This weird jazz improv tip instantly improves solos

“Your target is a sound, not a letter or a number.” Brilliant.

Bro I feel like Jeff Schneider’s living in my attic I swear everytime I’m struggling with a specific issue he immediately makes a video on it

This is what I needed, not scales over 2-5-1's, not enclosures and neighbor tones, but a good tool for creating melodies out of changes. Thanks again.

I have played jazz and taught jazz for 50 years, both in schools and privately, and this approach is usable and effective up to a point. Singing as a means to connect to ideas is a tried and true technique that virtually every teacher I have ever had has employed to some extent. The mantra "Dare to be dull" is great advice for an excited young player who is trying to jam every trick into the first eight measures of a solo, but as a player matures, and as a solo cries out for development, it must be replaced by "Dare to venture." I guess in a word this method can be compared to the trend in music education known as audiation, which, again, is very usable to connect the ear, mind and fingers at a certain level, but that connection being made, needs to relegate itself to the background in ones mental process. The old adage, "Sound before symbol," comes to mind when thinking of this approach. As stated by Jeff, one needs to target a sound rather than the math of theory when improvising. Good advice, but moving on from "I love you my darling" will require a new scaffold to be put in place.

Jeffs demo gave me instant Chet Baker vibes, which is very telling given that he was all about that connection between his singing and playing.

I'm not a jazz musician, i'm an aspiring composer, but i feel like this exercise is pure gold and it can help me compose better, so thank you.

This is surprisingly intuitive. Once again, connecting the music to my voice naturally gives me access to the music that already lives in me. Thanks, brotha.

This confirms what I've been experiencing in my head. I hear the sounds in my head but now I need to sing it and transfer it to my instrument. Thanks you so much !!!

Absolutely love the way you ended your sung solo line. Was expecting a simple resolution to the tonic based on the setup, but ending on 6/13 was so much spicier. Really fascinating technique, I'm going to have to gice it a try in my own playing!

Jeff, just ANOTHER reason while I love your instruction. You know from giving me private online lessons long ago that as a music theorist I tend to concentrate too much on the scales and chord progressions. Lately I have finally become more comfortable on standards I know In focusing on improvising a good melody and good rhythmic licks (not from some lick book) and it is working. My improv sounds much more natural and I'm enjoying it. One thing that I found that helps me is to start my improv by playing the first part of the song's melodic phrase right at the beginning and then taking off with improv from there. Sometimes I will also do that when I get to the chorus. It helps me keep track where I am in the changes and I think it helps the listener follow along too. THANK YOU for all your great instruction. You ROCK!

This works just as much for composers, especially any time a specific character is involved. This is very well used in the videogame industry, especially if you look back to some of the greats like Nobuo Uematsu who did the Final Fantasy series when things were just bleeps and bloops. His melodies encapsulated ideas that represented characters, and more so - when I was a kid - I could swear that the characters were singing to me through their songs. So any time you need to make up a melody, whether it is something YOU want to say, or an idea someone else wants to say, its all about representing a message, and repeating it to the audience over and over rephrasing it slightly each time until they hear you and remember you. That's what makes amazing melodic lines. They don't just hear you, they remember what you said. And it doesn't have to be words.

This is great. It adds instant phrasing that makes musical sense. Very early jazz soloing was literally just embellishment of an existing melody which of course was all about the lyric. Lyrics = lyrical solos. So obvious and so easy to forget.

Thank you, Jeff ! You have confirmed what I feel I want to do instinctively but get confused and lost when tutors and workshops want you to follow the chord tones or modes! All of which are important but for improvising on new tunes, singing an improvised tune has always made sense to me.

Jeff… that was fantastic! What an awesome idea

I love your videos Jeff and this one strikes home because lately I've been thinking about endless student syndrome. I feel all I'm doing is learning more music more music theory more licks trying to pick up more tips, when the goal is to be actually playing the instrument I just want to play the piano for myself and others. So many people get lost on the other side of the YouTube event horizon. Just play

What a great exercise. I used to do something similar but just singing any improvised melody (without words), and although it's helpful in the same way, the "I love you my darling" forces you to stick to short phrases. It's more restricted, the building blocks are simpler, so it's probably more useful to get started.

I cannot wait to try this today. Thank you!

This is a great explanation, JS. Your demo of the idea was fantastic. Super helpful!

I love you Jeff Schneider !! Great exercice bravo !!!

The best advice I ever got. Thanx a lot!!!!!