Improvisation - How do I know what to do?

One of the elements of music that seems to amaze and confuse people (musicians and non-musicians alike) the most is improvisation. It has been said that it is 'spontaneous composition', or more simply 'just making stuff up as you go along'. These definitions create the amazement and confusion I have already alluded to because they give rise to questions like 'How do I know what notes to use?' and 'How do I think fast enough to improvise on a fast tune?'. Added to this, the great improvisers often confuse the issue even more by giving vague answers when asked about their method for improvisation.

I write this post to (hopefully) clear up this confusion for you once-and-for-all... The fact is that the great improvisers PRACTICE improvising... a lot! That's how they get good at it. And when you think about it, that totally makes sense, because practising something (preparing yourself to do it) is how one gets good at anything in life.

Improvising is supposed to be spontaneous, so how can it be practised? Well, when we think about music as a language it all becomes much clearer. Would you ever expect someone who could not speak a word of English to do an impromptu speech in English? I think not. Anyone who can speak 'off-the-cuff' in any language must have some words to say in that language. For example, in order to say the sentence 'The dog ran over the hill' you must first have each of those words - and it's meaning - in your permanent vocabulary. How do they get there? Through the language learning process you go through as a child. You could make many sentences from this group of words, each with a different meaning.

1. The dog ran over the hill
2. The hill ran over the dog
3. Over the hill ran the dog
4. The hill over the dog ran
5. The hill dog over the ran

Some of these make sense, others don't. So when you see a dog run over a hill and report the event to someone later on, you would naturally (and spontaneously) order the words correctly, although you have the ability to order them into any of the above sentences.

So, what's the musical process for practising improvisation then? First, find some 'words' and 'phrases' to learn. These should be things you hear that say something to you. Nobody can prescribe your 'mother-tongue' to you. So find them and learn them BY EAR! Remember that we don't teach babies BIG words right at the beginning, so choose things appropriate to where you are at. Repeat them until they are a part of you. Figure out their meanings in relation to the harmony they are played over. See if you can alter them to suit other harmonies or moods. Practice inserting them into particular parts of tunes you are working on.

The goal is to internalise these things so that when you improvise they become part of a vocabulary that you can draw from to create something in the moment - just like we do in every conversation we have every day... Make sense?