keep up with John Coltrane or  
Chris Potter, you better 'shed your altered pentatonics and know your  
modes based on the melodic minor scale....in all 12 keys!!]

3. One of Jamey Aebersold's best lines..."Everything you need to know  
to improvise is sitting in your record collection." Developing your  
skills requires active listening and learning to hear what you are  
listening to. Music cannot be something playing on a stereo in the  
background! Try to figure out some small part of what catches your  
interest every time you hear something you like.That includes every  
aspect...phrasing, time, articulation, note choice, sense of humor/ 
surprise, sound, space. ensemble interaction....everything!!! Learn  
to hear what is around you so that you can develop the ability to  
hear what's rolling around in your head.

4. As far as routine.... About 5 years ago, I began improvising  
almost my whole routine, given certain parameters [how this works for  
me is a bit too involved to describe here briefly]. For advice on  
that concept, I also recommend Sam Burtis' "The American Trombone".  
That's a great resource for this idea. Recently, I've been playing  
around with creating new slurs [using "alternate" positions, not just  
bugle calls in one position!], improvising little etudes [ala  
Bordogni] and more and more playing tunes I know [or SHOULD know!!]  
in multiple keys. Reading music and playing etudes and other written  
out pieces fits into my scheme, but in order to develop my ears, I  
like to occasionally work independently of a set routine. You must be  
allow yourself to be curious and even a bit bold with how you think  
of how you practice everything. I have found benefits from playing a  
set routine for periods of time, but if you are really interested in  
improvising, you need to assume the role of an improvisor...in all  
areas of your playing!!

5. A big part of the real practice of  [as opposed to "practicing"]  
improvisation needs to be improvising to some extent with other real  
humans. Play-alongs and Band-In-A-Box are fantastic resources, but  
the benefits derived from them is somewhat limited. Nothing beats  
doing something in real time with real humans!! Find people you like  
to play with [at your skill level or better whenever you can] and DO IT!

6. Developing your technique will help expand your abilities to  
express yourself...or it won't. Technical development is useful for  
how it allows you to play more challenging music and play for longer  
stretches of time [as well as improvising sound and execution].  
However, empty technique serves no real musical purpose. It has to  
mean something in order to be useful. Certain types of music require  
certain levels of technique, but it is too easy to hide behind scales  
and patterns without really making any music. [I know...I've done it!]

Improvisation, as I said is MANY things to many people--as well it  
should! Your routine itself can become what you improvise, not just a  
"part" of it.

Best wishes,

Alex Iles
---------------------------------------------
On Jan 2, 2008, at 12:48 PM, Oscar Utterström wrote:

>
> Here are some questions for you improvisers out there:
>
> - What material(s) do you use to develop your improvisation skills  
> (such as Crook, Bergonzi, Neumeister etc.)?
>
> - Do you incorporate improvisation as part of your daily routine?  
> If so, what do you work on? Standards, licks, progressions, free,  
> etc.?
>
> Happy New Year!
>
> Oscar Utterström
> Nashville, TN
>
>
>
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