Hey everyone!
I'm new here so you probably never saw me before, but I am a flute player too! *waves*
I have been playing flute for 26 years, and am an absolute closet flautist right now because it's not my profession. However I do play almost daily, mostly classical pieces that I read. I'm really good at sight reading and I've become really bored with it...
So what I've been doing recently is I've been trying to "razzmatazz" with some music on the stereo. Razzmatazz is not a real term. I think my dad (who's a musician too) made it up with his friends but I"m not really sure where it came from. It means to just make it up on the spot and go with the flow with whatever is playing.
It's really fun, and surprisingly EXTREMELY difficult. at least for me it is! And it's interesting because it'ts not so easy to listen to a song and really catch on to what key it's in, the tempo and the key changes. It's a real challenge and it gives me so much respect to jazz musicians and others who can just listen and "flow".
Does anyone else do this? got any tips for this style?
Thanks!!!
Playing with rock and just razzmatazzing?
Moderators: Classitar, pied_piper, Phineas
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pamplemousse
- Posts: 5
- Joined: Tue Apr 12, 2011 6:50 pm
Re: Playing with rock and just razzmatazzing?
I am coming from the other end (on my main instrument, bass). I have been a rock, jazz and folk player for years, working with either chord charts or nothing. I took up double bass maybe three years ago and have to work very hard at reading and "classical" technique.
So suggestions....
First forget everything you have learned. The paradigm is different, because orchestral players are trained to be a cog in a machine, playing what someone else intended where as improvisation (my word for razzmatazzing) is about creating your own sound. So, for example I will tap my foot and nod my head to keep the beat when improvising, but if I do that in orchestra I get into trouble because I am "fighting the conductor".
Second, study scales and chords and how they work, and apply to different music. Blues will sound different from jazz will sound different from irish folk because they are using different scales, and favouring different harmonies and rhythms. There will also be subtle details in how the notes are shaped. So for example the way you would ornament a baroque piece is probably different from how you might play Berlioz or Debussy (maybe a better flute player than me can offer an example of this on flute, my examples would be all to do with bowing which won't help you on flute unless you have a REALLY weird way of playing).
Third, break things down as simply as you need to, nothing is too basic. So at the moment your challenges are key, tempo and key changes. Work on that. Listen to songs and try and pick the tonic, or clap along with the tempo. Then work up to melodies, creating harmonies, and so on.
Fourth, learn phrases you like - snatches of melody - and practice working them into your music. You might hear these called riffs or licks by some players. Over time you will build a great big repertoire of these phrases you can build solos from. There's an old saying among guitarists "When a classical guy likes what you are playing he compliments you. When a jazz guy likes what you are doing he steals your lines". And it can even get to quoting whole pieces. I used to play with a jazz pianist who would work the theme from either "Inspector Gadget" or "The Simpsons" into a solo every night.
Fifth, be prepared for this to take time, and enjoy the journey. When I switched from being an electric bass player who gets paid to play, and became a double bassist who struggled to keep up with the most basic orchestral pieces, it was really degrading to feel like a beginner again, and that almost derailed the whole process for me. Thankfully the section lead in my orchestra pushed me and got me over the hump at a point when I was wondering if I could do this. And boy have I had a lot of fun with it all.
So suggestions....
First forget everything you have learned. The paradigm is different, because orchestral players are trained to be a cog in a machine, playing what someone else intended where as improvisation (my word for razzmatazzing) is about creating your own sound. So, for example I will tap my foot and nod my head to keep the beat when improvising, but if I do that in orchestra I get into trouble because I am "fighting the conductor".
Second, study scales and chords and how they work, and apply to different music. Blues will sound different from jazz will sound different from irish folk because they are using different scales, and favouring different harmonies and rhythms. There will also be subtle details in how the notes are shaped. So for example the way you would ornament a baroque piece is probably different from how you might play Berlioz or Debussy (maybe a better flute player than me can offer an example of this on flute, my examples would be all to do with bowing which won't help you on flute unless you have a REALLY weird way of playing).
Third, break things down as simply as you need to, nothing is too basic. So at the moment your challenges are key, tempo and key changes. Work on that. Listen to songs and try and pick the tonic, or clap along with the tempo. Then work up to melodies, creating harmonies, and so on.
Fourth, learn phrases you like - snatches of melody - and practice working them into your music. You might hear these called riffs or licks by some players. Over time you will build a great big repertoire of these phrases you can build solos from. There's an old saying among guitarists "When a classical guy likes what you are playing he compliments you. When a jazz guy likes what you are doing he steals your lines". And it can even get to quoting whole pieces. I used to play with a jazz pianist who would work the theme from either "Inspector Gadget" or "The Simpsons" into a solo every night.
Fifth, be prepared for this to take time, and enjoy the journey. When I switched from being an electric bass player who gets paid to play, and became a double bassist who struggled to keep up with the most basic orchestral pieces, it was really degrading to feel like a beginner again, and that almost derailed the whole process for me. Thankfully the section lead in my orchestra pushed me and got me over the hump at a point when I was wondering if I could do this. And boy have I had a lot of fun with it all.
Re: Playing with rock and just razzmatazzing?
I'm not an improviser but I love the music.
I think the word razzamatazza has a long history - 1920's - Jimmy Durante and friends
I think the word razzamatazza has a long history - 1920's - Jimmy Durante and friends
Re: Playing with rock and just razzmatazzing?
No matter what kind of music you are playing, you are playing by ear. The best performance you will ever do is on music that you memorize. The best players you will ever meet are good listeners as well. Go to Sir Galaway's or Hubert Laws house, I will bet they have a recording(CD/LP/MP3/etc...) collection that is out of this world. Listening also gives you a guide line of what you want to sound like and the opportunity to develop a "solo" vocabulary.
@Fingerbun
Yeah, I played guitar and cello 15 years before I started playing flute. Other than the physical aspect of playing flute, not being able to rely on reusable finger patterns gave me a run for my money. Lately, I been doubling on bass for my band(40's style swing band). They have chord charts, but it is 75% sight reading. Thank goodness I was a cello player! it sounds like jazz, but it is almost a classical gig!
Lastly do not be fooled, there are a lot of players out there that SOUND like they are improvising. More often, there are people more and more writing out their solos, and memorizing them.
Phineas
@Fingerbun
Yeah, I played guitar and cello 15 years before I started playing flute. Other than the physical aspect of playing flute, not being able to rely on reusable finger patterns gave me a run for my money. Lately, I been doubling on bass for my band(40's style swing band). They have chord charts, but it is 75% sight reading. Thank goodness I was a cello player! it sounds like jazz, but it is almost a classical gig!
Lastly do not be fooled, there are a lot of players out there that SOUND like they are improvising. More often, there are people more and more writing out their solos, and memorizing them.
Phineas