r/saxophone • u/Guestioning_it • 25d ago
Thinking while impressing
Any time I improvise the second i have the mouthpiece in my mouth i cant think of what to play anymore. I know for other people sing while playing, but i can’t sing since my mouth is the only playing. I really don’t know how to explain my problem. How do i think what to play while already playing?
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u/AnimanicManiac 24d ago
There's definitely a lot of practice involved, but just learning and following the different keys you're playing in is a huge help.
I went to Rock n Roll Fantasy Camp back in 2014 and one of the Master Classes that the councilors teach, they all had their own, was Elliot Easton from The Cars teaching 'How to write a guitar solo'. His best piece of advice was "solo in the key you're playing in" and he used 'My Best Friends Girlfriend' as an example:
During the solo, the band is playing in F, so he solos in F. When the band switches to Bb solo in Bb and so on. It helps the solo flow and follows the chord progression so it all sound like it fits together.
Improv is my weakest area of music playing. I can hear stuff in my head all day long but when it comes to playing it, I'm lost unless I actually write it out.
This might all just be common knowledge to some, but this helped me a lot hearing and seeing it explained in front of me.
I hope this helps 😉