Friday Talk 9/9/24

On this later than usual (crazy teaching day) Yamaha Music USA  #silentbass and Lakland Basses  Friday, we continue our discussion on improvisation. Today it's "licks, licks and a bag of tricks". This is, IMO, NOT what improvisation is about and is what I see the most...in every genre. How many times do we see social media posts, reels and things on TikTok showing licks...blues licks, rock licks, modal licks "ii-V-I"licks...saying things like...learn them in all 12 keys...what does do for you? It teaches you to play a "thing" and IMO is not improvisation. I taught an ensemble class for many years and saw countless players attempting to "Lego" licks together to form a solo. All they are doing is stacking other people's ideas together without any forethought or creativity. In improvisation...any music...the goal is to sound like YOU! Not someone else. Now, TBH licks have a place...as I have said in previous posts, they are "examples" to learn from. To be taken apart, analyzed and assimilated. TRUE improvisation, IMO, is your melody over any given set of harmony. It is obtained through intimate knowledge of your instrument, music fundamentals, harmomic/melodic/dynamic options and a true sense of how to creativley, spontaneously and purposefully structure your ideas. The previous statement is actually applicable to all aspects of play, just appled differently (we will cover this next week). Each one of these aspects should be addressed in the woodshed and eventually combined. I have used this approach in my own practice and have taught many students as well with amazing results...from death metal guitar players...to die hard jazz fans and everything in between. Next time, we define the roles of play and their approach. As always, I invite your insights. #yamahamusicusa #makewaves #pirastro #glasserny #laklandbass #sitstrings #tsunamicables #philjonesbass #improvisation #basslessons #remotelessons