Jazz Improvisation: Creativity Begins With a Musical Decision (Sunny)
Bobby Hebb's Sunny — Week Three: Improvisation Development
One third. One measure. One melodic idea.
What if developing your ability to improvise didn't begin with learning another scale?
What if it didn't require memorizing another collection of jazz licks, mastering another mode, or accumulating an enormous amount of musical vocabulary?
What if improvisation began with something much simpler?
A decision.
A decision about which note to play. A decision about when to play it. A decision about where the melody should go.
And perhaps most importantly, a decision about when to stop playing.
This week, as we continue exploring Bobby Hebb's Sunny, we'll discover why developing musical creativity doesn't require an unlimited collection of musical possibilities.
Sometimes, it requires precisely the opposite.
Sometimes, limiting our musical choices is exactly what allows creativity to emerge.
Jazz improvisation is not simply about reproducing memorized musical vocabulary. It's about developing the ability to make independent musical decisions with the information we already possess.
Jazz Improvisation Begins With Practicing Creativity
I've considered this question throughout my teaching career.
At what point in our musical development are we finally allowed to create?
After we've learned all twelve major scales?
After we've mastered our arpeggios?
After we've memorized enough jazz vocabulary?
After we've developed complete command of our chords, voicings, and modes?
If those are the requirements, we may never get around to actually making music.
And yet, many developing musicians approach improvisation with precisely that mindset.
They believe creativity happens only after they've accumulated enough musical information.
But there's a fundamental problem with that assumption.
Knowing musical information and knowing how to use musical information creatively are two different skills.
Imagine two students sitting at the piano.
Both know the same scale. Both have practiced the same arpeggio.
Both can reproduce the same musical exercises.
But one student has spent most of their practice time reproducing predetermined patterns.
The other has also practiced those patterns—but has regularly been asked to make musical decisions.
Choose a starting note.
Change the melodic direction.
Select a destination.
Introduce a passing tone.
Vary the rhythm.
Add a little chromatic tension.
And then listen.
Both students possess the same musical vocabulary.
But they're developing two very different musical abilities.
One is developing the ability to reproduce musical information.
The other is developing the ability to use that information creatively.
We need both abilities. Physical command matters. Musical understanding matters.
But if our objective is personal musical expression, we must eventually begin practicing personal musical decisions.
If you want to be creative, you have to practice creativity.
Not someday.
Today!
Why Musical Limitations Create Creative Freedom
Improvisation is often associated with freedom.
And rightly so.
But freedom to do what?
Imagine sitting at the piano with eighty-eight keys, countless rhythmic possibilities, and absolutely no musical direction.
You have an extraordinary number of options.
But having unlimited options doesn't necessarily mean you know how to make a meaningful musical choice.
In fact, too many possibilities can become an obstacle!
Now imagine reducing those possibilities.
Instead of using the entire keyboard, we'll begin with a single musical interval.
A third.
Instead of exploring every possible rhythmic combination, we'll establish one measure of rhythm.
And instead of trying to create an elaborate improvisational phrase, we'll focus on developing one melodic idea.
Suddenly, the creative challenge becomes manageable.
We know when our notes will occur.
We know the limited collection of notes available to us.
But we haven't decided what melody we're going to play.
And that's where creativity begins.
Should we start on the lower note or the upper note?
Should the melody ascend or descend?
Should we use the passing tone?
Should we introduce chromatic tension?
Should we repeat a note?
Where should our melodic idea end?
Every question requires a musical decision.
And every musical decision provides an opportunity to develop creative independence.
The limitation isn't preventing creativity. It's creating the conditions in which creativity can be practiced.
One Third. One Measure. One Melodic Idea.
Last week, during our melodic analysis of Sunny, we discovered how much musical possibility exists within a simple third.
Consider the notes A and C.
OUR FIRST MELODIC LABORATORY
A – C
Arpeggio motion
A – B – C
Scale motion
Chromatic notes can add tension and color within this small melodic space.
Within this tiny musical interval, we already have opportunities for arpeggio motion, scale motion, and chromatic decoration.
Now introduce a one-measure rhythmic framework.
The rhythm establishes when the notes occur.
Our creative decisions determine which notes occur.
And that's an important distinction.
We're not learning a predetermined melodic lick.
We're developing the ability to create our own.
