I love jazz music but can`t improvise that well (the alto saxophone insist on covering his ears when I try) any tips on how to do it and how to make it swing?

just practice, practice, practice. If you want to get a more swing sound on tounge dah da dah da dah, especially on eighth notes, and make it long short long short. What kind of scales are you using and what are the chords for the songs you are trying to improvise on, maybe I can give you some more tips. One more thing that would help tons just to get ideas on swing is listen to all the Benny Goodman Songs, and other swing jazz clarinetists songs you can get your hands on. You can get some great riffs from some of there songs.

It always helps to take riffs from the song you are playing. You can alter the rythym and change the articulations. It depends on the affect you want, but you should probably stay within the scale. Pay attention to the chord changes taking place during the song. If you get lost, listen closely to the piano and bass-line.

Hey! I`m a Jazz Clarinetist, here`s a few tips:

1. Use swing quavers. E.g Dotted quaver, semiquaver, dotted quaver, semiquaver, dotted quaver, semiquaver. Etc.
2. Use the notes of jazz scales. Try E blues. E G A Bb B D E. E blues is my personal fave.
3. If improvising a written tune look for the chords and use that scale.
4. Listen to the other players (when i play this is a pianist). You will click and suddenly be playing together in time. It will be great.
5. Most importantly PRACTICE PRACTICE PRACTICE.

Im in 7th grade. Im in the Jazz Band that we have and I cant improvise either. I mostly try to improvise the Bb Blues Scales but to tell you the truth i suck at it. Ive to to "practice, practice, practice" and do all the other improvising tips my band director gives us but I just can`t do it! Do you have any additional tips that I could try???

Feel the rythm and follow it. Also, listen to music (different kind) to get an idea of how the music you`re playing should sound. You can`t, for instance, imrovise Jazz as you improvise blues, it isn`t the same kind of music.

Try using lots of vibrato. This is great on a high Bb. Concentrate on the three notes that go up chromatically in the blues scale (in E this is A Bb B). For a harder challenge try using the Minor Chromatic (E G A B D E). You have no Bb so this is a harder scale to perform well with. Try and pick up little rhythms and repeat them. Also using passing notes. You could D Eb E for example, but you should making the passing notes extremely short, like semiquaver. One of the worst things you can do with a passing note is give it a staccato or accent. It will sound horribly wrong to anyone, even if they don`t have a musical ear. Runs are sometimes good. Try going up and down the scale. Use your lower register to start with then go to a higher register. Use your middle register to bridge the two. Occasionally throw in a really high note (something in the top register) like a top E or something, but don`t make it short. Hold on to this note for a while, it should sound good if you get the tuning right. A tip for finishing your improvisation is to get right to the top of the scale and come down slowly. Put extreme swing on the scale coming down.

Thanks,
Benuel

I must commend most of the replies for their excellent suggestions.


Rule #1 as I was taught about improv is simple: Do NOT try to go crazy. If you are doing an improv solo, just start out playing the melody with a little swing in it. Then, start playing licks on long holds (Whole notes) that are on your major triads. Finally, after a lot of practice at the above two, you should be able to do an entire solo of improv and make uit sound like it actually fits the tune.

Good Luck!

Always listen. Listen to the jazz clarinet greats like Benny Goodman, Artie Shaw, Pete Fountain, Eddie Daniels, and many others. Try transcribing some of their solos note-by-note. This should give you ideas and should get your ear working well!

I don`t play the clarinet, but I improvise a lot. There is at least 1 million bad improved solos in everyone so try to improv. as much as you can, that way you can get a lot out, and you can also find cool riffs that you like, and change them a bit. It really helps to also (this may sound strange) open you`re mind. Also don`t EVER try to do anything fancy unless you know what you`re doing. Believe me, I did and I totally blew it. Good luck,
Lyndsey