Improvisation

Down Up Dick

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Some time ago I bought a book called "A Guide to Non-Jazz Improvization" (for flute), and began doin' the exercises and scales and tunes. I also had some other improvisational stuff which I added to the book in a loose leaf binder. Anyway, the lessons and tunes were interesting and fun to play (and sing) so I enjoyed doin' them.

Well, here I should say that I whistle a lot (all the darned time, others say), and suddenly I noticed that I was improvising my whistle music a lot. I also noticed it on my flutes too, and playing them by ear also improved and became easier to "just do!"

Improvisation is big on banjo music too, so I'm also working on it with them.

And what has all this to do with ukuleles? I'm just wondering if any of you finger pickers (especially Jazz players, I guess) or even singers are working on it too. Do you add stuff to tunes that you play or sing? Do you make a tune "yours"? I find all this stuff very interesting

I've been lookin' at "Just A Closer Walk With Thee" (the Dixie funeral march), and I love to whistle it. I usta try to play it on my cornet. It's the one that's very serious and sad on the way to the graveyard and joyous and exultant (with lots of great Improvization) on the way back.

I just wondered if anyone else was interested or working on it and would enjoy a thread about it. :eek:ld:
 
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I have been working on improvisation a bit, but for me it has just been a lot of experimentation. I've learned a lot of arpeggios and blues scales, pentatonic scales, I've read a lot, but I have a hard time putting the knowledge together and make it actually work. I would like to figure it out though.
 
I have been working on improvisation a bit, but for me it has just been a lot of experimentation. I've learned a lot of arpeggios and blues scales, pentatonic scales, I've read a lot, but I have a hard time putting the knowledge together and make it actually work. I would like to figure it out though.

If you know the arpeggios and scales well, then, I think you need to "feel" where the improvised notes go. You do that by seeing that you have a G and then a D, and you know that A and B and C fit between them. So you could just add one or two of 'em and see how it sounds. Of course, you have to watch the timing too. When you're just sitting around noodling, just try adding a "blue note" or a little run. If nobody can hear you, then you didn't make a mistake!

All this is where the mouth harp or whistling comes in handy too. I'll bet you'll surprise yourself like I did. :eek:ld:
 
A while back, I usta play everything with music, and I seldom strayed from it. I still play most of my brass music that way, but for some reason, maybe it's the number of keys on flutes vs only three valves or a slide, I enjoy playing my flutes and mouth harps by ear/memory.

I think it was Miles Davis who said that one should learn the scales, exercises, etc. and then just play. I like that idea. :eek:ld:
 
If you know the arpeggios and scales well, then, I think you need to "feel" where the improvised notes go. You do that by seeing that you have a G and then a D, and you know that A and B and C fit between them. So you could just add one or two of 'em and see how it sounds. Of course, you have to watch the timing too. When you're just sitting around noodling, just try adding a "blue note" or a little run. If nobody can hear you, then you didn't make a mistake!

All this is where the mouth harp or whistling comes in handy too. I'll bet you'll surprise yourself like I did. :eek:ld:
I'll keep working on it. I'm sure it will come eventually. You know that I'm not afraid of making mistakes, even if there are people around to hear them.:)
 
Randy Travis has the all-time best version of "Just a closer walk with thee". IMHO
 
I'll keep working on it. I'm sure it will come eventually. You know that I'm not afraid of making mistakes, even if there are people around to hear them.:)

Then . . . "Just Do It!" (with apologies to Nike). That's one of my favorite sayings, but it can get one in a lot of trouble. :eek:ld:
 
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I have been playing Keys for a while now. Weeks at least, and improvising on the I, IV, V, Vi Vii and maybe a few loosely related chords. I pick up different rhythms and patterns to my strumming and call them Songs. I started this to practice chord changes in a Key to get used to the changes and pick up speed. One off shoot of this is that I have developed a lot more dexterity in my strumming hand. Now I can vary the kind of sound I need by up or down or partially strumming just two or three strings.

It really is a fun way to practice. I am beginning to internalize the sound to the chord form and can now play without looking at my left hand I just think about the next sound I want to play, not the name of the chord. I guess that is playing by ear?
 
Do you add stuff to tunes that you play or sing? Do you make a tune "yours"?

I'll be reading this thread with interest.
I can't say that I improvise, but would like to.

I do add stuff to, take stuff out, or otherwise alter songs, but that's mostly to accomodate fingers that have been smashed over the years, have self-diagnosed arthritis, and so on. I sometimes have to change up a piece in order to play it, (I fingerpick.) I also change up songs so that I can play it on either high g or low g.

