watalife66
Junior Member
Any tips on improving on improvising? Coming up with new beats? Will reading drum score help?
Just listen, listen, listen.
All genres, not just ones you like or want to play. This is the best way to get new ideas and build off of other people's ideas.
I like Benny Greb's idea of playing a one (or two) bar phrase and then repeating that phrase exactly the following bar, then forcing a new idea into it the bar after that, and repeating that one just as before - ad infinitum.
| idea #1 | idea #1 again | idea #2 | idea #2 again | ... and so on.
That's really a brilliant idea because it forces you to think on the fly, not only on continuously morphing a part, but also on not being so random that you can't repeat it. It's fun to do when you push it to the edge of your ability.
One thing I like to keep in mind is that a good improv section almost always has an anchor. There needs to be some relation to the original beat, melody, or musical theme. It works in a similar way for drum solos. If the drummer goes off on weird tangents, even though they may be in time and technically proficient, it gives a dis-jointed feeling to the part.
Beyond that, for me, it was about learning to think ahead of not only the beat, but the music. As an easy example, most music has repeating phrases in it. As I'm playing one beat for a particular part or phrase, I'm constantly thinking of what the next part will sound like so that by the time it comes along, I'm ready with something I already think sounds cool. Whenever I get into a situation where I'm deciding each part of the beat right before I play it is when I feel the most likely to make mistakes...
Are you playing with an improv music/jam group?
Yes, reading and transcribing are great ways to learn more vocabulary.
Can you give me some examples of music that are good for transcribing? are there any good books out there for reading?
Generally speaking, the improvisation is supposed to be free. There are some restrictions imposed by harmony that the player should overcome by practice and a correct approach.
I like Benny Greb's idea of playing a one (or two) bar phrase and then repeating that phrase exactly the following bar, then forcing a new idea into it the bar after that, and repeating that one just as before - ad infinitum.
| idea #1 | idea #1 again | idea #2 | idea #2 again | ... and so on.
That's really a brilliant idea because it forces you to think on the fly, not only on continuously morphing a part, but also on not being so random that you can't repeat it. It's fun to do when you push it to the edge of your ability.
that's a great tip! I often forget what I played. But my problem is I tend to repeat the same phrase every single time I play. Any tips on that?