Developing Your Melodic Sense for Improvisation --
What is Melodic? (John Adams)

"WHAT IS MELODIC?" Defining what we are after:

The three most common compliments I hear jazz players (and fans) use of players they admire are that their solos are "swinging," "burning," and/or "melodic." Obviously the three terms are not mutually exclusive, but whatever their definitions, as commonly understood, it could be argued that the goal for aspiring players is to be all three.

To define these terms apart from the music itself is akin to describing romantic love to a three-year-old. But for instructional purposes I would define "swinging" as playing with strong, clear, and idiomatic (belonging to the style) rhythmic elements. "Burning," "cooking," "smoking," and other such terms refer to the amount of energy being conveyed by the player, which is really a result of the presence of the other two elements. Perhaps the hardest of the three to define is "melodic." One of the taboos of writing is to use a term in its own definition, but in this instance it is hard not to. It could be said that music that is "melodic" is music that contains elements of the tradition of great melodies! It seems that the term most often refers to music that has a lyrical, sing-able quality to it. It implies clarity, direction, and control of note-choice. However it should be noted that "melodic" music of some periods, cultures, and artists will likely not seem so to those to whom it is unfamiliar. Like other genres, as jazz has developed, there is a wide latitude of expression and of perception of rhythm, energy, and melody. However the terms do have meaning, and great music of all genres has some balance of all three elements.

There are several barriers for beginning improvisors to play melodically. First, there may be a lack of harmonic understanding of a given tune, and its melodic implications. Secondly, there is an inherent gap that must be bridged between what a person hears internally and his ability to find it on his instrument, and finally there is the technical hurdle of being able to play melodically in time (rhythmically), at the tempo the tunes is being played at. In a nutshell, it is hard because the improviser is basically expected to compose melodies on the spot. It is my observation that an additional barrier to melodic soloing, and for that matter, swinging, is the lack of emphasis on melody and rhythm in much of the current jazz education. The focus often seems to be, intended or not, on "making the changes" or regurgitating patterns and scales. But I have heard many experienced jazz artists indicate that their initial approach to jazz soloing (sometimes for years) was to simply rhythmically and melodically embellish the melody of tunes they were playing.

There are practical ways to work on developing the rhythmic aspects of one's playing which will be dealt with in another article, and for now we will dwell on the area of the melodic.

"HOW DEEP IS THE OCEAN?" Great resources to draw from: Since we are defining "melodic" as "music containing elements of the tradition of great melodies," the first place to start is by recognizing that tradition. All of us listen to music in a context of what we have already been exposed to. Before trying to "reinvent the wheel," begin by starting the life-long process of learning as much as you can from the melodies of others, both composed and improvised. To an improviser wanting to develop melodically, I would challenge that until you have a deep, internal knowledge of what great melodies are and what makes them great, you will have no internal guide about the melodic content of what you are trying to improvise. The current jazz improviser (and listener) can draw from a large reservoir of genres, spanning the whole history of jazz, beginning with its roots in blues, gospel, and ragtime, and through all of its idioms, including the melodies, arrangements, and solos of the jazz greats. To some extent there may be a melodic influence from classical/western-art music, hymns, and folk and pop music. How much of each of those genres have you listened to, performed, studied, attempted to write, and/or improvised? The extent of your answer is the extent of the depth of the melodic reservoir you will draw from.

Although there are a wide range of sources for melodic inspiration, I will suggest that aside from a growing collection of recordings from many genres and artists, you should at least have copies of the following written material to study from: the Norton Anthology of Western Music (scores of many of the great western music pieces), the J.S. Bach Two- and Three-Part Inventions, The J.S. Bach Solo-cello suites (incredible for learning how to make unaccompanied melodies that create the sound of harmony), a good hymnal, a legal "fake-book" of standards and jazz tunes, and the Charlie Parker "Omni Book," and/or books of the tunes and/or solos of other great artists. Although I am a strong advocate of learning solos and melodies by ear and transcribing, there is some value in sparing use of published solo books, at least for comparison.