For this week's improvisation study, we'll begin with the A minor seventh sound, the opening chord of Sunny, and explore three essential thirds:
A to C
C to E
E to G
Each third provides a manageable melodic environment.
And within each environment, we can begin discovering our own musical ideas.
Eventually, this same creative process can be applied to all six chords found within Sunny.
But we don't need to begin with all six chords.
We begin with one.
One third.
One measure.
One melodic idea.
And then we make another musical decision.
Why We Begin With Rhythm, Not Notes
Here's something that might surprise you about this week's improvisation lesson.
We're going to begin with rhythm.
Not scales.
Not arpeggios.
Not chord-scale relationships.
Rhythm.
Why?
Because rhythm provides the framework in which our melodic decisions will occur.
If we establish when the notes are going to be played, we can devote our attention to deciding which notes to play.
This allows us to isolate an essential creative skill.
Rather than trying to invent rhythm and melody simultaneously, we establish one musical element and begin making decisions about the other.
Our Podcast Packet includes twelve rhythmic frameworks designed for precisely this purpose.
Each framework provides an opportunity to explore a different melodic idea.
And here's what I want you to understand:
These are not twelve improvisational licks to memorize.
They're twelve opportunities to practice creating musical vocabulary.
The distinction is enormous.
A memorized lick teaches us how to reproduce an idea.
A rhythmic framework with open melodic possibilities teaches us how to develop an idea.
And that's the skill we're after.
Rest and Assess: Learning to Create With Silence
Now we arrive at one of my favorite parts of this week's lesson.
Silence.
Many developing improvisers feel compelled to keep playing.
One melodic idea leads immediately to another.
And another.
And another.
As though successful improvisation were somehow measured by the number of notes we can squeeze into the available time.
But what happens if we create one melodic idea—and then stop?
What happens if we allow ourselves a moment to breathe?
To listen?
To consider what we just played?
To recognize what worked, what didn't, and what we might want to change?
And what happens if, during that silence, we continue to feel musical time?
Now we're practicing something much more significant than simply playing notes.
We're developing musical awareness.
I call this process REST AND ASSESS.
1
CREATE
2
REST
3
ASSESS
4
DECIDE
Create a melodic idea → stop playing while maintaining time → listen and evaluate → choose what comes next.
That moment of silence isn't empty time.
It's an opportunity to evaluate our musical decisions.
Perhaps we liked the direction of our melodic idea but not its ending.
Perhaps the rhythm was interesting, but the melody felt predictable.
Perhaps the chromatic passing tone created exactly the tension we wanted.
Or perhaps we want to repeat the same idea with a different destination.
Whatever we discover, the silence gives us an opportunity to make our next decision intentionally.
And there's another important benefit.
We're learning to remain engaged with musical time even when we're not producing sound.
Silence isn't an interruption of the creative process. Silence is part of the creative process.
Great improvisation requires both.
The Seven Musical Facts Working Together
Throughout Jazz Piano Skills, we return to seven fundamental musical facts.
This week's improvisation study provides a wonderful opportunity to see how they work together.
Music is the production of sound and silence.
Sound is produced harmonically and melodically.
Harmonic sound is expressed through chords and voicings.
Melodic sound is expressed through scales and arpeggios.
Harmony and melody move (Circle, Diatonic, Chromatic, Up, Down)
Movement can be decorated with chromatic tension.
And rhythm brings these musical relationships to life.
What's especially interesting about this week's lesson is the order in which we'll explore them.
We'll begin with Fact Seven: Rhythm, establishing when our melodic ideas will occur.
Then we'll explore Fact Four: Melodic Sound, using small scale and arpeggio fragments.
We'll incorporate Fact Five: Motion, making decisions about melodic direction.
We'll introduce Fact Six: Chromaticism, creating tension and additional color.
And we'll give special attention to Fact One: Sound and Silence, deliberately incorporating opportunities to rest and assess.
All of this will take place within the harmonic environment established by the A minor seventh chord, and eventually the remaining chords of Sunny.
Seven musical facts.
One creative process.
An extraordinary amount of musical possibility.
And not because we're trying to play more information.
Because we're learning to make better musical decisions.
Does Practicing Improvisation Eliminate Spontaneity?
This week's Question of the Week comes from Daniel Whitaker in Burlington, Vermont.
