Jamey Aebersold states in one of his
books (of his play-a-long CDs series) that good improvisation is
governed for 50% by the
Mind + for 50% by Intuition
I wholeheartedly agree with that assessment. Aspects of the mind
include of course - an intimate knowledge of chords,
scales, chord progressions and chord / scale
relationships.
- It includes an good understanding of
musical phrases (as dealt with in this course).
- But it also
includes exercising discipline.
There is nothing wrong with going all out and all over the place
once you get on top of the other mind aspects of improvisation.
In fact it is a good idea to experiment as much as you can. But
ultimately your best solos will be those where you apply a strict
discipline to your creativity. When you get onto an
idea, try to develop it and "milk it" to get as much mileage out
of it as you can. This way a solo can become a expression of
great beauty and musical intelligence and comes across to the
audience as truly "meaningful". |