"WHAT YOU SEE IS WHAT YOU GET;" Analyzing great melodies: Just owning good materials, recorded and written, won't improve your playing any more than owning a set of golf clubs makes you a better golfer. You must dig in and study what you have. It is imperative that you make a point from here on to never again learn a piece apart from a growing understanding of it; no more learning by wrote! The art of analyzing what you are seeing/hearing is a valuable skill for any musical development. It is what will enable you to correlate and adapt the musical information. For example if you are playing a melodic line that implies a ii-V progression but don't recognize it as such, you are missing an obvious application of the line; it will not be as adaptable for you. One of the methods used by the classical "masters" along this line was the practice of having their students copy the scores of the masters, with the hope that during the long process of transferring one note at a time the student would gain insight into what the master was doing to create a given "sound."

Analyze the harmony of everything you read. Like in other areas of development, don't try to start with Mt. Everest! If you have never analyzed music before it might be helpful to begin by analyzing a piece you already familiar with, such as a simple "classical" piece, a pop tune, or a hymn that has written accompaniment. Compare each note and/or group of notes in the melody to the harmony in the accompaniment. You will likely notice that some groups of notes seem to be arpeggiations of a chord, some might be scales, and some individual notes or groups of notes might seem to be extra chromatic notes ("passing notes," "neighbor notes," etc.). If you can't figure out the chord progression from the written accompaniment, trying a simpler piece, or even using one which has both written accompaniment and chord symbols would be helpful. Of course a good music theory class or lessons which deal with melodic and harmonic analysis would be valuable. I strongly recommend that you try penciling in your estimates of the implied harmony of a piece from melody-line alone before comparing it with the actual accompaniment part. If you are diligent and patient, you will eventually be able to analyze the harmonic implications of ALL of the music you read, even jazz solos or unaccompanied, single-line music like the Bach Solo-suites.

A surprising side benefit from this kind of work is that it will usually improve your sight-reading, turning your sight-reading into a sort of "sight-analysis."

"WHAT DO I DO WITH IT?" Practical ideas for development/incorporation: Work on internally "hearing" everything you play. Even scale practice should be a time for developing your melodic sense. Try playing the notes of scale (remember to use all types of scales, not just majors) as a chain of fermatas over a sustained bass note on a piano, or even over a play-along recording with very static harmony. Really try to focus on what each note of the scale sounds like against that bass note or chord. The notes that sound "tense" to you, like they want to resolve (move step-wise up or down to another note in the scale) are replicating an important characteristic of good melodies; a sense of tension and resolution. Keep in mind though, that some intervals that may seem tense to you at first may grow on you and sound beautiful. It is one thing to theoretically understand intervals, but exercises like this will teach you some of the melodic application of intervals.

Another helpful thing to work on for internal "hearing" is to try and sing everything you are trying to learn. It may have to be rubato or slow, and you may have to change the octave you are singing in at times, but this is immense value. If you don't play a wind instrument you have the added opportunity and challenge of trying to sing along with what you are playing. If you play a wind instrument or are a vocalist, then you are already facing the challenging of hearing what you are trying to play.

6. Memory learning of pieces

If you can't play simple melodies by ear, why are you surprised that is is difficult for you to play complex things by ear? One exercise that I have used in my teaching which will help narrow the gap between hearing and playing referred to above is what I call "the simple tune game." You and a partner or teacher with your instruments ready take turns choosing simple or very famous melodies for each other to play. Begin with "Happy Birthday," children's songs, jingles, TV themes, etc. and get more complex as your ears "warm-up." Vary the tempos and keys, or as you start to get good at it. There are many possible variations, but one is to choose a tune, then both of you take turns playing it in all twelve keys (maybe around the cycle of fifths), or even take turns embellishing the tune. All of this can be practiced alone of course.

3. Slow moving melody thru a progression

4. Static note over a progression

5. Quotation

"DIFFERENT STROKES..." Finding your "voice:" I will never forget the time when, as a budding jazz student, a school-friend of mine first told me it sounded like I was "finding my voice." The sensation that I was really hearing melodies that I could play improvise, instead of simply playing patterns or licks or scales, was exhilarating.

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