Daniel asks an excellent question:
If improvisation is supposed to be spontaneous, doesn't practicing rhythms, patterns, and exercises take away that spontaneity? How can we practice improvisation without turning it into something memorized?
It's an important question because it addresses a common misunderstanding about musical creativity.
Spontaneity and preparation are not opposites.
In fact, meaningful spontaneity depends upon preparation.
Think about an everyday conversation.
When we speak with another person, we're improvising.
We're organizing thoughts, questions, and reactions in real time.
But we don't prepare for those conversations by memorizing hundreds of sentences and hoping the right one happens to fit.
Instead, we develop vocabulary.
We learn grammar.
We understand how words relate to one another.
And through experience, we develop the ability to organize familiar information into original expressions.
Jazz improvisation works much the same way.
We study scales, arpeggios, chords, voicings, and rhythms.
But the objective isn't simply to reproduce that material later.
The objective is to develop enough understanding and physical command to organize that material into our own musical ideas.
Practicing a pattern is valuable.
But practicing how to make musical decisions within that pattern develops something different.
It develops creativity.
And that's why our one-measure rhythmic frameworks are so useful.
The rhythmic structure is established.
But the melodic expression is not.
We must decide what to play.
Those decisions are made in the moment.
And that's precisely the spontaneity we're trying to develop.
The purpose of practicing improvisation isn't to eliminate spontaneity.
It's to develop the skills that make spontaneity possible.
This Week's Jazz Piano Practice Challenge
As you work through the Sunny improvisation lesson, resist the temptation to make the exercise more complicated than necessary.
Begin with the A minor seventh chord.
Select one of the twelve rhythmic frameworks in your Podcast Packet.
Choose one third: A–C, C–E, or E–G.
Then create one melodic idea.
Don't worry about making it impressive.
Don't worry about playing something sophisticated.
Instead, focus on making an intentional musical decision.
Choose a starting note.
Determine a melodic direction.
Explore a passing tone.
Introduce chromatic tension if you wish.
Decide where the idea should end.
And then stop.
Rest and assess.
Listen to what you created.
Maintain your awareness of time.
And ask yourself what you might want to do next.
Perhaps repeat the idea.
Perhaps reverse its direction.
Perhaps change the destination.
Perhaps create something entirely new.
Continue exploring the same rhythmic framework before moving to another.
And as your confidence develops, apply this creative process to the remaining harmonic sounds found within Sunny.
Remember, the objective isn't to complete twelve exercises.
The objective is to develop the ability to make musical decisions.
Don't measure your progress by how much musical information you played. Measure it by how intentionally you used the information you already possess.
From Musical Vocabulary to Personal Expression
There's a wonderful progression that occurs when we begin practicing creativity this way.
First, we create one melodic idea.
Then another.
And another.
Eventually, those small ideas begin developing into musical phrases.
Those phrases begin connecting with other phrases.
And those connections gradually reveal something very exciting.
Our own musical vocabulary!
Not simply a collection of phrases borrowed from other musicians.
Not simply a catalog of memorized patterns.
But musical ideas we've learned to discover, develop, and express for ourselves.
And this is why I believe creativity must be practiced as intentionally as scales, arpeggios, chords, and voicings.
Because if our goal is to become creative musicians, creativity cannot simply be something we hope will eventually happen.
It must become something we intentionally develop.
Final Thought: Creativity Begins With a Decision
As we continue our study of Bobby Hebb's Sunny, I want you to remember something.
The amount of musical material you're practicing does not determine the magnitude of the musical skill you're developing.
You can practice an enormous amount of information without developing the ability to make a single independent musical decision.
Or you can begin with one third.
One measure.
One melodic idea.
And begin developing the creative skills that eventually allow you to express yourself freely at the piano.
So the next time you sit down to practice improvisation, don't begin by asking:
How much music do I know?
Instead, ask:
What can I create with the music I already know?
Because improvisation doesn't begin with an enormous collection of musical information.
It begins with a decision.
One third. One measure. One melodic idea.
And then we rest.
And assess.
That's how we begin practicing creativity.
And that's how we begin developing the musical independence that makes improvisation possible.
Until next week, when we continue our exploration of Sunny with solo piano development, remember:
The tune is not the goal. The musician is the goal.
Discover • Learn • Play
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Warm Regards, Dr. Bob Lawrence
Jazz Piano Skills
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