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Improvising Basslines
Jazz Improv: How to Play It and Teach It
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How To Improvise
Part 3
This is one is a series of free music theory lessons. To subscribe, please click here. (NOTE: In the left column, you will see various related music education resources that I think are helpful. . Please feel free to explore these links, but be sure to come back and finish your music lesson!)
In a previous lessons, we established a basic chord progression used by Jazz musicans for improvisation. I refer to this progression as Down a Fifth. Others refer to it as the Major Cycle. If you haven't gone through the previous lesson yet, please do. You can find the first lesson improvisation here and the second improvisation lesson here.
Here, again, is the down a fifth progression we are focusing on the key of C (note: the treble clef is deliberately left blank here.):
NOTE: You can get excellent practice by working with MIDI files. Even if you don't have a MIDI instrument, you can record your playing on an acoustical instrument and syncronize the recording exactly with a MIDI file. Excellent software that does this is available for only $50 (plus shipping). This is great for practicing and evaluating your own playing or for work on creating your own album. Click here to request more information.
This lesson is primarily designed for keyboard players. But if you are a guitarist you can still benefit. Try working with a friend who plays the chords while you improvise the melody. Or play along with the midi file provided in the previous lessons. If you play a melody instrument like the violin, flute, sax, etc., you can do the same; that is, focus on improvising the melody following the guidelines in this lesson. If you are a beginning guitar player, you may want to play simple chords rather than 7th chords. The progression will will work with simple triads (3 note chords). For example, instead of plaing Fmaj7, just play an F chord. NOTE: all players can benefit from the special foot tapping practice described in Exercise #3.
The strategy I am recommending in building your improvisation skills is to first learn a chord progression. Then (assuming 4/4 time) practice improving with half-notes, then quarter notes, then eight notes. In this lesson I discuss some ideas about improving with 8th notes and offer an example of what you might do. .
Exercise: Eighth Notes. In the first exercise we added a melody using half notes. In the second, we added quarter notes. Now, your assignment is to improvise a melody using eighth notes. Make this exercise go for at least 16 meaures.
There are two purposes of this exercise. One purpose is to develop skill in creating interesting melodies that fit with the down a fifth progressions. Another purpose (mainly for keyboard players) is to develop rhythmic independence in your two hands. This practice method does work and you will be amazed at how much you will improve if you stick with this series of exercises. In these exercises, you are learning to hold a chord for 4 beats with your left hand as you play notes of a different durations with the right hand. As we progress in these series of exercises you will have an opportunity to practice various rhythmic patterns, which will become progressively more difficult. The key, here is "progressively more difficult exercises" First half-notes in the melody, then quarter-notes, and now 8th notes. Later, we will also added various rhythms in the left hand and vary the melodic rhythms.
It helps when first learning to improvise to have some structure. With that in mind, I suggest you follow these guidelines in doing your improvisation. (Keep in mind that this structure is just one approach and is just an idea to get you started. Experiment with different approaches after you master this one.)
| 1. Improvise the first measure using mainly chord tones. But use mainly scalewise movement for the second measure. Keep alternating in this way. Use mainly chord tones for the third measure and scalewise movement for the fourth and so on. | |
| 2. Favor a note that belongs to the chord as the first note in each measure. Especially good is the 7th or the 3rd of the chord. If you don't use a chord tone as the first note, immediately move to a chord tone on the second note of the measure | |
| 3.Use a half-note as the first note in measure eight. Land on a chord tone of the I7 chord. Put an 8th rest after this half note. Then take off again with 3 eighth notes that note along the scale. | |
| 4. In measure 9, continue the pattern you established in the beginning. That is, use all 8th notes and mainly chord tones of the IV7 chord. But don't repeat measure 1 exactly. In measure 10, use scalewise motion like you did in measure 2, but use a different series of scale steps if possible. | |
| Follow the guidelines discusseed in previous lessons. For example: Practice improvising in different ways. Sometimes, play very slowly and try to hear some tones in your mind before you play them. Then seek out those notes. Ear training and sight singing with syllables or numbers can help you hear tones in your mind. Consider working with an ear training program to tune your ears. |
Here is a example of what you might do carrying out exercise #1. Remember this is just an example and your efforts may be quite different. Keep in mind this is an exercise designed to develop your skills, not a finished piece of music. I put in the chord symbols for the first 8 measures. Notice that measure numbers appear below the measures this time.
