Topher, thanks for the thorough and thoughtful reply. It's clear you've been around the horn on this. You're right that nailing the intro and outro is key, and as I think about the breaks I do play reliably well, I have in my head solid strategies for both. I'm a melody person and any break I play is much more melodic than scalular and arpeggiated (don't think those are real words, but you know what I mean). I've always been reluctant to memorize breaks per se for all the reasons you all are likely aware of but clearly hammering out a solid road map is important. And I love Robin's notion of practicing breaks. What a concept. Anyway, I really appreciate all your thoughts (yours too Linda) and feel fired up with resolve to improve myself. cheers, val
On Nov 10, 12:13 pm, Topher Gayle <[email protected]> wrote: > On creating your break: > ---------------------------------- > There are many approaches to this, so you'll have to try different > things to see what works best for you. And also expect your approach > to change over time as your interests and abilities change and grow. > > Some folks improvise the whole break from scratch, some carefully > create a solo off-line and memorize it, some play a slightly > ornamented version of the melody, and some mix up these ideas. > > In an arrangement which features several soloists, I think it makes > musical sense to start close to the melody and then depart from it. So > if one player tends to play close to the melody, start with them, and > then get progressively crazier. But this is just one approach. > > Playing the melody (or something sort of like it) is always a good > thing to do. When in doubt, this will work. And in fact I like to hear > solos that reflect the melody from time to time. So even if your goal > is free improvisation, or a composed not-quite-the-melody-break, I > think it makes sense to be able to play the melody and insert > recognizable bits of it into the break. > > All that said, I find there are two important things you can try to > improve your odds of getting off to a good start on an improvised > break. First, stop playing a few seconds before you start your break. > No one will notice, usually, and it gives you a chance to think about > when you want your break to start. You might want to start with some > pickup notes. This gives you a little breathing room to get that ready > to go. And it lets you find a good starting note, which is vital. If > you put your finger on the wrong note to start, it can really > discombobulate you. > > Second, it's good to have a little inventory of ending licks which > typically are little notey flourishes, such as the Flatt G-run. They > signal your listeners and bandmates that you are done done done. > > On practicing taking breaks: > ---------------------------------------- > Your idea of practicing three breaks per tune is a very good one. If > you tend to play single passes through the tune in your songs in > performance, though, playing three breaks in a row might not give you > the practice in beginning and ending that you might need, so I'd > suggest you play one break per person in a circle and go around the > whole circle three times to give you that much more practice in > starting and stopping. > > Hope this was interesting. > > TopherOn Wed, Nov 10, 2010 at 6:53 AM, Linda <[email protected]> wrote: > > I am the last one to know anything worth sharing about breaks, but am > > currently in a circumstance where I am asked to improvise over what > > others are playing. When I practice at home, its first, going to the > > scale, then noodling on that. Finding things that suggest or fit with > > the tune. Also I look and mess around with the notes in the given > > chords and consider rhythm, a twist maybe. Leaving something out or > > suggested seems cool. From the noodling, ideas seem to pop out. I > > don't really ever do breaks yet but am playing with someone who plays > > claw-hammer style banjo, old time tunes, occasionally. I try to have > > more than one take of the tune. Seems like that is what a break > > is...kinda, another take on the tune, a suggestion or comment on what > > is already happening, like an aside, like in Shakespeare drama. I > > like to see notation of Monroe's ideas on old time tunes as there are > > clues in there about breaks..for me anyway. The other thing I do is > > find a box position on the neck, using that position to play the > > chords, and see what is nearby that sounds cool with the tune. > > > I think if I were going to do a break, I would use a similar > > approach, get a few things I like going and then go over that till I > > have two or three things pat, up my sleeve that are interesting that > > can be plugged into the tune, things that become part of that tune for > > me. Since I only have a few years experience, I can't go off the > > cuff, so I just agree to do this work hoping it will eventually take > > me there, to spontaneous efforts of genius. HAR All my stuff is > > fairly simple and elementary now but building in complexity. The > > Tater said once that my vocabulary was not very large. Its true. > > After a while, I gather one could create great things off the cuff, > > by knowing the key, the given chords of a tune and its basic shape > > and what its about. > > > I love doing the improv. thing. Seems my own notes are easier to play > > than those of any others. What I can make up, seems pretty good. Its > > an interesting and creative exercise. It would be cool to read what > > the Tater and other more experienced people have to say. Good > > question. > > > Val, I doubt any of this is useful to you but it gave me a chance to > > clarify what I am up to. > > Robin, I feel like you do, re excitement of a break, its worse for > > me if they are not my ideas, I don't seem to believe in the thing > > unless I created it. > > Linda > > > On Nov 11, 12:29 am, Robin Gravina <[email protected]> wrote: > >> Funny you should mention that. After realising that the excitement of > >> launching into a break was making me speed up and lose timing, I spent > >> yesterday working out and practicing breaks to some of our newer songs: It > >> did seem to be useful to figure out something that sounds good in context > >> using the various ideas that are in my head somewhere: I'm definitely not > >> good enough to have those ideas in my fingers, and to be able to reproduce > >> them on the cuff. Also, once you get confident about the learned break, it > >> seems to be easier to improvise off of that, or at least to develop it with > >> other ideas. > > >> But I speak as someone who is fumbling around with this! > > >> Also, what I realised recently is that in our group practices, we don't > >> really practice solos, just play them: so we started doing each solo three > >> times each time we play the song: I think it really helps to get that time > >> to play something comfortably without the pressure of creating a > >> masterpiece > >> in the one moment you have available.... > > >> On Wed, Nov 10, 2010 at 2:19 PM, Val Mindel <[email protected]> wrote: > >> > Anyone have advice on working up breaks? I'm feeling lame, in a wash > >> > of post-gig angst on the subject. Singing is usually what I'm hired to > >> > do, and I do lots of songs in less-than-friendly string keys (flat > >> > keys, F#, like that). Obviously more practice is the ticket, but I > >> > don't know how to practice. Should I create a break and then memorize > >> > it or hope my musical vocabulary improves to the point I can spit out > >> > something coherent in the moment. Oddly enough, I can usually manage a > >> > fine or at least a passable off-the-cuff break in a jam, but when the > >> > crunch comes all those good ideas seem inaccessible. val > > >> > -- > >> > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > >> > "Taterbugmando" group. > >> > To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. > >> > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > >> > [email protected]<taterbugmando%[email protected]> > >> > . > >> > For more options, visit this group at > >> >http://groups.google.com/group/taterbugmando?hl=en. > > > -- > > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > > "Taterbugmando" group. > > To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. > > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > > [email protected]. > > For more options, visit this group > > athttp://groups.google.com/group/taterbugmando?hl=en. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Taterbugmando" group. 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