You'll Hear It: Full Album Deep Dives with Jazz Musicians - 7 Ways to Improve Your Soloing

Episode Date: October 1, 2019

Got a session or gig tonight but feel like your solos have been lackluster lately? Adam and Peter give you 7 ways to make your solos stand out.7 Ways to Improve Your SoloingListenTranscribeLearn tunes & phrases (or even whole solos) in different keysBe fearlessOmit the bad parts of your soloInteract with the drummerPay attention to architecture in the world and apply it tor your playingLike those You'll Hear It shirts Peter shows off on the podcast? Want some YHI swag of your own? Take a visit to our store! Just go to https://teespring.com/stores/open-studioLet us know what you think by leaving a ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ review, or head over to our YouTube channel and leave a comment for this episode.Interested in more jazz advice? Go here to browse our catalog of jazz lessons and courses available for purchase.Follow us on Facebook, Twitter & Instagram at:https://www.facebook.com/heyopenstudiohttps://twitter.com/heyopenstudiohttps://www.instagram.com/heyopenstudio See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Hey Adam. Yeah. How's your computer doing? Oh, come on, man. Sorry. Couldn't help it. Wait, is that the intro? I'm Adam Manus.

And I'm Peter Martin. And you're listening to the You'll hear at podcast. Daily jazz advice coming at you. We have fun. We have fun. So if we keep that, well, we have to keep that intro because we're not redoing it. No. But that's always funny when we stop and one of us thinks, oh, we're going to redo the

intro. Yeah. Which, now that part we occasionally do. We don't really edit anything else. No. Unless there's some kind of legal reason we have to edit. Yeah. Right.

We do, yeah, unless we, like, give away personal information to friends and family, which we've done before are live on air. But if we improvise everything on the show, obviously it's not scripted or else it would be much, much better. Well, at least, tighter at least. Yeah, yeah. But the intro is when we're specifically trying to be funny or witty or throw the other one, and those are usually when it all goes off the rails. Yeah.

But you know what? We never do more than... Two or three. 100. See, we scripted that. Good. What are we talking about today? I forgot. I know on my computer. So what's happening a little behind-the-scenes thing?

Adam's been having some computer problem. Brian, go get the bourbon. He only, he refers to him, he refers to it as a computer problem like there's something wrong with his model, like it's old, or like there's some sort of defect in it. Yes, he'll say everything. And then occasionally he mentions what is likely the main culprit. which is that your cat threw up on your inside of your computer. That perhaps is why it's malfunctioning. But you just sort of blame the world for it.

My computer's all messed up. Apple, way to go with your old model, you know. I can't blame the cat. Cats too much of a part of the family. I can't get that. Oh, that's exactly when you blow. What are you talking about? That's when you blame them hard when they're part of the family.

No, what happened was is I, you know, I don't know if you know this, but I built a little writing studio for myself down in my basement. and I left my computer open because I was writing late into the night and the cat likes to sleep there on the chair by that computer does. A little cat nap, which is why oftentimes my bottom is covered in cat hair

when I come into work here. Bottom's covered in cat hair, your computer's covered in cat puke. Well, yeah, the other night, the cat just decided didn't like whatever went down and it came up. So your cat's more of a Windows PC

kind of guy, apparently. I mean, I cleaned it up, but... I told you got to open. open that bad boy up, let all that puke out. Oh, I'm about to open it up. Open up something. Anyway, yeah, shout out to Apple.

For your non-pute-proof computer. Yeah, if someone could come up with a cat puke-resistant MacBook Pro, that would be very helpful for me. Thank you. So, okay, so today we're talking about, we're going to give the folks, we're going to give you good folks, seven ways to improve your soloing. You know, sometimes we fall off the rails, and then we like to come back on the rails and go next level. These are actionable tips. These are, these are, and you know what?

