There is something special about improvisation.

[emanresu]

Hey.

Here I am, trying to crack it. Been practicing for a while.
I know for a fact that doing certain things will produce good results.
But good is not enough. Wanting to play a solo that is a gem, "good" is only good.
Do you know what I mean?

I know that there is a way to make every damn solo special. But what is it?
It's a switch in the brain. But hidden. Triggered by adrenaline mostly. But that's savage.

Any ideas?

[pauln]

The way I think of it, you have to have some reserve when you play (talking about performance). You have to be better than you actually play.

Imagine that you show up for a performance with the flu, and gout, and you just lost your girlfriend and she ran over you dog as she left, etc. The level of performance under those circumstances needs to maintain a minimum level that will be judged as good solid playing. You need to be much better than that in order to do that.

You should even be better than the level up from that, where everything is OK with yourself, your gear, the band, etc., but there are still distractions, deflections, disruptions, disappointments... (lots of words that start with a D). You still have to keep some reserve, so you have to be even better than that.

There will be times when everything is perfect and you may feel free to go full out. Those times are a gift to be cherished.

It's not inside you, it's not guaranteed, it is a gift. You can prepare for it, but the actual circumstances are external and just happen. If you are lucky and recognize it then you may be thankful and ride it out like a dream where your ear, hands, instrument, band, and audience are all there with you. That's pretty much why we do this. That's when we actually play our best.

[pingu]

on improvisation

I know that i play my best stuff
when ….

i manage to get the sound/tunes/harmony in me in that moment ….

out onto the guitar accurately and from there into the room …. in that moment

I adore it when it happens
(its just a few notes and it’s quite rare)
the audience seems to get it too

all my learning and shedding is to
facilitate that happening more and more

ps sorry to be so pretentious

[Jimmy Smith]

The way I think of it, you have to have some reserve when you play (talking about performance). You have to be better than you actually play.

The exact same thing I've been thinking lately.

I want to have my fundamentals down as well as possible, and be able to play decent very comfortably. That way when I want to raise it up a level, it will sound legitimate and come more easily.

[ragman1]

Been practicing for a while.

Only a while? Might take a bit longer than that...

[AllanAllen]

Define “a while” I’ve been working seriously on this for 3 years. I can sometimes play passable solos.

It takes time and patience. There’s no easy way, there’s no unlocking anything. Joe Diorio used to say “if there was an easy way I would have found it by now”

Just keep hammering away at it. Learn your scales, your arpeggios, notes of the neck, learn heads and changes by ear AND by page, so when you play with other people you can read something you don’t know and keep going. Play with others and record what you play. The mic on your phone is good enough for this.

[lammie200]

Call and response. Your guitar has a dialogue going with itself. You are just listening to it and singing along even if silently.

[mr. beaumont]

Proper preparation prevents poor performance.

Or, magic equals hard work plus a little luck.

[princeplanet]

Proper preparation prevents poor performance.

Or, magic equals hard work plus a little luck.

And there you have it, the most succinct answer you could possibly get to your question. Now put your device away, go to your room, and practice.

[pamosmusic]

I know that there is a way to make every damn solo special.

I dispute the premise of the question.

I don’t think this is true. No matter how good you get, you’re not going to be happy with every solo. You’ll get better and better but you’ll also get more discerning and more able to find small faults with what you play.

I think musicians need to figure out how to enjoy what they do, separate from the result to a degree. Otherwise, I think you’ll probably end up walking away from every performance, disappointed that your solo wasn’t special. When I’m reality just being able to play is a pretty cool thing.

[ragman1]

There's no magic way to make those creative moments happen, they always happen by themselves. If you've practised hard that's about all you can do, then you might get lucky without even realising it.

It's a Zen thing :-)

[Christian Miller]

Improvisation schmimprovisation! Just play music.

[Jimmy blue note]

How much time do you spend with the instrument? Long enough to break through all the things you're studying and play by ear and design? Where is YOUR zone and how do you get to it? THIS is what you practice: The delicate balance of elements that allow you to get there. Even professionals don't hit it every night but if you don't practice this, your chances of hitting it on a gig are up to luck...and a whole lot of obstacles.
That's the way it is for me anyway.

