Getting lost in the backing track.
I seem to get lost playing against a backing track. I either end up way ahead or behind of the backing track. I've tried to follow the chord changes but I still seem to get lost. Do you have any tips on how to stay in sync? Or could you provide a metronome track with some of the early pieces (e.g. Moonglow)?
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Hey everyone, there are some good ideas in this thread! And I'm all in favor of using whatever tools we can to help our playing grow and develop.
An important side note which I think is very useful, is that it's important to always have the melody "floating around" in the back of your head while you are improvising. Of course, when you are on stage and the nerves set in, this can be very difficult (these are long term investments!).. but of course the important thing to remember, is that the songs we improvise over are songs! The melody is the reason we play over these chords.
With that said, as a practical exercise, it's a habit for us jazzers to play the melody the first time, then 'throw it away' and play whatever we want!
But.. on each chorus, try improvising "around the melody". Use the melody as a framework for your solo. At first, just vary the rhythm, or even (Moonglow was mentioned earlier)- play 2 bars of the melody, then improvise an 'answer phrase' for 2 bars, etc..
I often think of the great saxophonist Sonny Rollins-- he often improvised entire solos inspired by the melody.. and it was always swinging!