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LESSON NOTES:
In this Jazz Hero 'Masterclass' I share my thoughts on improvisation.
I start by revealing what I would consider to be the keyword when approaching improvisation (or melody writing in general). That word is 'variety':
To create an interesting and engaging musical solo, aim to VARY as many different aspects of your playing as you can think of.
These aspects could include:
Dynamics - playing loudly, quietly, crescendos, diminuendos, and so on.
Range - vary the range that you play in - spread you playing out into the bass range, the mid range, and the high range.
Pedal - no pedal. Complicated - simple. Fast - slow. Moving by step - moving by leap, and so on.
Next I explain several techniques which you can use to embellish any melody.
Identify the resolution notes of the chord that you're playing - these will always be the root, the 3rd and the 5th (1 3 5) of whatever the chord is. Only these notes will sound resolved where they are. So if there's a C minor chord in the chord sheet, the notes that will sound resolved are C Eb G (1 3 5 of C minor). All other notes in the scale are tension notes - tension notes want to resolve by moving the nearest resolution note.
You can embellish any of these 3 resolution notes using a range of 'ornaments' (melodic decoration) borrowed from classical music:
1. The 'appoggiatura' - precede any resolution note with a dissonant tension note a step below or above the resolution note. Play the tension note on the down beat that the chord is played on, then immediately resolve that note to the resolution note on the next beat.
2. The 'turn' - play the resolution note - tension note above - repeat the resolution note - tension note below - end on resolution note. For example, over a C minor chord, you could decorate G with a turn - G Ab G F G.
3. The 'double appoggiature' - preceded any resolution note with a tension note below, then the tension note above, then the resolution note. So in C minor, you could apply a double appoggiatura to G, by playing F Ab G. Or you play the same shape upside down - Ab F G.
Practice using these types of embellishment over any chord. Play any chord, major minor or dominant - identify the 3 resolution notes (1 3 5) and practice embellishing those 3 notes with any of these ornaments.
Finally I take a look at one of my own solos, which I play over my own composition 'Blue Lotus'.
My solo starts with a 'musical quote' - which means to take someone else's well known melody, and to incorporate it into your solo. When playing a musical quote, just make sure you know where you want to go to next.
On one occassion, over a Bb dominant 7 chord (Bb D F Ab) I play Bb whole-tone scale, to create a dreamy / impressionist sound. You can always play the whole-tone scale over any dominant 7 chord - just reharmonize the chord so that you play a #5 (to fit with the new whole-tone harmony) - or just omit playing the 5th, and just play the root, 3rd and 7th of the chord.
Melodic embellishment features heavily throughout my solo (embellishment of 1 3 5), and towards the end, I double the melody in 6ths, again - to add VARIATION.
