Trumpet Jazz Improvisation Help?

Question

I am a member of a jazz band and I would like any tips relevent to improv solos, I have quite literally 0 skill in improvisation, though I'm a fairly good trumpet player. Any tips?

Answer 1

Great question. You're nowhere near along in asking this question.

There are lots of things you can do to help you out. Here's a list, not necessarily in any order.


1. First, learn all your chords. You don't need to know them all to be able to improvise, so don't let it stop you from ting, but not knowing them is your biggest crutch. Most importantly, know the operative notes of each chord - scale degrees 1, 3, 5, and 7. If you don't know what chord symbols mean, ask a teacher, look it up on the internet (although sometimes it can be confusing on the net), or borrow/buy a beginner's book about chords. Start simple.

2. Play with time. Nothing makes it sound more like you don't know what you're doing than playing out of time. You can construct a good solo by restricting yourself only to the first three notes of each chord, or even by restricting yourself to just playing out of the I chord (the main chord, the key the song is in). Use a mixture of long notes and short notes, just make sure they fall on the beat (either on the downbeat or the upbeat). A good way to practice this is to tap your foot loudly and make sure you are perfectly with it, and then stop tapping your foot and make sure what you are playing still "feels" the time. Somebody else should be able to jump right in and start clapping or tapping their foot to your improvisation, the beat should be obvious!

3. Play ideas. Sometimes beginning soloists just stop playing and say "I ran out of ideas." That's impossible. It's like running out of words in English (or any other language that is your native language). So play things that make sense. Sing a little melody to yourself and then play it. The easiest way to play ideas is to do call and response/question and answer. Play a line that maybe goes up (the call/question), rest, then play a line that starts the same but goes down at the end (the response/answer).

4. Listen to jazz music. You'll never be able to have jazz vocabulary in your playing unless you listen to those that speak the language. There are tons of great jazz trumpet soloists, you don't have to be able to play like them, but you can understand the feel of a jazz solo from them. Try Lee Morgan, Nat Adderley, Freddie Hubbard, Clifford Brown, Miles Davis, etc. There are tons of them out there, and I just listed trumpet players for you, there's tons on other instruments, too.

5. Play with confidence. You can be playing a great solo but if you aren't playing with conviction, to your audience, it sounds like a poor solo. Even wrong notes out of time sounds okay if played with conviction and a good sound. Have fun with it, jazz is supposed to be fun.

Obviously, those overlap... but that's what makes it fun. So get your horn out and start working, you'll be glad you did. Improvisation is one of the most rewarding musical experiences.

Answer 2

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Answer 3

I was like that in high school, too. Then I made All-County jazz band, and the conductor took me during one of the breaks, sat down to the piano, and gave me a chord to play to. That man was the lead sazophone player for Liza Mannelli's jazz band!

Here is what I can give you:
1. Learn all of your chords. Know what notes are in them.
2. Practice! Just jam, and soon all will fall together.
3. Take songs you know well, for example, "Jingle Bells", and add a jazzy style to it. You will get the hang of it soon enough

Good luck!

Answer 4

Develop your ears. One suggestion I recall Jamey Aebersold sharing was learning any deeply familiar melody in all twelve keys to develop the link between your ears and your hands. As an improviser, your ears are the link between you and the rest of the ensemble since you aren't reading. While reading and practicing scales should be done to develop your skills, these don't do very much for you if your ears cannot guide your hands.

Answer 5

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