Help needed in improvising from a Realbook

I'm pretty well versed in playing straight note-for-note easy standards from the Realbook, like Autumn Leaves, Take Five, Misty, How High the Moon, and Green Dolphin Street. But my question is how do I improvise???

Specifically, how do you know which notes you can play together (like two notes played at once)? Does it have to be third or sixth intervals, etc? I know the best way is to noodle around with it, but can someone give me some general guidelines on how to "jazz" it up? I've been playing most of these standards with a pick, but I'm moving towards just using my fingers. If someone could give me examples with a song like Autumn Leaves, I'd appreciate it a lot!!

Thanks!

Start listening to jazz recordings...lots of 'em.

It doesn't have to be any specific interval, and in the end it will be whichever two notes you like the sound of! But while your ear and fingers get used to it, it's good to practice each interval and start with 3rds and 6ths.

First thing is can you harmonize 3rds through a major scale? For example if it is C can you do this:

c-e (both notes together) , d-f, e-g, f-a, g-b, a-c, b-d, c-e (octave above where you started) and then go backwards? Try to do this both up the strings and across the neck.

If you can do that then in a tune like Autumn Leaves you just see what key you are in (I think the most recent Real Book has it in G/Em, so you would play your 3rds in G major throughout the changes to see how they sound against each chord. This would not work for tunes that have more key changes within the tune, and while we could point out different key centers in Autumn Leaves you can consider it all G major for this exercise. Now take a simple melody that you would normally play with single notes and harmonize it on 3rds.

After you are comfortable playing melodies harmonized in 3rds through the changes, do the same process but with 6ths. You can do it will all the intervals to. Some might sound odd to you at first (7ths, 2nds) but it will open your ear up and they are actually really cool (in my opinion).

Oh and you can use a pick for this, no specidic reason to use your fingers other than preference.

.....and start taking lessons.

Yea it's much easier to show this in a lesson.

Shameless bump...anyone else with advice? Does someone have a sample sheet music of an improvised piece from the Realbook, so I have an example? Something that's not crazy complex?

Thanks!

Here's some links to arrangements with chord block diagrams superimposed over 'fake book' head charts ...
(These are PDF's)
http://www.tedgreene.com/images/lessons/students/PaulVachon/WhenSunnyGetsBlue_TedGreene_Arr_grids_and_notation _p1.pdf
http://www.tedgreene.com/images/lessons/students/PaulVachon/WhenSunnyGetsBlue_TedGreene_Arr_grids_and_notation _p2.pdf
* 'X' notes in chord diagrams are melody notes played after the main chord.

This is the site page it came from. Some are difficult, others are easier (they're ALL great arrangements).
http://www.tedgreene.com/fromstudents/default.asp

Here's the 'main' site - there's a TON of great info, lessons and arrangements here (also in the 'forum' section)
http://www.tedgreene.com/default.asp

Have fun!

Shameless bump...anyone else with advice? Does someone have a sample sheet music of an improvised piece from the Realbook, so I have an example? Something that's not crazy complex?

Thanks!


yes, take lessons. improvising over a tune is not something that can be covered in an internet post. i've spent the last 10 years on this, and i'll spend the rest of my life learning more.

sans giving you a lesson, my first advice would be, get to know your inversions. all the way up the neck. know how to build chords, and how to grab them on the fly. i know, you're asking, how do you improvise over a tune in single notes or diads...my answer is the same. gotta know those chords.

once you know your hords up and down the neck, the fretboard lights up like a christmas tree with every change, giving you a new pool of notes to draw from. pick up mickey baker's book 1, and ted greene's chord chemistry, and get in the shed.

and of course, have fun!

You can play the melody already, that's a good thing. You can go two ways from there: either add something to it or take away from it. In other words, try to embellish it with adding notes between the original ones, or try to not play some of them first. Later on, when you gain more freedom you'll notice you can completely replace melody notes and return to them whenever you want. The key is to be able to hear the original tune playing in your head no matter what.

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yes, take lessons. improvising over a tune is not something that can be covered in an internet post. i've spent the last 10 years on this, and i'll spend the rest of my life learning more.
Exactly. Your question has a really long answer. Jazz is one of the more advanced areas of guitar music. It requires more than an average knowledge of the fretboard and chords, and a deeper than average background in technique and theory.

Ask around to find out who the best teachers are; not the best players, the best teachers---it's a totally different skill. Then take lessons.

I'm a little short of time/money to go get lessons (still in grad school). Would the Jody Fisher jazz books be a good place to start?

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_gw?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=jody+fisher&x=0&y=0

Thanks!