To improvise is also to go beyond one's basic knowledge.

"Improvisation is too good to leave to chance." - Paul Simon

This is a very thoughtful thread. Improvisers are the bravest of musical souls and I have been lucky to witness masters of the art on Stick (many who have contributed to this thread) and other instruments.

I have a general rule of thumb when it comes to evaluating art in a museum - "if it is something I could do, it isn't art." In every art museum, I always stop at the painting of a white canvas with a black dot in the center (or equivalent) and utter my rule of thumb. My wife usually responds, "Maybe so, but you didn't think of it."

For better or worse, I try to improvise by *not* thinking. My least successful improvisations are ones where I consciously think of playing a certain scale or chord. In order to achieve success with an improvisation, I have to be able to let go of worrying about mistakes and trying to play certain things.

I don't view this exercise as playing random notes. Rather, I try to build a musical vocabulary and fluidity and have a feeling, visual scene or the equivalent to think about while playing. One reason why I like to learn new instruments is that it throws me out of my comfort zone. I have a tendency to play from muscle memory and play what is comfortable. That leads to repetition and dead ends in improvisation. It is a constant struggle.

A while back I wrote a song called Aetas Suite with the band Formativ. This piece was built around a single melody and three piano improvisations representing three stages of life - beginning, middle, and end. I recorded the improvised piano parts before the rest of the piece and tried very hard not to think about what I was playing. I play Stick bass on the song and my bandmates sang, wrote lyrics, played, guitar and drums which dramatically changed and improved the song. However, the improvised piano parts remained the same from the day I played them. This would be a very difficult piece for me to recreate live and I would tempted to improvise the sections again.

Seems to me that there are two approaches happening at any one time.

The first is going by ear and trying to play something that’s melodic and coherent. The second is having more chops and playing from within those and out towards more fluency.

I’ve just started working on some independence this month, trying to solo within Goya’s Dream. It’s a challenge but I’m keeping my patience.

What I also notice is that to a certain degree, focusing on the LH motor and not the improvising RH, is very helpful. This translates better while practicing drums because there are fewer fingers performing less music .

Worth a try any way, as it tends to free up the RH.

Love

"going by ear and trying to play something that’s melodic and coherent"

My opinion;I think that is the goal whether one choose to ignore the fact that one knows the names for the scales, chords, intervals and rhythms being heard (or imagined) or not... Context is everything and if you are in an improvisational situation and not listening, well that's kind of like showing up to work late without your tools... Whether you are the "main improviser" or support staff, you may have to adjust what you are playing to suit the moment and support the music. Y'know, make stuff up. Add or subtract. State or imply...

What inspires me a lot when I improvise is to hear a musician I play with reacting to what I play and vice versa. Often it happens within a rhythmic pattern. Listening to the others is a great quality.

Greg, and all others. I have read this book several times now and find something new to be inspired about each time. After the first reading, I went online and purchased enough copies to give to my band for Christmas presents. I will keep "Free Play" , by Stephen Nachmanovitch like a treasure and return to it often. And I will keep my cd of "water on the Moon", by some guy who plays the Stick pretty well, (whose name escapes me just now ) right along side it.

Mike

I want this on my tombstone.

Well, I think that for the next phase of my own development I am going to simplify the rhythm/accompaniment aspect during my practice so that I can better refine what I already know on other instruments, and transfer it to the Stick.

"Simplify" is maybe a poor description... I think what I want to do is better manage the accompaniment space while stretching out a bit. Not like I am going to lose what I have gained thus far haha

On an improvisational note, I'm really working on my awareness of the measure, each beat weak/strong anticipations, tying over the bar line, hemiola, etc etc as well as all the harmonic stuff.

Playing tunes with cool solos! Woo!

If you take a listen to the early Bebop era, much of the music and improv was built on the same basic chord changes. "I've Got Rhythm" was a very popular piece for them to borrow changes from. So the players could get together, knowing the changes, etc., they were pretty free to explore the improv. Unless you spent time analyzing this music, you may not know its underlying simplicity.