How to Develop a Jazz Solo (First Steps)

Welcome to episode 256 where today I walk you through some different steps for beginning to develop a great jazz solo.

A common mistake I hear is beginning a jazz solo with lots of notes and a myriad of ideas, rather than using call and response and a thematic building ideas. I show you actionable steps you can take to start bringing your solos to life.

Okay, what was wrong with that solo? There is something horribly wrong with that solo and what was wrong with it was, right as soon as it was my turn to solo, I came out of the gate just playing as many notes as possible, just trying to fill up as much space as possible. And guess what, it probably sounded boring. It probably didn't spell the chord changes as well as I could have. It just didn't sound that musical. It was just a lot of notes regardless of whether they are the right notes or not.

So, the big question is, how do we develop really awesome jazz solos? Well, that's exactly what we're going to do today. We're not going to do what I just did. We are going to make really awesome jazz solos that sound great.

In this episode:
1. Start with simple rhythms using only one note per chord
2. Slowly add more rhythmic complexity and additional notes to your idea
3. Create rhythmic and melodic phrases and practice "carbon copying" them over different chords as an exercise
4. Use direction of your lines to help manipulate your motific ideas
5. Manipulate your rhythms to create more space

Important Links:
LJS Inner Circle Membership
Free Guide to learn standards by ear: Learn Jazz Standards the Smart Way
Learn Jazz Live 2021 Virtual Summit

Learn Jazz Standards Inner Circle: Get 50% off your first month!