Improving Improv Melody

How did it take me so long?

I recently had a breakthrough while working on improving improv melody. It feels a bit like finally finding the clutch in a manual car after being stuck in first gear. This whole time I knew there was a way to shift gears, but for a long time it was just beyond my grasp.

When I put it into words it actually sounds so simple it’s ridiculous. I find that to be the hallmark of many higher level skillsets. After stumbling along in the dark and difficult terrain of the beginner and intermediate stages, something changes. Suddenly you come upon a break in the darkness and the ground levels out. You realize that you’ve come upon a smoothly paved, well lit road. All you had to do was get your feet on the right path and everything becomes so much easier. Traversing the challenging terrain was necessary to make it here, but in the end you see how simple it all really is.

Languages came first.

Personally, I’ve experienced this with learning foreign languages. There are the rules of grammar that seem endless and nonsensical. Every bit you learn feels encapsulated and separate from all the rest. In that environment it’s so hard to remember everything and make it all work together. One day, as if by magic (although it’s really through serious study and practice), you’re standing on the paved road. Everything coalesces into a larger, cohesive picture. All those separate bits and pieces were actually pieces of a single image this whole time.

Unity.

That’s how I feel about the recent discovery I’ve made while working to improve on my improv melodies. Pieces from vocal melodies, instrumental hooks, and every kind of melody out there finally came together into one, big mosaic that demonstrated a unifying idea:

There is a primary melodic line within every melody.

The more intelligible and developed this line is, the better the overall image will sound. And this can also be used to guide you as you play in an improvisational setting. Find the main melody, and all the notes in between become decorations to accent and develop that melody. This is a concept I can see hinted at all over when I reflect on my experiences with other musicians and teachers. Part of me thinks it’s an idea so basic that I must have missed it by accident somewhere along the way. I’m just glad I’ve realized it now.

What else?

Check out a fun, groovy solo from the song “Spooky” as I rehearse for a coverband gig:

Or this one where I take a look at an improv solo from Luc: