Why Play an Improvised Solo?

Steve Raybine:

Blog #19:

Why Play an Improvised Solo?

I asked one of my percussion students, Eric Neely (8th grader), why he might want to play an improvised solo on the drumset? After a brief hesitation, Eric replied, "You'd play a drum solo in order to show-off." I thanked Eric for his candidness, but then followed-up with the subsequent rhetorical question, "Are there any other reasons for an instrumentalist to play an improvised solo other than to show-off their skills to other people?"

For many people, playing a solo is, in fact, only an opportunity to 'show-off' and try to impress people. On a much deeper level, playing an improvised solo involves harnessing your musical skills, knowledge and intuition in order to communicate thoughtful; mindful and creative musical ideas. Intelligently-conceived improvising is not a random and arbitrary process, but is the byproduct of a talented and skilled musical technician and improvisor. With younger students or less experienced improvisors, playing a solo may not yet reflect a logical and creative approach that results in a more profound improvisation. The evolution of any disciplined musician is a maturation process, whereupon he or she may one day be able to generate more sophisticated musical thoughts on their instrument. It is, in fact, the desire to communicate musically with others and with yourself that inspires young and older artists alike to both develop and cherish the art of improvisation.

Learning to improvise is akin to learning a new language. Initially, you need to learn the extensive musical vocabulary (relevant to specific instruments) that will enable you to begin speaking the language. Once you learn the vocabulary, then you can begin organizing your musical ideas into cohesive thoughts and sentences. From there, musical sentences turn into longer thoughts, much like the development of a paragraph. The longer you can sustain your ideas, the more interesting your musical story will become. Finally, after much study and application of the theoretical principles and musical concepts involved in becoming a skilled player, you will hopefully speak fluently and eloquently on your instrument as you create your improvisations.

There is a great deal of musical information to absorb before you become a skilled improvisor on your instrument. Try to remember that learning to play a musically-satisfying solo on your instrument is an unfolding process--a rather lengthy process at that, in most instances. So, why would you want to play an improvised solo on your instrument? Because it is a joy to express yourself creatively; it is a musically-rewarding experience to communicate your 'innermost' musical thoughts to others; it is an exhilarating experience to 'challenge' yourself musically on your instrument and because it is fun!

Copyright 2007 Steve Raybine

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