 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Tim
Date: 2000-09-29 18:50
I really need some help here: Last wednesday someone from school asked me to join his band for a performance that will take place next Friday. Were going to play "watermelon man". We have a kind of Jazz-Rock arrangement, with a pianist, bass and lead guitar, drums, a trumpet, and me on the clarinet. As far as I can tell Mark (the leader - he plays the trumpet) seems to be going for something in between Dixieland jazz and Ornette Coleman. The problem is, Mark wants me to write out my own solo (based on the theme he gave me) - which I think I should be able to handle, but to improvise large parts of it, stressing that he wants to use a high register on the clarinet, and I really have no experience of improvising. Now Mark knows this, but he seems to have faith in me, so can anyone give me a crash-course on how to improvise clarinet?
Tim Wade
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Author: The bald eagle
Date: 2000-09-29 19:09
A simple (no guarantee it would be received well) improv would be to put a few turns and grace notes, etc. in the melody and take liberties with rhythm. You cold also add go to a note from the third of it. It really is hard to improv however unless you understand the chord structure of piee
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Author: jb
Date: 2000-09-29 19:17
See if you can get the chord structure for the piece so when you solo you know the chords they play. Then you can figure out the notes you can play (remember to transpose) and stick with those notes. You could also play around with the melody but you still need to know the chords so you know the notes that will sound ok. If a note you play sounds wrongs, try going up or down a half step and it should sound ok. Don't forget to stay in the style of the piece, it's ok to play part of the theme once in a while straight as its written, and put some rests in so it's not just straight notes. Also, if its a long solo, start with the theme and then gradually distort that as the solo goes on with other notes, etc.
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Author: Ginny
Date: 2000-09-29 20:22
You might memorise something you've written out that varies slightly from the regular melody - since you really need to do it quickly. I learned to improvise by being told the chord progressions, knowing some stock riffs and being told I would be shot if I stopped playing (well yelled at.) No matter what, or how icky it sounded.
Improvising is fun, now.
Best of luck,
Ginny
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Author: Bob Sparkman
Date: 2000-09-30 01:43
Hi Tim - Wow! A tough one. Try "hovering" around the sixth of the tonic chord. Might work on a simple tune like Watermelon Man. Good luck!
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Author: Nate Zeien
Date: 2000-09-30 05:11
Tim, all of the above suggestions are good, and you should try them. I might add, if you should get the chance, listen to some Benny Goodman recordings. These may give you some ideas to try. Good luck. -- Nate Zeien
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Author: Nate Zeien
Date: 2000-09-30 05:11
Tim, all of the above suggestions are good, and you should try them. I might add, if you should get the chance, listen to some Benny Goodman recordings. These may give you some ideas to try. Good luck. -- Nate Zeien
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Author: Tim
Date: 2000-09-30 07:13
I suppose the one redeeming factor of this particular situation is that even if I'm not very good its really fun to play, and so I'm not too timid about what I do with my clarinet. I've only done one practice session, and I managed to play around with the tune a little bit, a little turn here, a grace note there, as the "Bald Eagle" suggested.
Luckily, yes I do have the Chord progressions, as well as the melody, so I shouldn't be completely lost, I just need to approach this in the right way.
I like what Bob said - to hover around the sixth of the tonic, I'll definitely give that a go. And, as you said, Watermelon Man is a fairly simple tune, only 16-bars.
I haven't got, unfortunately, any of Benny Goodman's recordings, but I have been trying to listen to as much improvisation as possible. I've been listening to Frank Zappa's "The Gumbo Variations" from "Hot Rats", to get some idea what to do.
Thank you everyone for all your help, I don't know what I'd have without you.
Tim
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Author: Allen Cole
Date: 2000-10-01 16:08
A quick-and-easy fix when you're in this kind of predicament is to use very simple scales which will limit your note choices. As a beginning improvisor, the last thing you need is 12 pitches to choose from. Scales are not my favorite method of improvising, but they do limit your choices to what's most likely to work.
For Watermelon Man, I recommend your pentatonic scale. It cuts your choices to 5 notes. These are notes 1, 2, 3, 5, & 6 of the major scale. You can take two approaches on a tune like Watermelon Man:
1 - (easiest)Just choose notes from the pentatonic scale that represents the key of the song. Think rhythmically, so that you don't trap yourself into an endless cycle of scale runs. Most of the 5 notes should work well, as long as you're very assertive in playing them. The 3rd note doesn't work well on some chord changes (specifically the IV chord) and you'll find the spots quickly in rehearsal.
