I advise my students to transcribe solos by the great improvisers as a way of learning the language of jazz. You need some generic lines—just like if you’re learning German you have to be able to say “good morning” in German. But as you get better at the language, you get away from just saying things you’ve memorized, and start having actual conversations. A good exercise is to study someone else’s line to see how it works, then try to re-write it your own way. Another instructive thing is to take a standard tune, and just improvise quarter notes or half notes over it. Then, record yourself playing through the tune, listen to the results, and see which notes work and which don’t, and figure out why. This will guide you towards better note choices. Ultimately, you want to be able to spontaneously take the harmonic information you have—the chords, the extensions, the approach notes, etc.—and craft an interesting, flowing, and meaningful melody line. - John Abercrombie
( Composing in real time! - Ed )
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