Scales vs music

Al Stevens

Al Stevens

Every day I practice scales for not as long as I should. The idea is to get them under my fingers so that when a harmonic context comes along I don't fumble with the notes. This is for improvisation mostly, which is mostly what I play.

Funny thing about scales. I can't play most of them very fast. It's just a finger-busting thing fighting the non-intuitive ergos of this device called a saxophone.

But when playing an improvised line against, say, a B or F# tonal center, I can rip those notes out no problem, any speed up to my current tempo ceiling, which ascends with time and practice.

I wonder why that is. Maybe it's because my pea-sized brain is processing some right-brainy melodic line instead of a left-brainy scale finger muscle memorization. Or, worse, the abstract whole, whole, whole, half,...

A piano teacher once told me, "the best solution to a technical problem is the musical solution." This must be what he meant.
 
At one time I used to try and play rhythmic scales. made it kinda fun to improvise on scales. I didn't have to go all the way up but had to play each ascending or descending note depending which way I was going. This is after I actually play the scale straight.
 
For a warmup. I play a chromatic scale from Low C to High C and back down to low Bb. I do this as fast as possible, with an even rhythm. I do this to knock the cob webs out. I've gotten pretty damn fast at this since I've been doing it for about 30+ years. I still think it's the easiest and best way to develop a comfort level with a sax. Once that comfort level is there, improvisation becomes just a mental challenge. No more finger fumbling, just the usual brain dead fumbling. Unfortunately, there's no exercise for my being brain dead. =)
Stephen
 
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All I play is trad jazz, so facility in all keys is unnecessary for what I do. The whole trad-jazz repertoire is limited to just a few keys . . . concert C, Bb, Eb. Ab, Db, F, G, for the most part. So regardless of whether I'm playing a Bb or Eb saxophone (or clarinet), I practice in those keys.

The alto puts me in more difficult keys than does the soprano, but it is still unnecessary for me to practice all the scales. At my age (near 70), I'm not changing.

Plus, I find arpeggios more beneficial than I do scales, either when practicing or actually playing in an ensemble. I can do most of the arpeggios required in even the most difficult trad tunes. Would I like to be able to breeze through all the scales with ease? Maybe, but so far . . . DAVE
 
Playing scales slowly is the right approach. If you can play them perfectly and with absolute confidence at a slow tempo, you can usually double the tempo when necessary.
 
I have always been one to use speed to keep my dexterity up at as high a level as possible. With dexterity comes a level of comfort I need to improvise.

I guess my original post was incomplete. I find that for technical exercises, the chromatic scale at high speed does it for me. Once my comfort level is there, my confidence is there. Confidence allows me to become more adventurous. I never play any structured exercises to improve my improvisation. My biggest issue with improvising, is to NOT follow anothers path. When I really like what I'm hearing from another player, I often find it really hard to not play in the same vein . Structured exercises at least for myself, tend to lead me down the same predictable roads and do little to help me become more creative. My best creative moments have come from forcing myself into unchartered waters. (Also my least favorite). =)
I guess the only exercise I do ,involves listening to music.
If I really don't like the soloist in a piece of music I'm listening to, I'll often try to come up with something in my head that I think better fits the song. I often do this while driving, it's a good way to kill miles while on the road. So for me, my choice for improving my improvisation would be to listen to others I don't like. I know that sounds weird, but it keeps me from becoming too much of a same note.
 
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For myself, my biggest challenge while improvising has been when I'm not connecting with a given piece of music. If the connection is there, and I like the piece, improvisation comes. Usually good enough, but rarely bad. It's when I don't particularly like the piece, is when I'm most challenged.
How does everyone else deal with this ?
 
This thread has struck a chord with me ! The more I dwell on it, the more perplexed I am.

So what I'm hearing is this. Creation, the divine spark, is derived from scales ? I don't see it, I never will.
 
Connical said:
This thread has struck a chord with me ! The more I dwell on it, the more perplexed I am.

So what I'm hearing is this. Creation, the divine spark, is derived from scales ? I don't see it, I never will.
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Funny,

one method of improv that I use, is to do an intro based on arpeggios of the chord designation .. then do an improv (watching the chord progressions too) based on the melody.
 
Dave Dolson said:
All I play is trad jazz, so facility in all keys is unnecessary for what I do.
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I disagree. I grew up on trad. Any tune in any genre can move from its original key into any other tonal center, and trad is no exception.

Japanese Sandman slides from F into A in the second eight measures. Rosetta's bridge shifts from F into A minor. The verse to I'm Coming Virginia as Bix played it is in Eb minor, which is seven flats.

Playing trad doesn't let you off the hook for knowing keys. What happens when you hire a red hot mama? Oops. There go all the standard keys. And those funky key shifts go even deeper into uncomfortable territory.
 
Connical said:
This thread has struck a chord with me ! The more I dwell on it, the more perplexed I am.

So what I'm hearing is this. Creation, the divine spark, is derived from scales ? I don't see it, I never will.
Click to expand...
You're not supposed to see it. You're supposed to hear it.

"Do, a deer, a female deer..."

Don't leave out that first comma, or the animal rights activists will come get you.
 
Al Stevens said:
Japanese Sandman slides from F into A in the second eight measures. Rosetta's bridge shifts from F into A minor. The verse to I'm Coming Virginia as Bix played it is in Eb minor, which is seven flats.
Click to expand...

Eb minor is 6 flats (relative minor of Gb Major). Seven flats would be Ab minor - which is also what you get when you drop a piano down a mineshaft.
 
Al: You are correct about those tunes and their interesting chord changes. I'll add the verse to WHAT IS THIS THING CALLED LOVE?, Doc Cooke's MESSIN' AROUND, and the verse to BALLIN' THE JACK as other examples of some challenging chord progressions in trad jazz.

Still, I haven't found the need for total scale-facility in all the keys. Arpeggios, a good ear for harmony, and "shedding" those particular parts works for me. DAVE
 
I started out my gigging career with a country / western swing band. Our "horn section" was me on sax, a fiddle and a pedal steel guitar. My best (and favorite) keys are F#, B and C#. Strangely, I have a lot of trouble with Db!
 
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