[pamosmusic]

I think the Time With the Instrument paradigm here is a false one. Obviously you can prepare yourself better to be loose and open in a certain situation, but still.

IF there is a way to make yourself more satisfied with your playing, I’d wager it’s got a lot less to do with your own playing and more to do with how engaged you are with the people around you.

Eighteen-year-old me would be over the moon about the way I sound now. Thirty-two-year old me is a better musician, but also has much much higher standards. When I practice, I don’t think I feel better about my playing more often than I did when I was eighteen. And to the extent I do, it’s probably more about just not putting so much pressure on myself.

In the real world, I feel good about my playing when I come away having listened to everyone else and been open to what was happen. If I find myself coming away from something with strong feelings about my own playing, I probably wasn’t terribly engaged with everyone else. Or alternatively: if I’m not engaged with everyone else, I’m not sure I could ever play well enough to feel “magic.”

[Christian Miller]

Sometimes I sound better to me when I don’t practice

in practice however… I have no idea how I sound at the time. It’s always a leap of faith.

often true improv can feel uncomfortable or bad at the time.

sometimes I listen to something months or years later and it sounds ok

But subjective feelings matter. If I am confident about a gig, that has knock on effects

[kris]

Sometimes I sound better to me when I don’t practice

in practice however… I have no idea how I sound at the time. It’s always a leap of faith.

often true improv can feel uncomfortable or bad at the time.

sometimes I listen to something months or years later and it sounds ok

But subjective feelings matter. If I am confident about a gig, that has knock on effects

+1
This is JAZZ!!!

[emanresu]

The way I think of it, you have to have some reserve when you play (talking about performance). You have to be better than you actually play.

Absolutely agreed.

Only a while? Might take a bit longer than that...

Enough to think its ok or fine. But not good enough. Good enough would be the gem-type of playing - doesn't mean virtuoso or follow all the proper chord notes.

I agree, it can take longer. But I suspect there is something sinister going on... will explain what I mean below.

Call and response. Your guitar has a dialogue going with itself. You are just listening to it and singing along even if silently.

Hm. This is one of the "technical" aspect of inventing notes on the fly. There are many more like that. Like variation, sequences, elaboration, rhythm tricks. All good, all usable. Still, kinda technical.

Proper preparation prevents poor performance.

Or, magic equals hard work plus a little luck.

Agree with the first. The second thought though... I know you can make anything sound and feel good when you got your groovy timing going and in touch with the tone. I mean you, Beaumont
But what I'm after is not magic but a mundane way to always play stuff that makes sense instantly. Again, hard to explain but I'll try to do that later on.

I think musicians need to figure out how to enjoy what they do, separate from the result to a degree.

This is the closest to what bugs me here. It's kinda upside-down problem - should enjoy whatever we come up with but nope! And see, those gem-notes of the solo would instantly trigger the enjoyment
I want to enjoy the first silly notes but it's not happening most of the time. It occasionally happens, then it doesn't feel "magic", just easy, nice and natural. I want it to happen all the time... sadly, most of the time - nope.

There's no magic way to make those creative moments happen, they always happen by themselves. If you've practised hard that's about all you can do, then you might get lucky without even realising it.

It's a Zen thing :-)

Yeah, that's what I'm after. Not magic but a mundane every day thing - start with making sense with the notes, continue to get them even better.
Why should luck be a thing at all? Don't you wish your notes would be worth writing down or record always?

A few times when practicing soloing on some tune - it was not bad but not great either. Then thought that should make a break or go to the store, those last few minutes
the notes woke up by themselves and started making way more sense. When focusing back on the playing trying to keep it going, it was gone again. There was no magic, there was something strange happening
in the brain. There is something psychological happening. Not luck at all.

How much time do you spend with the instrument? Long enough to break through all the things you're studying and play by ear and design?

