[TPIN] Re: Re: Deprogramming Oneself

[Jeff Helgesen]

Rob:

I'm on record as feeling that the keys are (a) being able to play what
you hear (play by ear in most/all keys), and (b) being able to hear
something worth playing (having enough raw melodic material in your
head, via immersion or inventive skill).

Ear playing is a skill that can be developed by practice.  The most
common advice I've seen is to take simple, short songs (e.g., tunes
you learned in childhood) and work them through all the keys until
you're not clamming.  Our own Chase Sanborn recommends learning new
tunes up a half step and down a half step in addition to the standard
key (if I recall correctly).

The second part involves alot of listening.  Alot.  Enough so that you
have favorite solos that rattle around in your head that you can sing
along with.  Recognizing when your ear can't parse the intervals in a
particular phrase and working that material out until your ear does
hear it.  (Transcribing or memorizing unfamiliar trumpet solos is
arguably the most difficult aspect of this.)

Then there's just shedding the stuff.  Over time, the stuff you learn
becomes connective tissue allowing you to seamlessly move from idea A
to idea B using some device that's become second nature (common
melodic fragment or approach) or constructing something on the fly
over a harmonic setting.  This sounds hard but over time, with focused
practice, this begins to become second nature.

(I don't think that Diz seeing the piano in his head is the same as
visualizing the note and then playing it, I suspect that was more a
case of the visualization accompanying the act of playing, not
preceding the act.  And I do suspect he's talking about a mix of
seeing altered extensions and landing on them, but who knows...)

Just my $0.02...

-- jeff

On 12/1/06, Rob Alley <roballey at juno.com> wrote:
> I realize that the article below dealt mostly with performance and conducting. But in regards
> to improvisation, how does one "deprogram" oneself? I am quite certain that many of the
> greats, past and current, hear the music and play it. There is undoubtedly very little
> visualizing going on in their improvised solos.
>
> For instance, I'm quite sure that Chet is not seeing -- in his mind -- the notes before he
> plays them. He hears and then plays. A direct connection from ear (brain) to horn (voice).
>
> I have, what I consider, a bad habit of sometimes visualizing the notes I play before I play
> them. I do hear what I visualize before I play it. But I'd still like to eliminate the visual step. I
> think this is extraneous and hinders many aspects of my growth not only as an improvisor,
> but also as a musician in general.
>
> So how does one eliminate the visual in improvisation and get to the heart of the matter,
> playing what you hear?
>
> I have some thoughts on how to do this. But I'd like to hear other opinions on the subject.
>
> Thanks for your time and thoughts.
>
> Rob
>
> P.S. FWIW, I am aware that Dizzy claims to see the keyboard in his mind. Unless I
> misinterpreted what he was saying, he uses this keyboard visualization as a tool to
> remember chord changes, not as a way to improvise solos.

-- 
Jeff Helgesen
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