Finding your voice

Innovation is playing music in a unique way. It's having your own individual voice. You can
incorporate elements from other musicians and still be innovative. I think you're an innovator
when listeners can tell it's you after hearing just a few notes.
There are many young players today coming out of music institutions with high levels of
musicianship and technique. They rarely come out as unique stylists. They usually sound like
several of the a!! greats. Their influences can even be counted on one hand. "ometimes a style
can even be traced to a single record by a favorite musician #I heard a tenor player once who had
based his entire style on $recker's '%ityscapes' album&. 'ne of the reasons this happens is that
students are encouraged to transcribe and learn licks. This is positively reinforced when they are
praised for sounding like Trane( $enson( or $recker. )udiences usually respond well to this type
of playing because it's already familiar to them. "ome people say that lick playing is just crowd
pleasing and some think that it's respecting our rich a!! heritage.
)merican audiences( in general( are focused on the final result rather than the creative process.
To me( the creative process is much more important. I would rather listen to sloppy e*ploration
that contains a few gems than to a clean( but derivative( performance. I can accept a fair amount
scuffling and kacking if I think the player is trying to go somewhere new. +nfortunately the
masses aren't really conditioned to accept this type of musician.
The new crop of younger a!! players are clean to a fault. They don't usually push for the
impossible and they remain content with the possible.
,hen I was younger I often played out of oe -ass's .uitar "tyles book. oe's lines were woven
through the changes like a fine oriental silk rug. This book got me thinking about longer lines(
but I didn't want to play the e*act same lines as oe. /y solution was to take a pencil and write
cra!y alterations right in the book. The original lines were straight0ahead vanilla bop lines. $y
the time I was done with them no one would ever suspect they came from oe -ass.
1on't be afraid to learn from musicians who play different instruments than you. This will
broaden your style and your sources will be harder to trace. 2eep your influences broad. 1on't
focus too much on any one player.
'ne of the topics I have written about in this blog is chord3scale theory. This is about finding the
correct scale to fit any given chord. If you take this theory as fact you will find yourself limited
to a linear and 'un0chunky' way of playing. You will end up sounding clean( but not very
personal. 'ne of the 'theories' that we accept in school is that scales can all be defined in one
octave and that every octave is the same as every other octave. /usic theory is taught this way
because it's convenient and simple. In actuality( scales don't have to be limited to one octave at
all. They may have a range of five octaves or just a tritone. ) flat nine sounds very different
when played in another octave and an )4556 is not really an )4776 at all. It's just the note that
sounds the most similar out of all the other notes. It has a completely different personality and
resonant quality.
a!! improvisation theory needs to be adjusted for the range of the individual instruments. )
baritone sa*ophone playing upper e*tensions over chord changes will be dealing with a totally
different harmonic environment than a piccolo. %onsider the fact that an altered dominant scale
may be played differently in different octaves. You might want to try using a 8ydian dominant
scale in a lower octave and a altered dominant in a higher octave. It also depends on the range of
the comping instrument.
"lonimky's book deals with symmetrical scales. The first of these is a tri0tone scale #%0F90%:0
F9:0ect&. ;ventually he gets into symmetrical scales that span several octaves. The symmetrical
scale of :<= is a two octave scale that is divided equally into three parts( by minor si*ths #%0)b0
;0%:&. This is related to the ><= scale #c0;0)b0%:& but it is also very different. Try writing some
of your own scales that are not limited to just one octave. Try composing some of your own
licks. -laying your own licks is always better than playing someone else's.
The chord3scale approach has a tendency to lock you into playing only the scale notes over a
chord. The scale should only be thought of as consonant notes. )ll twelve notes should be
available to you over any given chord. The non0scale notes each have their own 'tonal0gravity'.
They only sound wrong if you don't know where they want to resolve to and you don't deal with
them correctly. It's a good e*ercise to sit down at a piano and play chords while e*perimenting
with every note over each chord. 8isten to where each 'avoid' note wants to resolve. Try things
like a major third over a minor seventh( a natural >>th over an altered dominant chord( a natural
fifth over a half0diminished chord. $e thorough about this process and take notes as you go.
'nce you reali!e that you can play anything over anything you will be able to rela* a little. You
won't be so worried about playing wrong notes because you will have the skills to adapt to any
possibility.
?emember that you make the decision to innovate or emulate every single time you sit down to
practice.
@Ai guys...
,hat I was referring to was .ar!oneBs theory of major triads. From what he told me( it really
came about as the result of trying to illustrate his approach in a way that his students could
understand and apply( rather than a specific method he set out to employ.
The basic principle is this< the structure of a major triad #and half and whole step resolutions& is
so inherently strong that it can supercede any underlying harmony and bring the ear of the
listener along with it. #IBm paraphrasing( but thatBs the jist&
Ae wasnBt recommending just playing any old bullshit( but rather( a way to slowly open up your
ears through this triadic practice. In true .eorge fashion( he had no pages of e*ercises written out
in all keys( he just talked about how to do it. "ome of his students did try to make written
e*ercises out of this theory and I have attached one to illustrate the concept.
AereBs the premise< "tart slow #metronome at C6 bpm or so& and play a major triad D in any
inversion you want. ,hen you reach the =rd note of the sequence( move up or down a half step
and begin another major triad. ,hen you choose the 5th note #>st note of the :nd triad&( you
have three options for what triad you could play #depending on whether the note you selected
will be the root( third( or fifth&. ...is this making senseE
Then( just rinse and repeat.
For e*ample< letBs say you begin with an F maj triad... you play F3)3% and then you have :
choices< you could play a %931b or a $. 8etBs say you choose %9 and decide that it will be the
=rd of your ne*t triad #) maj&( so you play %93;3). ,hen you get to )( you have #once again&
two choices< $b or )b. "ay you choose )b and it will be the fifth #of 1b maj& so you play
)b31b3F ...getting the ideaE 2eep in mind youBre making a few decisions every three notes #and
itBs hard to do for any length of time& so start very slow. "o now youBve just played this
sequence< F ) % %9 ; ) )b 1b F. In nine notes youBve moved through three keys. The
possibilities are infinite.
,hat if youBd made these choices<
F ) % $ 1 . .9 $ ; or(
F ) % 1b F )b . $b ;b or(
F ) % $ ; .9 . $b ;b or(
) % F F9 1 ) )b ;b %....you get the idea.
)fter gaining familiarity with >3: step resolutions( then try the same approach moving in whole
steps.
1onBt concern yourself with what changes to apply this over( itBs more about opening your ears
and e*pand your ideas beyond the borders of II F IBs and altered dominants( etc.
GGGGGGGGGGG
/elody is king. ?ead( memori!e and play single0line melodies with
feeling as though you were singing them( then move on to improvisation
of the melody. )ll the phrasing one needs is in the melodies of the stardard ja!!
repertoire( you just need to bring it out in the as0written chart by
imitating singers( players( etc. who played those same songs before
you. ;specially( when those artists were just simply playing the melody
and not necessarily blowing a solo. This way you can concentrate
entirely on feeling because what notes to play are there on the page.