You're underselling it, but I like that. We're going to call them actionable tips, and then people may realize by the end these are mind-blowing, you know, manifestations of knowledge that are seismic in their development. But we'll see. Maybe it'll be somewhere in between. It'll be somewhere in between, for sure. But I will say before we start the list, like,

what's cool about this list is you could really just take one of these things to your gig tonight or to your session tonight. Yeah. And think about, like, just one of these. Just like, this is what I'm going to do when I play. I'm just going to think about one of these items on our list here, and that will help you're playing a lot. Just like kind of focusing, what you used to say?

Simplify and isolate. Simplify and isolate, yeah. That's what this is all about. Yeah, and I think these things are really, they're all about, you know, specific things within your musicianship. We're going to apply them and talk about them in terms of solo, solo improvisation. But now that I'm looking at again, they're really just about enhancing. Like, I'm thinking about a classical musician,

taking some of these things because classical musicians are often better I think with their practice routine than jazz musicians in that this element of simplify and isolate like they're very much like they're not thinking about the chord changes like that's not going to get in their way

yeah in a way they have it a little easier because all the information is given to them but in another more accurate way it's way way harder oh yeah yeah I mean they both have their but I mean there is a focus that it's kind of demanded just to play that music and then to say Okay, now I know this melody, like how, let me really work on the lyricists, whereas we can get caught up in, like, let me work on another way to play through these changes.

Let me try another. And sometimes you got to spam. So, yeah, definitely you can take any of these. You can take them one day a week. You can take one for a week. And then the next week, this would give you seven weeks of things, but I think there's a lot to work here. And number one, of course, is, listen. I love to hear that.

I love to listen to you say that. The supple sounds of Adam Man is saying, listen. Listen. Yeah. No, so this is number one for a reason, as always. When you are soloing, when you are improvising, I mean, whether you're soloing, solo piano, solo bass, or with a big band. Yeah. Listening is the most crucial thing that you can do always, but especially when you're soloing, especially when you're improvising.

Because it's, first of all, it's helping you get ideas because you're reacting to things that are happening in the moment. Yeah. Right? So you're there with the audience, you're there with your bandmates, and you're responding to what they're putting down, responding to sort of even just like the vibrations in the room sometimes can affect the way you might approach your solo. But then also you're hearing yourself in your place within the music, and I think that's another key thing there. That's great. So number two, and I'll just kind of this segues right in, because I was also thinking about listening to recordings and stuff.

And so taking that to number two is to transcribe. Transcribe other solos. This is really, you know, one of the quickest ways to improve your soloing is by understanding and taking the knowledge from somebody else that can already do it better than you. And so I would just say to emphasize, you know, we've talked about this at length before we've done whole shows about transcribing. But for this purpose, I would just want to emphasize it's like learn the solo. And then really think about applying concepts that you learn from that solo. Bigger picture things than just licks and phrases.

You'll get those two, of course. But to really improve your soloing, especially in the short term, I believe, because sometimes the vocabulary and stuff has to kind of seep into your playing over time. But we're talking about ways to improve your soloing now. It's like maybe even take a concept of a solo that you've transcribed already and see if you can apply it to your playing. So a lot of times I like to think about structural. concepts and constructs

of a solo. For sure. And then, because you can apply that to any kind of solo. Like, if you're trying to apply like how Charlie Parker plays the B-Bop scale or if he does over a B-flat blues, you can only take that to B-flat blues. It's very specific.

It's so specific. Yeah, yeah. But the big, the great things, there's so many things you can get from transcribing, but the great thing is I think these big picture ideas that you can take. And I mean, an example is just sort of a general flow and arc of a solo. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And not just the obvious one as far as build up and then climax and then at the end. But like maybe you transcribe your solo that has multiple climaxes or climaxes early and then comes down and then goes really low or whatever it is.

