Music improvisation?

Question

during improvisation is it typical to think in terms of "root C-5th/G playing the 6flat..." blah blah blah - or is it mostly by ear?

I've been working on scales quite a bit and have been throwing in some frills into songs- I'm finding it's easier to kindof wing it by ear- but it's easier for me to get lost ("I'm in what key again? where is that node root note thingy again...) and I'm so anally retentive part of me thinks I should be knowing exactly where each note is, in which position I'm in, whether it's the 4th, the 5th off the root or whatever - but when I play more along those restraints the playing gets more labored and clinical seeming...

what is the typical, if there is such a thing, way of approaching improv-ing

i guess it could boil down to a left brain (technical) vs. right brain (spiritual) approach

also it seems the more I practice, the closer those aspects become - the more notes you "know" the better you can play them, but that could be based on "ear" also

Answer 1

i mostly think about it as, these are the notes in the scale, these are the notes out of the scale that i can play and stil lsound good.  at first theres some trial and error, but you start hearing it in your head, this pattern will sound good.  believe it or not, the more you practice improvising, the better youll get at it.  ironic huh?

Answer 2

knowing your chords/chord symbols/scales etc. helps alot (especially when you are "lost")-it gives you the clue to jump back in on key.

check out the book PATTERNS FOR JAZZ by jerry coker---it has arpeggios, licks, etc. to train in every key and in common and odd chord changes. i use this book as a basis for accessing/learning vocabulary for improv

the best improvisers i know have the "head knowledge", but let their spirit of creativity drive what they play!

btw; yeah, the more you do it-the easier it gets

Answer 3

In all honesty, if you know the notes of a scale and can hear them in your head, you don't need to think when you're improvising. My guitar teacher always tells me, "Don't think about it. Just let yourself go." The rhythm will naturally work it's way out.

I've realized that he's d**n right. Improvising sounds much better when it's not "thought of."

Answer 4

im half dead when i improv....

Answer 5

If, at any time when one is involved in the creation of music in the 'Spontaneous Composition" or "Improvised" mode, one resorts to formulaic cliches (e.g. harmonic analysis of chords, etc!), one can be almost absolutely certain that one is not doing very well!  

Composition in this manner is about the instant creation of SOUND heard internally and then produced externally.   'Text book formulae' (e.g., scales, chordal nomenclature, rules of diatonic harmony, or anything else that is not pure SOUND ) have nothing to do with this!   Nothing whatsoever!

As one has but one brain, it is essential to use it on something appropriate to the creation of Music during an Improvisation.   If one wishes to do a Harmony exercise, don't call it 'Improvisation'.

I know I sound dogmatic, grumpy even.   This is because I am very sick of people who use formula in lieu of creative impulse when they (pretend to) Improvise.

  The once highly respected art of Improvisation is now esteemed quite lowly.   People often call a passage in a notated composition "Improvisatory gibberish", and intend to denigrate it, e.g.  

Those of us who are proud of Spontaneous Composition, and who value it's potential highly, are becoming vocally critical of those who use regurgitation of cliches (12 bar blues, or ANY predigested chord formulae, etc.) and announce that they are 'Improvising"