Improvisation is a beautiful way to be able to communicate with other musicians. I teach improvisation in a repeating cycle of three phases:
- freely improvising (I am firm believer in the art of free improvisation and how it opens up a world of possibilities for any musical style)
- improvising on a song or chord progression using theoretical knowledge of keys, scales, and chord tones
- learning and analyzing a recorded improvisation
These three steps apply to jazz improvisation as well as rock or blues. Below are two example lists of solos that I’ve used in the past to teach improvisation via phase three:
Rock solos
- Let It Be – The Beatles
- Mary Had a Little Lamb – Stevie Ray Vaughn
- Bhodishatva – Steely Dan
- Santeria – Sublime
- No Woman No Cry – Bob Marley
Jazz Solos
- So What – Miles Davis
- D Natural Blues – Wes Montgomery
- St. Thomas – Sonny Rollins
- On Green Dolphin Street – Grant Green
- Do It The Hard Way – Chet Baker