improv

EMT-911 · Post by **EMT-911** » Tue Mar 21, 2006 12:53 pm

when I improv, I try to stay to a wide range of notes, usually high ones, but not too high.

lord hornblower · Post by **lord hornblower** » Wed Mar 22, 2006 12:50 pm

high notes aren't a must in solos.. I can play and I have heard people play very exciting solos while remaining solely in the staff. If you're playing extremely high, but extremely out of key, you just sound like any other egotistical high school horn player... annoying.

PLAYING IN KEY is the most important part of soloing, and that comes with memorizing scales and understanding basic music theory. If you play one or two notes per measure, but they are in key, you'll sound better than 95 percent of the people that try to play a lot of notes way out of key.

The next most important part is IDEAS, and that just comes with listening to jazz, playing out of fakebooks to learn new riffs, and really trying to communicate through your horn. Remember, music is an art form, and art is a form of expression. If, when you solo, you don't feel as if you are expressing yourself, then the quality of it will be mediocre at best.

EMT-911 · Post by **EMT-911** » Wed Mar 22, 2006 1:20 pm

lord hornblower wrote:high notes aren't a must in solos.. I can play and I have heard people play very exciting solos while remaining solely in the staff. If you're playing extremely high, but extremely out of key, you just sound like any other egotistical high school horn player... annoying.

PLAYING IN KEY is the most important part of soloing
.

I agree with that. I just forgot to mention that. Yeah, playing high is fun, but not too high...that is just showing off. I usually stick to the highest as 3 lines above the staff(in bass clef)