And see how you can apply that to anything that you're soloing, you know? For sure. Because there will be places you can. And you can simplify and isolate this concept as well because you can pick just one thing. Like let's say I just want to pick the negative space of this great solo, right? And just try to copy, you know, the soloist's use of space. I hate going negative, though, but you're right. You know what I mean, though, like paying attention to how long between phrases happen

and how it shortens or lengthens or whatever they're doing. Or maybe the range. Like sometimes I'll be inspired when I hear someone start a solo in a surprising range and then work their way up or down at a certain point. And I'm like, wow, they went like way down into like the low baritone range during the peak of this solo. That's crazy. Yeah. That's a great idea, you know. Stuff like that.

It could be anything. Dynamics, whatever. Pick one thing and see if you can ape that. Yep, good stuff. All right. Number three, learn tunes and phrases in different keys or even whole solos. This is crucial part of growth. You can't really play something unless you can play it in all keys.

Right, forwards and backwards. Retrograde in foreign language. No, no, we don't take it that far. Not that far, but I mean, I think it really is, it's not overstated that it's an important part of the process of being an improviser because there are just situations every single set that require something from most keys. You know, maybe you're not playing a tune in B,

but there's going to be a moment in every gig or every set where you've got to deal with the key of B in some way. So you've got to get that there, you know. And I think that, you know, this is the one that you can improve your ear training, which always improves your soloing. I mean, when you combine this one with like the listening and transcribe, now you're going to be able to start to play these ideas and these concepts that you're beginning to understand and actually apply them to your soloing.

Sometimes like we can hear things and be like, wow, I want to play that. But there's the technical side of it, of course, you know, that you have to be able to execute on your instrument. But then there's the even more difficult thing, I would say, which is the ear training and having big ears, as we say, in really good ears. And, you know, practicing anything in different keys is one of the quickest ways to improve that. So true. And also, you mentioned the technical thing. I think like a hidden benefit of this, right, is that you're going to fill in some gaps in your technique.

You know, when you practice on all keys, when you play in all keys, you're hearing in all keys, but you're also dealing with tricky things on every instrument in all keys. Yep, absolutely. Okay, number four, this is to, this is of our seven ways to improve your solo. Number four, be fearless. Okay, now this is one I think that you can apply,

both in your practice and especially on the gig. And if you want to improve, you have to try things. So you have to get rid of fear. You have to check fear. You have to find some way, you know, through meditation or drugs or alcohol or... Sorry. Sorry, sorry, I can't say it. Don't listen to that at home.

No, but you really have to find some way of dealing with your mental state so that you can play in a way that's fearless. And that's not... You know, it's simple, but it's not easy. No, this is actually one of the harder things. things because this requires some work on your life. You know what I mean? Because you have to be, in order to be fearless on the bandstand, you have to have some amount of fearlessness just in life. Absolutely.

You have to be comfortable with that if you're going to do it in front of a bunch of people. Absolutely. But I think that how we can use our mind to our advantage is to say, look, okay, yeah, it's hard to walk around without fear. But some situations are easier than others. And really, soloing is one of your lower risk things. Like to be able to, you know, say, I'm going to drive. drive around and close my eyes and drive through the city without fear.

That would be at that very difficult scale because you're going to hit somebody. You might get killed. You might kill some. I mean, there's a lot of horrible things that can happen. To try something and to be fearless and to really go to the edge and even beyond in a solo outside of, you know, a few. Has there ever been a life or death like of solo? You know where like if you messed up, you were going to be killed or somebody else was? It's not mortal fear.

Put a gun on your head. Play a great solo. It's not mortal fear. I think it's, and this is where it could apply off the bandstand, too. It's more just fear of failure. Yeah. That's what we're talking about. We're talking about being fearless.

It's don't be afraid to fail because we're going to take, you know, if you're afraid to fail, you're not going to take risks. You're not going to try to push yourself. And it's going to be bad. But what happens is, yeah, absolutely. But if you can understand the benefits of it, I think then it becomes easier to see, most people don't really understand the benefits. They're always thinking, let me work.

