[Dixielandjazz] melody vs chords & the importance ofwords

[David W. Littlefield]

At 06:39 PM 1/20/2003 -0500, Brian Towers wrote:
>Personally, as a trombone player, I believe I generally improvise on the
>melody.  However there may be some sub-conscious tie-in with the chord
>sequence also, as I sometimes find myself playing a certain phrase, when a
>certain chord crops up.
>My wife, a reed player, mostly improvises on the chords.  I can see this is
>very handy since,as long as she has the chords in front of her, she can
>improvise on a tune she has never heard of and it still sounds OK!

It seems to me that these are different but legitimate approaches to
improvising--note the differences in style between Benny Goodman and Artie
Shaw.
Though I play chord instruments, I prefer or have a basic affinity for the
variation-on-the-melody approach. However, it can be very satisfying to
create a new melody on the chords, and it seems that my increasing success
at this (on piano, anyway) is what gets me the most positive feed back from
the other players...Audiences seem to dig either technical displays that
include gimmicks and cliches on fast tunes, but perhaps even more, judging
from what gets the most frequent and intense applause, melodic versions and
variations of slow tunes.

>In my case I would be struggling, if I did not know the tune. I would have
>to wait for the chord coming from the rhythm section, before i could play my
>notes.   It is my impression that many clarinet players do their
>improvisations based upon the chords, rather than the melody?

I have no doubt about clarinet players. I think it might be related to the
basic nature of the instrument, one's degree and type of technical
facility, and perhaps one's normal role in the ensemble. Clarinet weaves
around and harmonizes with the horns, requiring firm knowledge of and
orientation to the chords. Lead horn is concerned with melodies, stating
the melody itself to start out, and, depending on the style of the band, at
least impressions of the melody in the out chorus(es), though free to
create something new during his solo. My clarinet cat clearly views tunes
as piles of chords, and rousts my butt if I call several tunes in
succession that have similar chord patterns; I perceive tunes as melody
lines and try to mix keys and tempos, basically ignoring the chord
structures--I do avoid calling Bill Bailey, Bourbon Street Parade and
Washington & Lee Swing in the same set. I referred to "type of technical
facility"; by this I mean that some reed players control and place each
note even at fast tempos, while others use cascades of notes at various
tempos, all the while using the chords; it seems to me that they play the
chords they have memorized, minimally influenced by what the rhythm section
is providing. 

I don't have single-string technical ability on banjo and 4-string guitar,
though I get around quite well at various tempos doing basically chord
solos. I find it interesting that on banjo I think in terms of displays of
gimmicks and cliches during faster tunes, or playing straight melody. But
despite using the same tuning/fingering, as soon as I start playing guitar
I want to do variations on the melody. I have no doubt that this is
influenced in part by the diverse accoustic properties of the two
instruments, plus the music I listen to that's associated with each
instrument. 
>
>Knowing the lyric has always been a tremendous help to me in playing the
>song and I agree with Kash in that knowing the words is extremely useful, in
>putting one's solo across and getting the mood of the piece.

As rhythm player I don't think about the lyrics at all. However, as
bandleader, I often use the lyrics when counting off tempos, especially
when playing for dancing. I usually play most gigs, even 3-4 piece
dixieland gigs without vocals, as dance gigs, because that makes the
audience respond more and more quickly. Many tunes have a more or less
ideal tempo range at which the lyrics lay nicely without feeling rushed or
draggy, and playing the tune in that range also tends to make it more
danceable, AND also inspires better solos. Some tunes are so "good for jazz
that they can be played effectively as instrumentals at a greater range of
tempos than the lyrics would allow. On the other hand, I often played with
a band that never would play sentimental ballads like "Mean to me" or "Am I
blue" slowly enough to allow either instrumentalists or vocalists to
"wring" emotive value from them; extremely danceable, to be sure, but never
"belly rubby". When I had a female vocalist, my played them slowly--not
draggy, but she could put loads of feeling into them, not a dry seat in the
house...

--Sheik