Improvising

[saxfairy]

Hi I am new to the forum and have been playing my alto for just over a year now. i have moved on a little bit from "that dot on that line means a b so that is index finger left hand down" if you know what i mean 😉 sometimes i even recognise a couple of notes at once and the fingers are there before i have realised it !!! ~(only occasionally mind!) I would love to be able to improvise, join in with others and play without music but have no idea where to start. And by the way, before anyone gets technical, i hear a note but have no idea whether it is a c,b,f or y sharp! it just "feels right" .
Can anyone help?

 

[Saxlicker]

Are you using play along CD's?

If not, you need some basic Abersold (or similar) book and CD's.
These will really help you start to improvise.

The initial steps are to play the scale over the backing then jumble those notes in the scale around.

For instance if its a backing specifically transposed for alto (an Abersold will be) and it is a tune in C major. Play the C major scale notes all over it however you choose. Arpeggio's are a good way to get away from going up and down the scale in order.
Thats a start!

 

[jools]

If you can listen to a song and whistle it or sing a 'solo' over the top of it, you are more than half way there to being able to improvise. It starts in your imagination. Transferring that to your fingers and your instrument is easy - it takes time and dedicated diligence - but it's not some 'mystical' force that floats down from the gods to the chosen few.

As Saxlicker says, learn the scales (chords and arpeggios too) so that you know all twelve inside out and backwards. One at a time is the best way 😉

 

[Bobby G]

Play along with anything really, Aebersolds, CD's, the radio - being able to reproduce a tune will help your ear develop, then do your scales and arpeggios and work those into improvisations around the melody, or make up some of your own. Knowing the scales is a good t ing, but as your ear gets better you will discover that notes outside the scale can also soind right in certain contexts. Have fun, it's a journey of constant discovery!