Student’s question:
I’m curious, how do more advanced jazz improvisers use the chord changes in their solos? If I think first about the chord changes I can do a pretty good solo but I would rather it be more intuitive.
David’s response:
Advanced improvisers eventually become aware of all of the sounds available to them in the octave. In the beginning it’s certainly helpful to group these notes into the chord notes (which are the most consonant notes in any harmonic environment) and the non-chord notes (which will produce a more tense feeling). But ultimately each note is different and it has its own unique sound and beauty. And great improvisers simply know all of these sounds personally because they have experienced them so many times.
You actually already know how this feels in your own playing. You just have to imagine a very simple musical situation like improvising over the 1 chord. You probably already know the sound of each note in the first harmonic environment, and you can feel how the chord notes (1, 3, 5 and 7) produce a feeling of relaxation while the non-chord notes (2, 4 and 6) produce more tension. You can feel all of this so clearly that you don’t even have to think about it. You can just enjoy expressing melodies, feeling the subtle differences in sensation that each note produces.
This is exactly how advanced improvisers experience improvising over songs and chord progressions. They simply know where all of the sounds are located, and they know the exact sensation produced by each note. So they’re able to use all of these sounds (both chord tones and non-chord tones) in very intentional ways to create tension and release in their music. You can already do this yourself in a simple context like the 1 chord. So IFR is just about expanding that territory until it eventually includes all modern harmony.