Suggestion: try playing the above example, but changing it a bit. For example, play the chord tones in a different order. Start the scalewise motion on a different tone. Try taking the scale up instead of down. Throw in one or more different nonchord tones in a measure that is mainly made up of chord tones.
Here's a brief discussion of this example. I've included some questions (in boldface type) to help you check your understanding. Try to answer the questions yourself, first. You can check your answers, later on this page below the dashed line.
Measure 1.Notice how I used all chord tones except for one note. Can you identify it? What kind of nonchord tone is it?
Measure 2: All scale tones. Notice that I double the leading tone (ti).
It is generally not a good idea to double the leading tone or 7th degree
of the scale. This would be bad if I were writing four part harmony for
a music theory class. But since this doubling only happens for 8th note
and I am moving with scale steps, I think it is just fine.
Measure 3: All chord tones.
Measure 4: Leap from previous measure is countered by all scalewise motion upward.
Measure 5: All chord tones, except for one passing tone. Can you identify it? Check your answer below.
Measure 6 All scalewise motion.
Measure 7. Usually, the scalewise motion in measure 6 would lead up to the tonic (do), first degree of the scale. However, in this style, I like to avoid the tonic in the melody because it clashes a lot with the I7 chord. If you want to end on the tonic, I suggest you use a I chord with added an 6th and or 9th.
Measure 14. Is the first note of this measure a chord tone? What can you say about the way it is handled?
- - - - - - - - - - - - -
Answers
Measure 1 -- The note d" (re) in not a member of the IV7 chord. It is a passing tone because it moves by step between the 7th (mi) and fifth (do) of the IV7 chord.
Measure 5 -- The e" (mi) is not a member of the II7 chord. As I mentioned, it is a passing tone.
Measure 14 -- The e" (mi) is not a chord tone, but an accented passing tone since it happens on the accented part of the beat. Notice how it is preceded by a chord tone and followed by a chord tone.
Exercise 3. Tap your feet in this way. On beats 1 and 3 tap your left foot. On beats 2 and 4 tap your right foot. If you haven't done this before it may be difficult and frustrating. But keep at it! After a while you'll get it. This kind of practice is invaluable because it will give you a better sense of the where you are in the measure. Your right foot will always be tapping on the weak beats; your left foot will either mark the beginning of a measure or beat 3 of the measure. Tapping in this way with both feet will help you give your improvisation a symetrical feel. It will also help you keep your place in the music and make sure you hold each chord for the proper number of beats. NOTE: when you practice in this way, it s probably best to do so without using the pedals, although you may want to experiment with tapping the soft pedal with your left foot and the damper pedal with your right foot.
By the way, teachers of classical music often don't approve of foot tapping -- some say, "you must feel the beat inside -- you must never tap your foot -- it looks unprofessional and undignified.". To each his own. I suggest you practice in different ways --sometimes no tapping, sometimes tap with one foot, sometimes tap with both feet as described. Be flexible. If you are studying classical music and your teacher frowns on foot tapping, don't do it when he or she is around!
Exercise 4. Memorize one of your eighth note improvisations and write it down. Transpose it into as many different keys as possible. Transposition can be frustrating at first. But don't neglect it; this step it is vital. If you think of the scale step position of each note you play rather than just its letter name you'll be able to transpose more easily. For example, the melody in the example above is: mi fa la do' me' re' do' la (Note the single quote here shows that the tone is in the upper octave.) Try using numbers as well as syllables. For example, the melody in the first measure in numbers would be: 3 4 6 1' 3' 2' 1' 6.
This finishes this lesson. If you finish this lesson to your satisfaction, I suggest you try improvising with 16th notes and see what kind of challenges your run into. If you find this too difficult, try dropping back to half-note or quarter-note melodies.
Next time we will take a break from this series and discuss altered dominant chords. Please drop me a line by clicking here. Are you enjoying these lessons? Do you want me to continue presenting them? Do you have a question about music theory?
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Sheet Music. If you are looking for sheet music, songbooks or guitar tabs? Try Sheet Music Plus. They have over a quarter million titles to choose from, and you can order online.
Upward and onward. When you are ready, please continue with Part 4 of Improvising Music