[Dixielandjazz] Improvising

[Eric Holroyd]

As many of my musical friends and colleagues would agree, I can improvise OK on ‘real jazz’ numbers, ie not bebop, funk jazz, or any other of that modern stuff.

I rarely think about chords – except on tunes like China Boy, where if you’re in F the bridge goes to Ab – but prefer to use my ear, which rarely lets me down.

It helps me a lot of the bass player is solid and plays a proper bass line in the lower register of the instrument, which is where he should be anyway most of the time.

As to playing arpeggios, my best suggestion is to leave them at home in the practice room – for that is where they belong.

I’ve always like to play tunes in different keys now and again, just to get a fresh slant on it as it were.

Having done the scales practice all those years ago, I don’t have too much trouble with weird keys – although I must be honest and admit that I never enjoyed backing a hotshot guitar soloist whose charts called for a hot trumpet break in A major.

But I’m happy in Db or G or D etc and can usually come up with a pretty straight melody in an odd key if required.

Some years ago I was playing at the Noosa (QLD) Jazz Festival and was put with a nice piano, bass and drums rhythm section to back a chick singer.

We played an up-tempo number to start her set, and she called Stardust for her second number.

She turned to me and asked if I knew the melody to the verse, and I said that I did.

She then suggested that I play the verse Colla Voce with the piano, then she would bring in the chorus in tempo.

Then she started the count-in: One, Two, IN G, Three, Four.

So I had a split second to bring in Stardust’s verse in a key in which I’d never played it before, and of course there was no music anywhere to be seen – this was all coming straight out of our heads.

I’m proud to say that I nailed that verse, and didn’t miss a note.

She, poor thing, didn’t know what she’d just done as she had no knowledge of music other than that some guys and gals are more proficient than others.

And all that – plus good solid jazz improvising – comes from years of just doing it. And trying not to fall into a cliched rut either, which some players do.

But I’d rather hear cliches than endless scales and arpeggios trotted out by those who got sucked in to buying Improvising Tutors with play along CDs.

Without mentioning any names, the Sydney Conservatorium Of Music’s jazz course was run for quite a few years by a guy who had never played a note of real jazz in his life.

In fact I went along to an advertised jazz gig where he was fronting a five or six piece band.

I was quite near the front, and was able to see that he read all of his ‘jazz’ solos from the music stand in front of him. 

Well I never!

To cut a long – and probably boring to some – story short, I should say that I retired from professional music almost two years ago and haven’t played a jazz gig since doing so.

Eric Holroyd
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