I think one of the greatest misconceptions of all time is thinking that improvisation is where you go up on stage and randomly the notes you decide to play make sense and sound good. That’s what improv is right? Throw something out there and see what comes out?

The truth of the matter is this: most of what you hear in an improvisation is worked out way before you hear it on the stage. And by that I mean the musician has put in a LOT of time and practice on a whole slew of things to get to the point of what you are hearing at that moment. Everything you hear is something that has more or less been worked out or explored during practice.

“But wait, if that’s so, are we listening to people just regurgitating licks and phrases they practiced? How is that improvisation then?”

Well in a sense, yes, and also no. What you are hearing is the culmination of all the preparation the musician did manifesting in split second decisions that they are making from moment to moment. The improvisation is the reaction to what’s happening in the moment and what a player ultimately chooses to do within that pocket of time.

In honor of the NBA Finals, let’s think about it this way:

The players for the Knicks/Spurs train their body to play the game in all facets: dribbling, passing, shooting, and just endurance in general. On top of that they watch tape of their opponent and strategize based off what they see. They prepare themselves as much as possible for game time. But each game is different: you might have a sense of what is going to happen from all that prep but when you get on the court, with all those lights, the crowd cheering (or booing) and the game is ON, all you can really do is work with what is happening moment to moment. The beautiful thing here though is that these players are able to improvise, adapt, and instigate plays on the court all within the structure of the game because of all their preparation. What we see is the culmination of all of that in real time. The only thing that we can predict will happen is people will score, fouls will happen, and some defensive stops will also happen. But we can’t know how the game plays out until they unfold in real time.

This is the same with improvising in music. We know the song structure (ideally) and are generally bound by certain expectations depending on the gig. But I don’t know what the drummer is going to do until they do it. Same with the bassist. Or the pianist. Honestly, I don’t even know exactly what I’ll do until the band starts playing either! Regardless of what happens, we all have to navigate through each other’s choices.

The point is this: be disciplined when you practice because it affects your improvisation heavily. The goal is to build your familiarity with your instrument, the style, and the song so that you can express yourself freely. Preparation and understanding of the material is what allows you to be “free” when you play, and that’s where the fun of playing music lives.

And that’s what we’re all shooting for, right?

-Tonga

P.S. congrats to any Knicks fans, ya'll earned it!