9/12/23 Is There A Secret to Improv?
In my last blog post, I shared my two cents worth of music biz advice:
1) pay attention--keep your ears and eyes open
2) be agile—be ready to shift course
I wrote about using these 2 ideas to help with the business side of a music career. This time it’s about the playing side.
Paying attention musically means listening to those around you.
If you’re jamming, listen up. See where you fit best. Maybe it’s not exactly where you thought. Maybe it’s not taking solos. Maybe it’s in the rhythm section, backing up someone else. Or playing harmony. Or maybe doing nothing for a while.
Every conversation needs someone who is a good listener and not just talking over people.
And being agile? What does that mean exactly, and why is agility more important than creativity or knowing your scales and modes? What about transcribing solos?
Well, of course, you also need to develop a deep understanding of the genre you’re working in, effortless mastery of your instrument and 10,000 hours of experience, haha.
But if you don’t happen to have all of those yet, agility is the single most important skill you can acquire. And here’s why:
My favorite metaphor for improv agility is to imagine you’re jogging down a path in the woods with lots of obstacles. You’re dancing over roots, your foot is constantly slipping off a slippery spot or nearly twisting your ankle from a loose stone. But you don’t slip and fall every time that happens. You catch yourself. You shift your balance. You scan ahead and adjust your footing and your balance.
You don’t have to have memorized the map of the path. You don’t have to rethink how to jog. You just have to be aware and ready to adjust. You have to be light on your feet.
If you’re improvising and you play something you don’t like, change it. Quickly. You’re never more than a ½ step away from the right note.
Be ready to recover all the time. Don’t be afraid of taking chances, just trust that you can recover if you slip. We all slip but we rarely fall. That’s our agility getting us through
Stay light on your feet and ready to pivot, confident that you know how to walk or jog, and then you can focus on the musical path in front of you.
Groove on,
--Tracy