Wade Cornell
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While many of us are shut in it may be time to consider some different styles of practice.
There's lots of information that advises players how to read a chart and play an improvisation that will sound OK. What's seldom discussed is how to improvise by ear, where you react to what you're hearing and play appropriately, whether that's as backing or a soloist. These two different approaches are not mutually exclusive, but learning to play patterns according to a chart's changes is less of an ear exercise and more visual/mechanical. If using your ear(s) it's a strictly audio interpretation in which you put yourself in the music by hearing a line that you'd like to play. It's based on your hearing a musical line instead of visualizing music or using practiced patterns anticipating a fit. It's having the music come from you instead of a "cut and paste" process. It's most closely related to singing, with the instrument being your voice.
As you'd imagine this doesn't come about without a lot of practice. Unfortunately if one never tries to undertake ear improvisation they may never be able to improvise creatively. The good news is, it's never too early to start playing by ear and (IMHO) should be a major part of training anyone who is serious about improvisation. Those of you who are familiar with the Suzuki teaching method will recognize that this is a major component in their teaching.
There are two basic components: 1. hear what you would like to play, 2. develop the facility to play what you hear. The first task means that you sing a line, which doesn't require a good voice, or even singing out loud, just hearing the notes you want to play. We need to be honest with ourselves about this process. While it's possible for most people to mechanically conceive of variations on a theme, that's not the same as coming up with a creative or melodic line. You may or may not possess the ability to do this easily.
The second part of the equation can take years, but it is possible for anyone with a sense of "relative pitch" and average coordination to be successful. It's simply developing your ability to play by ear. This can initially be just playing any simple tune without written music. Giving yourself a random start note means that you need to hear the rest of the tune in that key and play appropriately. Exercises without sheet music should ALWAYS be used. You are trying to train your fingers to respond to a note you hear in your head. It's a completely different mental pathway to seeing a note and having your fingers play that note, or thinking in terms of "finger memory" patterns you have practiced by rote.
An advanced exercise is to play along with the radio. Use random stations and NOT just a style of music you like. You are stretching your ears and developing a musical library in which you hear patters and learn how to respond to these by listening and playing appropriately. It's less important to name the patterns or changes than it is to hear them and be able to internalize knowing how to play along. Ultimately the goal is to become a creative player able to sit in with any type of music and do something more substantial than playing mechanically.
There is still a need to be able to read music, and understand theory as this is the way musicians communicate what they are wanting to play/create. There is no reason why any serious musician should cut themselves off from either of these worlds (written music and playing by ear).
This site has a collection of tracks that can give moderate to advanced challenges for those wanting to practice playing by ear:
Wikiloops Backing Tracks
There's a wide range of styles to choose from and over 200 tracks. None of these are standards, although many have familiar patterns. They are being added to regularly, so can continue to present challenges over time.
There's lots of information that advises players how to read a chart and play an improvisation that will sound OK. What's seldom discussed is how to improvise by ear, where you react to what you're hearing and play appropriately, whether that's as backing or a soloist. These two different approaches are not mutually exclusive, but learning to play patterns according to a chart's changes is less of an ear exercise and more visual/mechanical. If using your ear(s) it's a strictly audio interpretation in which you put yourself in the music by hearing a line that you'd like to play. It's based on your hearing a musical line instead of visualizing music or using practiced patterns anticipating a fit. It's having the music come from you instead of a "cut and paste" process. It's most closely related to singing, with the instrument being your voice.
As you'd imagine this doesn't come about without a lot of practice. Unfortunately if one never tries to undertake ear improvisation they may never be able to improvise creatively. The good news is, it's never too early to start playing by ear and (IMHO) should be a major part of training anyone who is serious about improvisation. Those of you who are familiar with the Suzuki teaching method will recognize that this is a major component in their teaching.
There are two basic components: 1. hear what you would like to play, 2. develop the facility to play what you hear. The first task means that you sing a line, which doesn't require a good voice, or even singing out loud, just hearing the notes you want to play. We need to be honest with ourselves about this process. While it's possible for most people to mechanically conceive of variations on a theme, that's not the same as coming up with a creative or melodic line. You may or may not possess the ability to do this easily.
The second part of the equation can take years, but it is possible for anyone with a sense of "relative pitch" and average coordination to be successful. It's simply developing your ability to play by ear. This can initially be just playing any simple tune without written music. Giving yourself a random start note means that you need to hear the rest of the tune in that key and play appropriately. Exercises without sheet music should ALWAYS be used. You are trying to train your fingers to respond to a note you hear in your head. It's a completely different mental pathway to seeing a note and having your fingers play that note, or thinking in terms of "finger memory" patterns you have practiced by rote.
An advanced exercise is to play along with the radio. Use random stations and NOT just a style of music you like. You are stretching your ears and developing a musical library in which you hear patters and learn how to respond to these by listening and playing appropriately. It's less important to name the patterns or changes than it is to hear them and be able to internalize knowing how to play along. Ultimately the goal is to become a creative player able to sit in with any type of music and do something more substantial than playing mechanically.
There is still a need to be able to read music, and understand theory as this is the way musicians communicate what they are wanting to play/create. There is no reason why any serious musician should cut themselves off from either of these worlds (written music and playing by ear).
This site has a collection of tracks that can give moderate to advanced challenges for those wanting to practice playing by ear:
Wikiloops Backing Tracks
There's a wide range of styles to choose from and over 200 tracks. None of these are standards, although many have familiar patterns. They are being added to regularly, so can continue to present challenges over time.
