Audiation-Based Practice Approach in Relation to Improvisational Solos
In the previous article I described a practice process I have been using recently for generating compositional ideas with the electric bass, for info you can read that article here.
In this article however I aim to briefly discuss how I have been using the same approach for practicing improvising and developing improvisational vocabulary.
The compositional approach I employed in the previous article utilised a long, low bass drone in which to audiate ideas. In this case, for developing solos, sections of the piece were looped and used as the basis for the practice.
The following details the process:
Set up the space for the practice, free of distractions and potential interruptions with the aim of creating an environment conducive to flow states. Personally, I find using headphones best for this as well. Additionally, I use a DAW in this process so I can record the ideas as they occur- more on this later.
Select the section of the piece that is to be looped and as the basis for the practice. Shorter phrase sequences at first (4 or 8 bars), depending on how complex the harmony is. Once the first few ideas are recorded the loop is extended to allow space for further development.
Once ready the loop is played over and over, instrument in hand. At this point the listening begins waiting for an idea to arise. An idea usually appears quite quickly and is either let go of, or chosen. In some cases it worked well to ignore the first few ideas as these seemed to be closely or directly related to vocabulary I know well. Subsequent ideas felt more melodic, less dictated by what I know falls nicely under the fingers, and more authentic.
Once an idea that is liked is found, the loop is stopped in order to transcribe the idea, or its best approximation. Sometimes ideas are heard that are not note specific, like an effect, or a shape of a phrase fragment. As much time as is necessary is spent on recreating the idea on the instrument as is required.
Once the idea can be performed it is recorded into the DAW. It is now 'set in stone' and the focus of the practice can move on to listening for the next idea.
Now the process repeats. Playing the loop, with the recored fragment present, and listening for the subsequent idea. Once a liked idea is found, it is transcribed, recorded, etc, until the section is complete. Sometimes pre-idea fragments would need to be rerecorded with the current fragment in order to maintain phrasing congruency.
Once complete, a subsequent practice can ensue. Performing the solo along with the loop (but not the recorded content) multiple times, to help solidify and learn the solo. This part of the practice included refinement of the ideas, and additional details in the way the solo could be performed. Here it becomes possibly to play with phrasing, articulation, dynamics, and experiment with the kind of melodic detail that is not often attributed to electric bass playing.
Conditions
The following conditions were implemented from the commencement of the practice:
Always play the loop from the beginning. It is often tempting, once a number of phrases have been realised, to migrate the loop to further down the road in an attempt to speed up the process and not have to listen to extra seconds of already recorded ideas before moving on. In early iterations of this practice I did exactly this but, I personally found that no matter how far down the line I was, it was always better to listen to the loop from the beginning and listen each time to that which has already been recorded as it allowed time to recenter, re-engage with the melodic context, meaning the subsequent ideas have naturally better direction and appropriateness. Additionally, it aids to internalise the melodic vocabulary that has already been generated. In re-centering and listening through the whole loop, it slows the process down and is more conducive to a flow state. The alternative in shortening the loop and migrating it further down the line built a tendency towards quantity over quality, and a quicker pace of work that felt less intuitive.
Using a DAW and recording the ideas as soon as they are transcribed. The reason I use a DAW is so I can focus more on the listening rather than the playing. In constructing the solo phrase by phrase or fragment by fragment I can focus on listening for the next idea, the idea that occurs directly after that which is already recorded. I found this to be more useful than playing the constructed melody from the start at each iteration and then stopping in order to 'hear' the next segment. This I believe is because when actually playing there are still inclinations for the hands wanting to dictate what occurs next, they impart their influence on the next note choices, and as stated previously one of the main goals of this exercise is to exclude that way of improvising and attempting to connect with only that which occurs from listening.
Below are two resulting examples of this practice, both solos were constructed using the method described above.
'Spain' by Chick Corea is one of those classic pieces that students of jazz enjoy learning play and improvise over, its energetic rhythmic groove and interesting but not too challenging harmonic progression make it a fun tune to practice. There is no particular reason why this tune was chosen for this practice other than I just so happened to be asked to record a bass part and a solo by a friend for a short project. The result was a solo that was wildly different in shape, and vocabulary than I would usually play over this tune if it was called in a live performance situation.
Gerry Commanes - Second Circle
The bass solo example shown above is another result of the above method. This is taken from the piece Gerry Commanes and one that feature in the album 'At Home, At Home'. It is a traditional folk tune and in this case reinvented with solely bass guitar and percussion instruments. The harmony is simple and diatonic, which would tend to mean my improvisational approach would be around the key center rather than chord tones and therefore limit my ideas to those which I know fit well within that frame. Because of this melodic phrasing and development ended up being one of the strongest factors in the interest in this solo, again something that would not normally be predominant when improvisation is led too much by the hands. Some of the phrases heard in this extract have a phrasing style or melodic fragments that I have never played before and took some time to work out how best to approach playing them on the bass guitar itself. The result is a melody I fell in love with, and enjoy playing immensely. For me it now acts as a benchmark for the kind of melodies I am aiming to be able to improvise in the moment.
Further Practice Ideas
If a melodic idea that is audiated and transcribed is found to be particularly enjoyable then it can be isolated in separate practice and studied as intently as any other piece of transcribed vocabulary i.e. transposed into different positions on the instrument and into different keys, as well as practiced to be heard as an option over alternate harmonic context if possible and appropriate.
A second idea had during the practice was to try the same process but to only sing the fragments and have the melody complete before even picking up the instrument. This could be interesting to see how melodies might be created differently when completed removed from the instrument.
A third thought for the practice was to see how far it was possible to wait through the ideas that arise. In some cases in the above examples the first idea that was heard wasn't always the one used (usually the 2nd or 3rd), but it would be interesting to see how far the process of sifting through the options can be taken. How many ideas arise before you run out if at all? What does the 5th, 10th, or 15th idea sound like? How different do the ideas get as one continues through the options?
General Thoughts
During the practice initial ideas tended to be the same or closely related to vocabulary I already know well. This makes sense as that vocabulary is the most natural for the hands to play and most commonly used. It was however, far more more interesting to wait for subsequent ideas to arise. They somehow felt more authentic, even though they tended to be slower and more fluid in phrasing style.
This practice has proven to be very useful in working to help develop an individual sense of improvisational vocabulary and one that I will continue to work on with the goal of closing the gap in the time between hearing an idea and being able to replicate it on the instrument. The practice has also become a critical factor in how I approach playing the bass guitar in all performance and compositional situations. The benefits of this work I have found now filters out even through the typical bass guitar work I do, in creating and developing bass lines when on a gig. And, although it still feels like early days in fully being able to incorporate this way of approaching the instrument, it feels like there is a great deal to be explored and developed, both in my own musicality and how that is expressed on the bass guitar.
Posted In: Reflections on Practice
Tagged: Improvisation, Composition, Audiation, Practice, Soloing
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