the attention.

[emanresu]

When you swim through life, this never comes up.
But we improvise, reflecting back and forth
inside our own fragile minds.
My ideal way to improvise is with myself. The notes I play become the notes I build on next.
That creates the perfect loop.
When I play some notes, they shape the next ones—this is the loop.
Or loops.

---

The question is: is it really about focus and adrenaline, the “conversation” between bandmates, or the presence of the audience?

Adrenaline is exciting, and the conversation with the band matters,
but music—like cooking and eating—should be a delight in itself.
I don’t know. These are just my downtime thoughts.

[emanresu]

Oh well, another one with no one understanding what the heck I am talking about I guess.

This is simple actually. The best situation for a good solo to happen for me is when the notes
start kind a feedback loop, feeding some energy forward.. and those forward notes are respecting
the previous ones completely. And this goes on and on until something breaks. Focus drops, or
some unnatural forceful idea gets through. Unnatural to what was just going on with the notes played so far.

Just trying to hack open a method to get a good thing going with a solo always. Or at least
make it happen a bit more often. Wanna find the reasons what holds it back and what would make it work.
Nothing philosophical.

[teeps]

... Nothing philosophical.

[emanresu]

Hah!
It is more like biomedical issue. Or electrical. Or brain-nutrientical.
I mean, I have to be completely free of worry and well rested for this good thing to get going at all.

[DestinyT]

I completely agree that good improvisation is reactive and self-influenced, with each note shaping the next and solos breaking when the flow is interrupted, and reflecting on this made me think about my own approach.

When improvising, whatever I play influences what comes next.

For me, the process begins with inner hearing, but it takes efficient technique for the phrases to flow. Sometimes my lines flow naturally, but at other times they sound 'rinky-dink'.

I think this comes down to the mechanics behind aesthetic choices. Sticking too rigidly to one approach can make lines feel awkward or unnatural, whereas using both three-finger blues lines and four-finger linear bop lines judiciously can make them coherent and expressive, rather than just technically correct.

I find it necessary to take slow, conscious steps in order to observe and adjust, but I believe that allows the process to become intuitive.

'Negative capability' comes to mind.
Negative capability - Wikipedia

[pamosmusic]

That one is easy. Playing with other people for sure

[DestinyT]

Yes, playing with other people is definitely where the fun is; it’s the interaction and the relationships we navigate. When those relationships are right, it’s possible to reflect productively on what we’re doing. I was reminded of this when I re-watched a lesson I had with Pasquale Grasso and realised it was ten years ago. At the time, I wasn’t ready to act on his advice, but those years haven’t been wasted. They’ve given me perspective on choice, phrasing, flow, and coherence, helping me understand what works and what I can do to make interactions more rewarding.

[emanresu]

Ok. That does touch the OP exactly. "playing with others" - most fun. Fine and understandable.
But my most fun has been when I achieve that loop, the attention doesn't "start" from my usual self anymore but..
Hm. See, attention is strange, you cannot not have it, you cannot use more than one.. Or they'd send you in a nice clean building.
But it turns out that attention seems to have the beginning and the ending point.
When the loop happens, it feels like my attention starts from where the memory of the effects of the past notes have been dumped, ends in "predicting and acting for what's coming".
I want that, almost always.
When there is any other place where that attention would "start" - like others, or some listener, or analytical attitude - it won't happen. My solo fun can't be 100%.

Btw. I am not drunk. The topic itself is nuts