Like, their fear of failure is so acute. that they're like, let me work out everything that I'm going to play so that I never appear to be failing. So in doing that, they're actually setting themselves up to fail because there's no way you can plan out your improvisation and make it sound spontaneous. No. And there's no way you can actually execute it perfectly most of the time. Exactly, exactly. So I think that this idea of like, well, let's turn it around and let's turn it on its head fear and say, you know what? Actually, I'm going to be fearful because I'm going to put myself into a difficult spot.

I'm going to back myself into the corner and see if I can get myself out of it. And just like if you're actually backed into a corner with somebody that's like physically trying to dominate you or something, your body will, just like, you know, we're animals. You will get powers in your body. You know, the hair will, you know, you're like fear, fear. Your body will get ready and they've proven this will be able to do things and you'll be able to hit strength that you normally can't. Your adrenaline's run. I mean, it's a whole chemical thing that happens. Sure.

And so we can use that when we're playing too. But you have to be willing to put yourself in those kind of situations. So maybe I didn't say this right by saying be fearless, but like don't be afraid of fear. And that's really a way that you can use to improve your solo. I think it's spot on that. I think this might be one of the more important things on this list as well. Yeah. Face your fears.

All right. Well, now we have number five. Just look at your computer. You can see it. I have my little mini computer. That is a little mini computer. Yeah, I like number five. It's omit the bad parts of your solo.

Breathe. Take your time. only play the good stuff you know. Now that sounds simplistic. Just don't play bad, is what you said. Stop sucking so much. What did you mean by this, actually? So this actually, it's kind of funny, but I really believe this.

If you want to improve your soul in like tonight, like some of these, we're trying to do things that are quick, but they all require practice. But this is one that you literally can just do on your gig tonight without any improvement before. Yeah. Totally mindset. But what this is like, it's just being a little bit more thoughtful

about what you're going to play and commit to playing less. So you're not going to play everything you can possibly play, but what's going to happen is the good stuff is going to have some room to breathe. I think part B to this too is something that I like to do every so often is, you know, ask yourself, am I about to play something I actually want to play? Or is this just something I learned along the way and I don't even really like it? Yeah, just sort of muscle memory or whatever. Yeah, yeah, like why am I playing this?

I don't even want to play this. Yeah. It's like muscles manner. or Muscle Shoals, Alabama. And you're not alone in that. Everybody has those things that we just have developed and then we kind of make our way in the playing. Then you hear it back and you're like,

why do I do that? But the thing is, like this could really be combined with being fearless too. Like it sounds like you're being careful, but you're not. You're still going for stuff. You're just omitting the kind of filler things. It's like if you have a conversation with someone,

you can be very direct and like look at them and tell them what it is that you want to tell them. Yeah. But if it's like a strong statement, a lot of times we'll get into the, this thing of saying, well, I'm thinking, um, and what's, like kind of small talk or banter or whatever, which is fine. But if you're really trying to make a statement, omit that stuff and let there be silence,

there's a band play, breathe, that the breathing kind of forces you to have some silence. And then you're going to be able to like kind of concentrate on really nailing and putting your good, your best foot forwards at the parts that you do put. And again, that negative space is super important. Think about if like a stand-up comic was just a, I'm going to tell a joke now and here's the punchline. Now here's the next joke. Now here's the next punchline.

Isn't that great? I'm going to set this next joke up and here's the punchline for that one. I'm going to come back and retag it. That would suck. Right. You know, if you watch a good stand-up, they have these like incredible, they have an incredible sense of timing. Wait, you're saying the timing is a part of comedy?

Okay. Come on, man. Okay, I got to go, guys. No, but that's right. And also, like, if you think about the reason I think that people can do this tonight is that we're not saying, like, you have to vastly improve your soloing. What I'm saying is like your solo will vastly improve

if all you do is just omit the lesser parts of it. So your percentage just went up because you know what I mean? So like you still are who you are and you've got your phrases, but you're going to highlight the good ones and not just dribble, drabble in between. Just don't play anything. And you're going to breathe and listen and chill.