2 - (harder)If you know the chord changes, and can deal with a little more complication, use a different pentatonic scale on each of the chords. It will be 1,2,3,5&6 of a major scale based on the root of that chord. There aren't many different chords in Watermelon Man, and each chord is in effect for at least a measure at a time.
Another easy framework for improvising is the blues scale. You should use the one based on the key of the song. The notes are 1, flat 3, 4, sharp 4, 5, and flat 7. This approach is not recommended if the blues scale is new to you.
Most younger players learn to get around pretty well by mixing pentatonic and blues scales--and it's a pretty good approach. You can practice improvising over them without any particular framework, and work on your melodic quality. It's also fairly easy to learn them in all keys and apply them to playing situations without having a lot of theory knowledge under your belt.
Good luck on your project, and I hope that you continue pursuing improvisation. If you want to investigate more on playing by ear, visit my website sometime at http://www.jamschool.net. I don't have any improvising activities up, but I do have activities for playing by ear, harmonizing, and writing.
Allen Cole
allencole@richmond.com
http://allencole.tripod.com
http://www.jamschool.net
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Author: Tim
Date: 2000-10-02 17:11
To Allen Cole,
I don’t think I could thank you enough for the information you’ve given me, although I can’t say I’ve tried any of it yet, you have given me the most solid idea for what I’m aiming for.
I did one practice-session today, and it didn’t go too badly. I’ll try to outline the arrangement we’ve got: Basically, Mark on the trumpet will be playing the melody, and wants me to fill in the gaps with little improvised bits, so I think that its quite a good place to start. I think that to improvise an entire solo would be a bit much. (I have got my own solo, but it has to be played straight) Anyway, we had a good go at it today, and it looks promising. The only trouble is that I’m not entirely sure what I’m doing, so when I have to improvise in G7 the chances are I’ll be playing mainly G’s, B’s, D’s and F’s. Although I have been a little more adventurous than that, to be frank I really have no idea what I’m doing, so its really pleasing to know that I have two whole scales to play around with now.
“Good luck on your project, and I hope that you continue pursuing improvisation”
As a matter of fact, so do I. It’s something I’d really love to be able to do, and would be a valuable musical asset. Luckily, after this concert, we will be doing this piece for another next year, so that gives me plenty of time to experiment. I will be sure to visit your page soon, and thank you once again for your help.
Tim Wade
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Author: Jeff G.
Date: 2000-10-02 19:42
I am not a clarinet player(yet). I start lessons this week, what can I say, the older I get the crazier I get. I do jam quite a bit on guitar. I have found as someone else pointed out the pentatonic blues scale works well. You can use a heptonic scale, just watch your chord progressions. Often I will mix a pentatonic blues scale with a pentatonic 6th scale for a little variation. A simple trick but the audiences seem to like it. The biggest part of improve is hearing what hasn't been played. You need to get a feel for where the lead is going to go and hear the notes that will compliment that sound. Its tough, but when it works it feels great.
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Author: Allen Cole
Date: 2000-10-03 05:41
Actually, the situation you describe is a very good one. Putting together a whole solo is much harder than doing 'fills' around the trumpet. I think that your idea of doing fills will be both easier and more enjoyable. You can play brief licks to good effect and have a break (suitable for thinking) in between.
Also, sticking with your chord tones is a good idea. If you listen to Benny Goodman (which I strongly recommend to a new jazzer on ANY instrument), you'll see that he is also a very arpeggio-oriented player.
Let us know how it goes!
Allen Cole
allencole@richmond.com
http://allencole.tripod.com
http://www.jamschool.net
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Author: Tim
Date: 2000-10-06 17:54
Well, you did ask. Actually, the whole setup changed at the last minute, leaving me to play the solo. This is how the arrangement went: I play the main melody twice through - first time straight, second time adding some vibrato and a little pitch-bending, which I think went pretty well, seeing as though it isn't exactly what you might call difficult. The third time through I played a solo that I had one night to prepare, which I think I got away with, and after that there was the guitar solo. Now, it was the last time through that I suppose you would like to know about, because that's where I was asked to improvise around the main theme. It was, I suppose, a little unadventurous, as I didn't deviate much from the written score, just enough to make it interesting. But, I was nervous as hell, and I've only been at this improvisation business for a week. So I'm reasonably pleased with what I've acheived. So there you go. Thank you all for your help, I am most grateful.
Tim
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