Wayne Krantz's approach to improvising

[Mikey D]

He is possibly my favourite improviser on any instrument and as such for the past few months have been approaching my soloing/improvisation practice from his point of view. A lesson here basically describes it: [url="http://www.guitarplayer.com/article/get-zone-intriguing/jun-08/36177"]A Wayne Krantz Lesson[/url]

I've used the concept of restricting myself in many aspects of my practice, but not to the extend that Wayne describes here and in the zone restriction manner than he has laid out. I've just ordered his Book the Improviser's OS and look forward to seeing what else it contains.

I suppose this is quite similar to Gary Willis' fingerboard harmony approach, but not allowing a shift out of the 4 finger range.
I believe the guitarist Mike Outram (as well as many others I assume) have used this approach.

What do you think?

[urb]

[quote name='Mikey D' post='516425' date='Jun 17 2009, 02:14 PM']He is possibly my favourite improviser on any instrument and as such for the past few months have been approaching my soloing/improvisation practice from his point of view. A lesson here basically describes it: [url="http://www.guitarplayer.com/article/get-zone-intriguing/jun-08/36177"]A Wayne Krantz Lesson[/url]

I've used the concept of restricting myself in many aspects of my practice, but not to the extend that Wayne describes here and in the zone restriction manner than he has laid out. I've just ordered his Book the Improviser's OS and look forward to seeing what else it contains.

I suppose this is quite similar to Gary Willis' fingerboard harmony approach, but not allowing a shift out of the 4 finger range.
I believe the guitarist Mike Outram (as well as many others I assume) have used this approach.

What do you think?[/quote]

Having seen Krantz at the 55 Bar in New York - with Keith Karlock and Anthony Jackson (yes it was mind blowing!) - I'm definitely a fan of his style - and his improvising is just incredible in terms of how he develops an idea and runs it into the next one with a natural flow. And all I heard him say to AJ before they started playing one tune was... "play something in F."

So in relation to his single key/chord approach and limiting his creative space on the fingerboard I think it's all good - Wooten demos a similar idea on his Groove Workshop dvd where he limits himself to a certain number of notes, say 1,2, or 3 and plays with the timing and phrasing and placement of each - with really cool results. Any strategy that gets you away from your stock lick and into new territory is great - it's just a case of making a concious effort to do it!

M

[Mikey D]

[quote name='urb' post='517303' date='Jun 18 2009, 12:22 PM']Having seen Krantz at the 55 Bar in New York - with Keith Karlock and Anthony Jackson (yes it was mind blowing!)

Any strategy that gets you away from your stock lick and into new territory is great[/quote]
I'm a very jealous man, I'd love to see that trio (or any of his trios actually).

That is exactly what I'm trying to do. For years of my playing I have tried to sound like a particular player at different times (Jaco, victor, and more recently the language of coltrane, Ted Greene, Martino, Willis) and I think this is a valuable process for learning the history of your instrument and the genres which have gone before. But for the past year and half I have found this lick learning a bit frustrating as I have an idea of what I want to sound like but never really worked towards it, this approach is helping me (dare I say it) to get my own sound. Although I feel that will be many many years off.

I'll give some feedback when I receive the book.

[Bilbo]

Saw Krantz a few (3?) times at the Brecon Jazz festival with Carlock and Tim Lefebre (if thats the spelling). I remember it was harmonically sophisticated but rhythmically a bit less so and LOUD is not the word (too loud, really, every time and I'm not normally one for complaining). Would have loved to seee him with Jackson (mind you, I would like to see Ronan Keating with Jackson...)

[Mikey D]

[quote name='Mikey D' post='518203' date='Jun 19 2009, 11:11 AM']I'll give some feedback when I receive the book.[/quote]

What a book! It was a fairly inconspicuous looking A5 bound book. I received it yesterday and read it twice. Well, I read the 2nd half twice, the first half looks like R2D2 vomitted up his binary lunch where wayne lists all his "formulas"

Very cleanly laid out. Simple question and answers throughout as a way of feeding you the information.

It is an extension on all the things I had started working on and I can definitely see where the benefits are of practicing in the manner the books lays out. I'm going to make practicing in this way my main focus for a short time to see if there are any noticeable improvements.

[steve]

I'm quite intrigued by this method Mikey, how are you getting on with it? Do you think it was worth the money?

I'm looking for something to deepen my understanding and widen my vocabulery I think, but all the tutorial books I've bought in the past have kept me hooked for a couple of weeks or so, and then I asked myself "how does this apply to me?" and I've never been able to answer that question satisfactorily.

[sdgrsr400]

His comments in the on-line article on the use of the metronome and the centre of the beat are equally as interesting as his discussion of pitch/harmony issues.