Jazz Guitar - How I improvise

How the hell to those guys do that?!  Thats the thought that first got me into jazz improvisation. Spontaneous composition, sometimes tuneful, sometimes not, but jazz improvisation to me is the musical freedom i have always craved.

I started studying jazz improvisation in 1994, over 20 years ago. I spent years figuring things out from different angles, transcribing solos from bebop legends and guitar legends a like trying to figure out what they were thinking and how they improvised.

I used to try think about each chord in a progression, so my solos could bebop their way through all the chords with tension and release in all the right places. This was a real brain strain and not that easy to execute musically.

Eventually I realized that I only needed 2 sounds to give myself real freedom to improvise musically - what I call 'Home' and  'Away' - I find this is a much more practical way to improvise and forces me to listen more to what is going on around me. 'Away' sounds can be diatonic[tension] or 'altered'[tension] but I tend to think of 'away' sounds as just 'altered' - non diatonic - because when I improvise jazz ,this simplistic method helps.

I've recorded this example video since it's the only way you can really know what all this theory actually sounds like.

In this clip I am playing roughly the same lines over Fm7 Bb7 to Ebmaj. I am focusing on using major scales only to achieve tension over the V chord. You wont' hear much resolution in this clip because I'm using a kind of 'delayed' resolution - what that means is rather than resolving to a note from the 1 chord (Ebmaj) , I might sometimes resolve to a b5 of the Ebmaj7 chord, just so I can stretch the tension a bit further.

If you have experienced ears, you'll hear the backing chords change at one point to a Gm - C7.  what I play over this is no different what I play over the Fm7 Bb7. I still use Eb major and side-step into E major for the tension ( I explain this further down).

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Away

So, often when I play over a V chord I'll use a device called side-stepping or tri-tone substitute to get my altered tension, rather than using modes or particular scales. I just look for any chord that has the 'altered' notes of a Bb7 chord ( #5, b9, #9 etc.). That is what I'm doing mainly in this clip.

For example, look at the E major 7 chord, to see why this works so well over the Bb7 (V chord in Eb). Overlay the Emaj7 on the sound of a Bb7 chord, you'll notice that you hit both the b7 and the b9 of the Bb7, as well as the sus4. Sounds really good I think.

So this means that all I need is a major scale and I can make any sounds I need. I don't need to think about modes scales or any other fancy scales to get the fancy sounds I'm after.

This is a diatonic 1 V1 11 V in Eb: 

      Ebmj7 Cm7 Fm7 Bb7 

     But I might think:  Ebmj7 C7alt Fm7 Bb7alt  to improvise over.

The good news for me is that I can do this with one scale. I can play E major over both the C7 and the Bb dominant chords.

I like the sound of an Ebmj7 chord over the Bb7  and also over the C7 because it gives me the #5 and #9 of the C7 chord.

So then all I have to think is home (Eb major) and away ( E major ) and I have all the tension and release I need ove this  1 V1 11 V. On the guitar this is easy since I have to do is move the same scale shape up on fret.

Another device I use to get jazz tension over my V chord (Bb7) is to side-step one up from the V chord(Bb7). If I'm feeling lazy I can just play B major over the Bb like before. But I really like the sound of a B minor 9th arpeggio because I can pinpoint the #9 and b9 on my Bb7 chord, as well as the #5. A really great sounding tension that simulates the dominant 7 sharp 9 chord.

This is one of the things I love about jazz - even the theory is free! you have to learn all the textbook harmony first, but when it comes to playing, I can apply the harmony any way I like.

Here are some chords I think about to play 'away' over the Bb7 V chord.

• E major7
• B major7
• Bdim
• Bm9
• Abm6
• Db9
• Fm7b5

yes, the last 3 chords are the same apart from the roots.

Home

So what's left? the 'Home' sound. well, that is much easier. Major chord, major scale, minor chord, minor scales. But what if all I have is my major scales? Then I use the major scale over minor chords ( Ebmaj over Fm7 or Gm7 etc.).  I don't major scales as as a replacement for harmonic minor and melodic minor sounds, just as my replacement for natural[relative] minor when I have the key harmony straight.

For example, my minor chord is Fm7, so I play Eb major scale because Fm7 is the 11 chord in Eb harmony.

One other thing I like to do over static major chords is play the major scale of the major chord a fourth up from my root because I know it has the b5 in it.

For example, take the Eb major chord. I sometimes play a Bb major scale over it so I get the classic b5 sounds.  It's the A natural from the Bb scale that is the b5 in the Eb scale.

I suppose it comes down to this - there ain't no rules in jazz, only guides to help us learn the language. It's all about how we use harmonic tension and resolution and how musical we are. Its a free language and a never ending journey and I love it.

Hope this is interesting for someone other than me. Happy to answer any theory questions you might have.

Good luck!