How The Pros Improvise

When we listen to a great jazz pianist improvise, it might seem like pure spontaneous magic. The music flows effortlessly, as they’re creating something entirely new in each moment. In reality, these musicians are drawing from a rich vocabulary of techniques, melodies, licks, and patterns they've spent years developing. In this post, we’ll explore chord outlines, approaches, scales, and other common tools used by the masters, to show how you can start incorporating them into your own improvisation.

Chord Outline

One of my personal favorite improvisation tools is the chord outline. It is simple to execute and if played in the right way, at the right time, will take your improv to a whole new level.

A chord outline is the arpeggiation of a chord. Seventh chords work well because they consist of four notes, which fill up two beats if playing eighth notes. The key to playing with a jazz sound is using swing rhythm rather than playing the notes straight. You can play the four notes of a chord outline in any order, not just from the lowest to the highest.

1. The first example above showcases a Cmaj7 root position chord outline, but you can also outline the other chord inversions (1st inversion, 2nd inversion, 3rd inversion) as well as a different position. 

2. The second example shows how you can use a chord outline to approach a destination note, in this case C. 

3. This third example approaches A, also via a Cmaj7 root position chord outline.

4. In the fourth example, we're using the second inversion of Cmaj7 in order to approach D. 

5. The fifth and final example demonstrates how we can approach C by outlining the second chord position of Cmaj7. The second chord position refers to the top four notes of a Cmaj9 chord. (E-G-B-D) which turn out to be a Em7. We'll consider the 1st chord position as the bottom four notes of a Cmaj9 chord.

To recap: in order to find 1st and 2nd position chords for your seventh chord, add the 9, and choose either the bottom four notes (1st position) or top four notes (2nd position). It's neat to note that when for a major chord (Cmaj7 for example) your 1st position chord will be major (Cmaj7) and your 2nd position chord will be minor (Em7). With minor chords, these are swapped: Fmin7 for example will have Fm7 as its 1st position chord and Abmaj7 as its 2nd position chord. 

Approaches

You can follow or preempt a chord outline with an approach (a.k.a. enclosure). You can also use approaches at any point during your playing, not just before or after a chord outline. The examples below demonstrate the general shape of each approach. For each one, you can either approach your destination note from below or above. There is wiggle room for exactly which notes you play, so long as the overarching shape of your approach remains the same.

The chromatic approach: Use half steps to get to your destination note. 

Spiral/encircling approach: This one is my favorite and go-to approach when I'm improvising. I use this approach in my How I Practice Improvisation study note. 

Zigzag approach: This approach looks like you are zigzagging or staggering your way to the destination. As explained earlier, there is wiggle room in the notes you use. In the first example we're using thirds, in the second we use seconds, and the last example uses fifths. What’s important is that the shape of your approach remains "zigzaggy."

Chord outline appraoch: This approach is what it sounds like–you use a chord outline in order to reach your destination note.

Step approach: A step approach involves intervals of a scale, in this case C mixolydian. It is like a chromatic approach, but instead of only using halfsteps, you can use both half and whole steps.

Other

There are many other improv techniques and ornaments that pros use. You can "trill" a note, either slightly like in the example above, or fully, like we hear in classical music. You can use turnarounds, thirds to highlight your melody, or chromatic motion to get from one place to the next.

Modes/Scale

At any point, consider the palettes/scales available for you to use! The first example above shows the pianist throwing in four notes of the descending C pentatonic scale (B > A > G > E). You’ll see how in the next three examples, different scale shapes are used. To learn more about scale shapes, check out my Jazz Improvisation Course.

Double Stops

Double stops are a masterful blues technique you must have to spice up your repertoire. We mainly refer to double stops when  we're talking about the blues scales– major or minor. This is simply when you play two notes together, often times an anchor note above stays the same, like in the last example (C Minor Blues Double Stops). The root note (C) acts as an anchor note to three double stops in a row. 

By adapting these techniques into your jazz vocabulary, you’ll be equipped with some practical tools jazz pianists use to bring their improvisations to life. I’ve only highlighted a handful of improvisation techniques, but there are countless others. These techniques represent my personal categorization from years of listening, studying, and playing jazz, but every pianist's journey is unique. Different players may arrive at the same technique from entirely different perspectives, making their improvisations personal and distinct. Ultimately, the more techniques you learn, the greater your freedom to create, discover, and express your own voice in the world of jazz.

Jazz Piano Improvisation Course

Good luck!
Timothy