A lot and I do play by ear. Sometimes the desired thing happens and it doesn't feel magic or luck. It feels like it should always be like that, not just a glimpse of "what could be".

I think the Time With the Instrument paradigm here is a false one....

IF there is a way to make yourself more satisfied with your playing, I’d wager it’s got a lot less to do with your own playing and more to do with how engaged you are with the people around you.

........ if I’m not engaged with everyone else, I’m not sure I could ever play well enough to feel “magic.”

The time with the instrument is not a good measure, yep.
I play alone, nothing wrong with that
Yeah, the magic.

Sometimes I sound better to me when I don’t practice

in practice however… I have no idea how I sound at the time. It’s always a leap of faith.

When not practicing for a while, the freshness is back of course. But thats kinda.. it doesn't work well.
Leap of faith is again like hoping for the "magic" to happen.. That's the sinister part of the improvisation - I wanna condemn it and come up with something that works always!

Ugh. I hope my response doesn't seem completely whacky.

[henryrobinett]

For me, I never sound better or comfortable when I don’t practice. Some of it has to do with confidence. If I spent a week or two without talking, even to myself, or interacting with other people I might feel and sound a little awkward or nervous. For me it’s about knowing the tools and the song. Once I know how to navigate through the changes harmonically and rhythmically, without THINKING, improvisation just happens. There’s never any thought about whether it’s good or not. I’ll know if I’m disconnected because I start thinking or worrying. That’s when I make mistakes or play too much or stop listening to the music. But when things are working I’m just listening and reacting. Not thinking. That’s when it seems like it’s magic.


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[ragman1]

I suspect there is something sinister going on...

That would be you wanting to capture the un-capturable :-)

[Sam Sherry]

I think musicians need to figure out how to enjoy what they do, separate from the result to a degree. Otherwise, I think you’ll probably end up walking away from every performance, disappointed that your solo wasn’t special. When I’m reality just being able to play is a pretty cool thing.

Here you go:
All those people listening to you have heard all your favorite music.
They know Miles & Trane, Chick & Herbie, Hen & Brecker, Holland & McBride and all your favorite guitarists.
They know you're not any of those guys.
But they still stuck around to hear you.

Just honor that, every time, and you'll be OK.

[mr. beaumont]

Agree with the first. The second thought though... I know you can make anything sound and feel good when you got your groovy timing going and in touch with the tone. I mean you, Beaumont
But what I'm after is not magic but a mundane way to always play stuff that makes sense instantly. Again, hard to explain but I'll try to do that later on.

Well, that is the thing...you gotta have an angle, an "in" to the music. And then you gotta work the hell out of that.

My things have always been to have good time, produce a good sound, and l always lean heavily on the blues. So that's my "in." That the stuff I work on CONSTANTLY.

[emanresu]

Improvisation schmimprovisation! Just play music.

I thought about it again.. This "just play" gets suggested a lot and probably with a good reason.
Last time when I felt good about the soloing, it was after chatting with a person who is constantly
worried and tense though they had a positive attitude.. kinda. Not fake but tense.. positive attitude.
So, when tried to play, for some reason, I remembered that chat and it seemed I always tend to do that when
playing a solo. And it went away (the tension) for a while and playing a solo felt really good.

Another time when I really felt good about playing was when I admitted one major fuckup when performing.
Being honest about it, not inventing excuses or promises. I got tired of that, thought to myself "I fucked up, that's that" and
suddenly it was awesome to just play.

I guess it makes sense - when worried and tense, you can't even have a proper nice chat with another person
on any unrelated topic. Seems it goes with playing too.
The other time - the honesty, when injecting unsuitable drama into notes that doesn't really work that way, it does kill it them a bit.
That's the dishonest part - improper drama or something.

Eh.

[ModesSchmodes]

Improvisation schmimprovisation! Just play music.

Damn it, there goes my new username...

[emanresu]

A brilliant video, happens once in a year.

Can we carry the point here? Beautiful notes, perfect everything... but bah.

[emanresu]

It is strange. I get what the narrator is talking about. But the same time, it is far more smarter than described.