But, that's different than improvising, which is something I'd love to be able to do some day.
 
Joyful Uke (I like your UU name) if you can play a tune or sing it and add a few notes that fit pretty good, you're improvising. Maybe on a basic level, but, if you continue working on "feeling" your music, perhaps it'll turn into something that you wanna play.

That's mostly what I'm doin'. :eek:ld:
 
Hey Dick,
my partner and I like to play improvised original pieces.
neither of us are trained musicians,
we just turn the camera on and see what happens.
it's a liberating and free way to play sometimes and always surprising.
the best thing about "mistakes" is incorporating them into the song!
i think the key is to not overthink anything, let your ears and your heart, your instinct, take the lead
and just let go of control, the conventional definitions of right and wrong.
if it sounds good it is good!
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLwSBAImDtlKpGjlYvD5hMYkYESwooq1C_
 
Hey Dick,
my partner and I like to play improvised original pieces.
neither of us are trained musicians,
we just turn the camera on and see what happens.
it's a liberating and free way to play sometimes and always surprising.
the best thing about "mistakes" is incorporating them into the song!
i think the key is to not overthink anything, let your ears and your heart, your instinct, take the lead
and just let go of control, the conventional definitions of right and wrong.
if it sounds good it is good!
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLwSBAImDtlKpGjlYvD5hMYkYESwooq1C_
What he said . Just noodle in the same scale..or a pentatonic version of that scale and remember, the best blues improvs use 4 or fewer notes and the secret is repetition between notes ....this can be applied to most music ...except Stockhausen ... I think I stepped in some of that this morning !!
 
I'm a jazz bassist new to the uke. Generally people improvise by ear or by theory or, more usually, through some combination of both. You need to listen to a LOT of the music and other improvisers that inspire you. This is a lifelong learning task. You also need to have a healthy dose of theory that you can draw on in an instant. Keys, chords, harmony, scales, modes, etc. You also need a lot of stuff under your fingertips including those chords and scales but also riffs and other patterns. For some styles all of this is more straightforward while for others it can be more complex.
 
I'm a jazz bassist new to the uke. Generally people improvise by ear or by theory or, more usually, through some combination of both. You need to listen to a LOT of the music and other improvisers that inspire you. This is a lifelong learning task. You also need to have a healthy dose of theory that you can draw on in an instant. Keys, chords, harmony, scales, modes, etc. You also need a lot of stuff under your fingertips including those chords and scales but also riffs and other patterns. For some styles all of this is more straightforward while for others it can be more complex.

Well, all of the above sounds correct and useful, but I just wanna have a good time making my music mine. Mostly I play all kinds of folk music. Some who read your post will probably be inspired to delve deeper into jazz improvisation with all those mind blowing chords.

Thanks for your input, maybe it will inspire someone to begin a study of jazz. :eek:ld:
 
What he said . Just noodle in the same scale..or a pentatonic version of that scale and remember, the best blues improvs use 4 or fewer notes and the secret is repetition between notes ....this can be applied to most music ...except Stockhausen ... I think I stepped in some of that this morning !!

Hey, CeeJay, how's it goin'? Long time no hear-from ya. I'm glad you're back. :eek:ld:
 
Do you add stuff to tunes that you play or sing? Do you make a tune "yours"? I find all this stuff very interesting

Interesting topic Mr D.
I can not bring myself to doing a song exactly as the original artist did it. A different more "ukey" feel, or a riff that comes out of the melody, or something - anything that makes it your version. And when I hear a technically brilliant but slavish cover I just turn off - I'd rather hear the original.
Ray Charles was a master of the art of interpretation.
 
Yes!! Listen to what he did with "Oh What a Beautiful Morning" - a lovely, but somewhat square song from Oklahoma (sung by Gordon MacRae in the movie -the cleanest cowboy I've ever seen) Talk about a soul transplant!!
 
I improvised a song not long ago. The first time I've ever done it and on listening more to the original since, i'm inclined to think that Billie Holiday did it too and its probably why i ended up doing it.

Here's her version of Strange Fruit and then my version.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h4ZyuULy9zs

http://www.singsnap.com/karaoke/r/b76c80b77

I have to do quite a bit of work with my song learning before I get to the point of worrying about making them my own, that is the ones I will be taking busking with me. Its all a bit new to me. But with this one, there wasn't really a strong melody so I felt i could just make it up. The power of this song is definitely in the words.
 
Some food for thought: "There are no wrong notes; some are just more right than others.”
—Thelonius Monk
“It’s not the note you play that’s the wrong note – it’s the note you play afterwards that makes it right or wrong.”
—Miles Davis
 
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