 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: wjk
Date: 2003-08-04 17:56
At a gig this weekend (with tenor sax, keyboard, guitarist, drummer, vocalist), I felt myself getting into a pentatonic/blues scale rut. We were playing standards as well as "pop" numbers, and the crowd was laid back and receptive. I think the crowd liked my solos, but I was disappointed. How do I break out of my rut----especially when keyboard/guitar are throwing some bop chords my way? How do I anticipate this and make my solos more creative.? Thank you!
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Author: David Spiegelthal ★2017
Date: 2003-08-04 20:41
1) Try rhythmic variations --- triplet riffs rather than straight 8ths/16ths, starts and stops, etc.
2) Try modal solos --- think what Joe Lovano would do.....
3) Occasionally throw in the McCoy Tyner/Mike Brecker trick of modulating up a half step for a bar or two in the middle of a line, then returning to the base key.
4) Throw in some quotes from other tunes, a la Dexter Gordon, Phil Woods and many other greats.
5) Don't think at all about what you're doing, and just play.
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Author: Mark Pinner
Date: 2003-08-05 06:33
I think most improvisers, those that do it well for a long time, fel that they fall into ruts like this. You begin to think that you are being cliched. This is not necessarily a bad thing. It is fairly easy to recognise the solos of many of the jazz immortals because of the repetition of phrases and cliches as much as their tone. The above suggestions make perfect sense so does listening. There is an academic expression "wide reading" meaning exactly as it says; reading as much about and around a subject as possible. For an improvising musician "wide listening" is a more apt term. Increase the listening repertoire to also include improvisers on other instruments not just sax and clarinet. There are other ideas to be found there. A few of your own cliches will develop your own distinct style and sound, whether anybody else likes it or not is another story.
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Author: William
Date: 2003-08-05 14:57
Also, try playing those tenor "ad nauseum" solos on another instrument--alto, soprano, bari, clarinet or flute--to get out of that rut. One of my local jazz artist friends uses a saxello to provide variety and freshness. Another brings an alto flute to his gigs for diversity. Another local trombonist brings along a harmonic for "fun" and variation. Playing the "same old, same old" on the same old instrumnet can really "get to you" after a while unless you bring fresh materials and new ideas to the gig. The "quick fix" of a different instrument may illicite new ideas or sounds. Good luck!!!
(alcohol & drugs is NOT the answer--I speak from experiance)
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Author: Noel
Date: 2003-08-05 15:55
I think I know what you mean - certain phrases and combinations of rythm seem to shout 'go this way' - especially if you have a sax player flexing his/her muscles. I think it's a question for the whole band and you've probably got to get them to listen to you as clearly as you seem to be listening to them.
In a band I was in a few years back we used to do exercises to try and avoid falling into habits - we might, for instance, limit ourselves to one note and then try and find sequences of intervals - each playing the one note of whatever duration we wanted - so that they didn't fall into a pattern. It's really quite hard to do - but it gets you to listen to each other. Then we worked on trying to stop or start together as randomly as we could, and many other similar ideas. After a while when we heard the beginning of something over familiar developing there was no real need to play it - it was like a shorthand amongst ourselves, and it would just get dropped without explanation. These things don't help you to 'solo' - but they certainly help you to look for and expect the unexpected.
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