I like it. Okay. All right. Number six is interact with the drummer. Hey, that's nothing wrong with that. That's probably, I think, interacting with anybody is good, but I think interacting with the drummer is, you know,

for improving your playing and getting ideas is the way to go. Well, I kind of borrowed this from that episode we did a couple weeks ago about the monk sheet. Yeah. You know, he said, make the drummer sound good. Yeah. And I always think about this. If I'm feeling a little stuck, I'll be like, you know what, I'm just going to make the drummer sound good right now. And that always works. It just always just gets the band

together and everybody up and, you know, engages the audience. It's an easy pro tip to apply. You can do that tonight too. Exactly. Exactly. And I mean, I think that we, you know, we forget when we talk about ways to improve our soloing. It's like all about me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me. And to the audience, your solo

is a culmination of everybody playing on stage. Now, if you're playing solo piano, it is me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, but otherwise, if there's at least a duo, you know, it really isn't all about you. Yeah, you're the solos. It's just like the quarterback on a football team. It's like, you know, he or she gets all the glory,

but, you know, it's a team effort. It really is. And so when they do a touchdown pass, it's not just him and the receiver. So from the audience perspective, you know, I would even extend this beyond the drummer to just kind of latch on to and interact with whoever's the best. Yeah, and actually that's a great point.

Whoever's the best. Or whoever's the best of that moment, at least. Yeah, for sure. No, that's great. All right. All right. Is that, we got one more. Okay. So this one, I went a little deep on this,

but I think I always like to think about ways to improve that are away from our instrument because. Hold on, right, pen out. There we go. Right. We talk about all, you know, and all the things at our instrument and all the band son are important, but there's ways to improve away from that. So this is to pay attention to the world. And in particular, like, art that's in the world. And there's, we always talk about different ways to be inspired and make connections between, be it pros or theater or the cinema and all these things. But I love architecture and applying that to jazz

solos because it's such a great reminder of like things that are important that we need to have in our playing that would vastly improve our playing if we just pay attention to it so you know the simplest way to think about this we're not going to have time to go through all of them maybe we'll do a whole show on it one time but but you know a house or a building you know architects are very sort of pragmatic usually because they're hired they're not like a sculptor that's just like create whatever you want usually an architect is hired like there's a utilitarian side of it because people are using it. They're craftsmen.

They're craftsmen. And I like to think of jazz musicians kind of like that too. We have, of course, the art side. But, like, we're trying to create something in the moment that's usable by the listeners, you know, at least by us. And so, like, an architect can do a lot of crazy stuff

and be creative. But at a certain point, you guys have a door. You got to have an entryway. You know what I mean? Like, that's kind of a requirement. If it's a building... Usually. I mean, how is it going to get in the sucker?

And, like, well, think about that for a solo, don't we have to have some entry point? It can be, you know, obscure. good stuff. Don't go too deep. Let's do tomorrow's episode. Really? Let's do architecture.

Seven ways that architecture can help your jazz plan. I think this is a good idea. That just happened. Yeah. Stay tuned for that tomorrow. But hey, in the meantime, go to Open StudioJazz.com.

Check out all of our cool courses by our cool hip cats. Wait, that was yesterday. That was yesterday. Yeah, sorry. No, we have tons of great courses by folks like Diane Reeves, Peter Martin, Jeffrey Keiser,

Christian McBride, Sean Jones, Gregory Hutchinson, Rubin Rogers, tons of awesome features. I'm up in there doing a bunch of stuff now For like... Beechy basics.

It's popping like a Orville Redenbocker popcorn bag In my microwave. Like a jazz piano popcorn explosion Like a jiffy pop on a stove But with bebop language. That's right.

We're raising the price on that scene too. I'm adamant about that. Are we? I'm Adam in. It's too low. Until too low. You'll hear it.