GovernorSilver Posted January 10, 2011 Share Posted January 10, 2011 The teacher that taught me a lot about improvizational phasing made me sing what is was I wanted to play before I played it. Besides phrasing the exercise helps internalize pitch. I've found this approach beneficial as well, though I am still a way off from simultaneously singing the idea and playing it a la George Benson (someone like that has almost zero latency between thinking of the idea and singing/playing it), and most certainly not on keyboards (I've done it most on guitar, followed by bowed instruments). I need to transcribe my "sung" ideas on paper, or else I lose them quickly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
humannoyed Posted January 12, 2011 Share Posted January 12, 2011 I will take the opposite stance here. I think practicing patterns is good, in fact if you practice a scale, or arpeggio for more than one octave you are practicing a pattern. Without patterns in music - rhythmic, melodic, dynamic, and song form - then all is chaos. Personally I love practicing simple and challenging melodic and harmonic patterns, especially in my left hand, although I do believe just reading notated patterns while your mind is elsewhere can be boring and not very helpful. Therefore once a pattern is learned then it is best practiced without reading it so it involves your intellect. If I am practicing some sick Slonimsky-like non-diatonic pattern that moves through the keys, I will sometimes say out loud the intervals like whole half to not lose the pattern as I am first learning it. Regardless if I ever use that pattern in a solo, it helps my playing immensely because of the concentration involved to play it as compared to letting my mind and hands stay in their comfort zone. I really long for a Janko keyboard controller sometimes. Then these crazy patterns that are nearly impossible on our tradtional keyboard could be easily improvised and interwoven into solos. Will someone please make us a Janko controller? There are not much worse examples of too much repetition of riffs and patterns than in modern robotic dance music, but that is generated by machines. There are however, examples of overuse of repeated riff patterns in improvised solos on recordings. A good example is Groove Holmes solo on Indiana from On Basies Bandstand, mentioned not long ago on this forum. The breakneck tempo is no excuse for the number of times during that solo that he cops a riff and repeats it ad nauseam . Once or just maybe twice in a solo is okay, but that is a definite case of repeated riff abuse in a solo - great playing otherwise... Sometimes music performed by humans and not machines is intentionally repetitive. No, not 70's disco... I mean like Reichs Six Marimbas which I really like... a very interesting way of using pattern as a composition technique. "It is a danger to create something and risk rejection. It is a greater danger to create nothing and allow mediocrity to rule." "You owe it to us all to get on with what you're good at." W.H. Auden Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adan Posted January 12, 2011 Share Posted January 12, 2011 A good example is Groove Holmes solo on Indiana from On Basies Bandstand, mentioned not long ago on this forum. The breakneck tempo is no excuse for the number of times during that solo that he cops a riff and repeats it ad nauseam Couldn't find that on youtube for a quick reference, but take Groovin for Mr. G, which a rather well known rare groove. Pretty repetitive riffing using mostly pentatonic figures. Clearly, it was not his goal to be melodic, much less get outside. From the standpoint of improvisational creativity, you could say that's bad. But it's still a great cut! It's just not what most appreciators of jazz would call jazz. Gigging: Crumar Mojo 61, Hammond SKPro Home: Vintage Vibe 64 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kanker. Posted January 12, 2011 Share Posted January 12, 2011 I There are however, examples of overuse of repeated riff patterns in improvised solos on recordings. A good example is Groove Holmes solo on Indiana from On Basies Bandstand, mentioned not long ago on this forum. The breakneck tempo is no excuse for the number of times during that solo that he cops a riff and repeats it ad nauseam . Once or just maybe twice in a solo is okay, but that is a definite case of repeated riff abuse in a solo - great playing otherwise...The licks you're talking about are pretty "Groove" specific ones. They are part of his lexicon, and you hear them on a lot of his recordings. Being a live recording, he's also playing to the audience on that record, which makes a huge difference. He's giving them a bit of a diet of "his" licks. Personally, I think whatever gets you there is good, but practicing licks over and over only gets you so far. When I was a kid, I had to deal with Bloom's Taxonomy quite a bit. Practicing licks over and over and over would demonstrate the most basic level of learning - knowledge. Knowledge is nothing. I've heard more players with lots of knowledge, but no comprehension, and therefore no real idea about how to apply their knowledge, much less to analyze it, synthesize it, and evaluate it. What I find works for me at this point in time is to focus on my technique when I practice, not in terms of developing monstrous chops, but to have the ability to play what I hear. Sure, I'll play through some things too, but that's more because I really just enjoy playing the piano. Other than that, I listen. A lot. Tons of different stuff. I'm listening through a ton of stuff on my laptop, getting all the sounds in my head that I can. Somewhere down the line, maybe tomorrow for all I know, I'll probably have a different routine, but that's what I need right now - the ability to play what's in my head comfortably, the ability to listen to lots of different music and incorporate it into my concept naturally, to feel the groove of whatever style I'm called on to play and to play it with conviction. When things are great on a gig, I'm functioning on all those cognitive levels simultaneously, which means that I'm not thinking. I'm reacting at a very high level. That's what I like in music, that how I like to play. Riffs are cool, licks are cool, but when that's your arsenal, what do you do when someone takes a left turn? It's like a conversation - if you have mastered the language and have a concept, you can really add something to the discussion. If all you have are prepared statements, you have nothing to add.... A ROMpler is just a polyphonic turntable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MonksDream Posted January 12, 2011 Share Posted January 12, 2011 Riff[sic] are cool, licks are cool, but when that's your arsenal, what do you do when someone takes a left turn? It's like a conversation - if you have mastered the language and have a concept, you can really add something to the discussion. If all you have are prepared statements, you have nothing to add.... Well said, Kank! Few things sound more lame than trying to shoehorn a prepared lick into a solo that isn't the place for it. Instrumentation is meaningless - a song either stands on its own merit, or it requires bells and whistles to cover its lack of adequacy, much less quality. - kanker Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kanker. Posted January 12, 2011 Share Posted January 12, 2011 Riffs are cool, licks are cool, but when that's your arsenal, what do you do when someone takes a left turn? It's like a conversation - if you have mastered the language and have a concept, you can really add something to the discussion. If all you have are prepared statements, you have nothing to add.... Well said, Kank! Few things sound more lame than trying to shoehorn a prepared lick into a solo that isn't the place for it. Now it's even better A ROMpler is just a polyphonic turntable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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