Why Pattern Exercises Are Not Helping You Improvise

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Are you a Classical pianist new to Jazz, reliant on patterns and reading notes? Maybe you don’t even know where to start? Download my free 12 page guide on exactly where to start and what to focus on right away.

Running exercises and pattern exercises are certainly valuable tools for developing technical skills and improving your overall musicality. They can help you build finger dexterity, improve your sense of rhythm, and develop a solid foundation in music theory.

However, relying on these exercises doesn’t really prepare you for improvising in context and real world situations.

Here’s why:

The main reason is, many pianists feel that by mastering a pattern is somehow the magic key for unlocking good improvisation. This couldn’t be further from the truth. This is going about it the “Classical” way. Just playing through a pattern without thinking about or using it in context is a major pitfall I see so many people fall into. And, you’ll never really be playing that way when you’re in the heat of the moment in real time.

It’s crucial you understand WHAT the pattern is outlining or doing in the context of the chord or tonality it’s being used on, and most importantly, how you’re going to take the overall concept and put it into your own playing, in an improvisational and organic way. So that you truly know how to use it the right way and not relying on some pattern you practiced with no context.

Some other reasons why patterns aren’t helping you improvise:

• Lack of Contextual Understanding: Improvising in jazz involves more than just playing notes in a sequence or pattern. It requires a deep understanding of the musical context including chord progressions, scales, harmony, and rhythm. Pattern exercises often focus on isolated technical aspects, and while they can improve your technical abilities, and don’t exactly teach you how to apply these skills effectively within the context of a tune and real time improvising.

• Creativity and Spontaneity: Jazz improvisation is inherently creative and spontaneous. It’s about expressing yourself in the moment and responding to the other musicians in the ensemble. While exercises can help you internalize certain patterns, they might inadvertently limit your ability to think outside those patterns. Improvisation requires the ability to think on your feet and make musical decisions in real-time, which goes beyond simply executing practiced patterns.

• Listening and Interaction: Jazz is a highly interactive genre where musicians listen to each other and engage in musical conversations. It’s about reacting and adapting to the musical ideas being presented by your fellow musicians. Exercises don’t emphasize the importance of active listening and responsiveness, which are crucial skills.

• Emotion and Expression: Jazz improvisation is a form of artistic expression. It’s about conveying emotions, telling stories, and evoking feelings through your playing. While exercises can help improve your technical accuracy, they might not guide you in developing the emotional depth and nuanced phrasing that are characteristic of great improvisers. Plus, it makes your improvisation sound like, well, you’re just playing a pattern.

• Adapting to Changing Context: Jazz performances can be unpredictable. You might encounter unexpected chord progressions, tempo changes, or stylistic shifts. True improvisation involves adapting to these changes seamlessly. Pattern exercises, which often focus on specific scales or patterns, might not prepare you for the diverse challenges that can arise during a performance.

To become a proficient jazz improviser, it’s important to strike a balance between technical exercises and holistic musical development. Here are a few suggestions:

• Transcribe and Analyze Solos: Study the solos of great jazz musicians. This helps you understand how they navigate chord progressions, incorporate various scales, and infuse emotion into their playing. The key thing with transcribing is really analyzing what the soloist is playing over the chord. Let’s take an example of a 2–5–1 phrase. Ask yourself:

1. What is the soloist playing over the ii chord?

2. How is the soloist transitioning from ii to the Dominant V7 chord?

3. What are they playing over the V7 chord?

4. How are they transitioning from V7 to I, how do they resolve the V7 chord?

5. What is the soloist playing over the I chord?

If need be, focus on just one chord and how it connects to the next. What chord tone is the line starting on, outlining, and ending on? What chord tone does the soloist land on for the next chord? Are they using scale or arpeggio motion to get there? What is happening rhythmically? Is the line diatonic, “out” or using chromaticism or enclosures of chord tones?

These are the questions you need to ask and answer for yourself and then practice applying a given portion of the line over similar progressions or in tunes you are learning.

Some things you should do besides playing patterns:

• Play Along with Recordings: Practice improvising with a given concept from your transcribed phrase over backing tracks or recordings. This will help you develop your ear, sense of timing, and ability to fit your improvisation within a musical context.

• Play with others: There is no better way to get better than to play with others, even if it’s a duo situation with a bassist, guitarist, or horn player. If you haven’t noticed, much of what you do in your practice doesn’t ever really come out in real world playing situations!

• Focus on Ear Training: Develop your ability to hear and recognize intervals, chord qualities, scales and progressions. This will enable you to play what you hear in your mind more effectively.

• Learn Harmony and Theory: Understand the underlying harmony and chord progressions in jazz tunes and what a soloist is doing over said harmonies and progressions. This knowledge will guide your improvisational choices and help you navigate the changes without being reliant on a pattern that won’t fit in context 99.99% of the time.

In essence, while technical exercises have their place in skill development, they should be integrated into a broader approach that includes listening, theory, creativity, and interaction if you truly want to excel.

Eventually, you will want to and eventually learn how to CREATE YOUR OWN exercises and patterns in a musical way that can be applied in context, vs. mindlessly working on a pattern in a vaccuum.

If you’re a Classical pianist or new to Jazz piano and don’t know where to start? Be sure to Download my free 12 page guide on hte 6 Steps for exactly where to start and what to focus on right away, as I don’t want you making the same mistakes and waste as much time as I did when I started out!

Overwhelmed? Don’t know what to focus on or how to organize your practice? Download my free practice structuring guide, and learn my 5 step process

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