How Do I Build a Jazz Solo (or Set) with Variety?

Do all of your solos sound essentially the same? Pianist and author Jeremy Siskind describes how to maximize your capability for variety and create long solos or full sets where you don't run out of ideas and your audience doesn't get bored.
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00:00 Introduction
00:45 General Principles of Building a Solo
1:40 Moving from Fewer Notes to More Notes
5:20 Moving from Thinner Textures to Thicker Textures
6:50 Moving from Less Tension to More Tension
8:38 Specific Devices - Change Register/Range
9:45 Change Comping Style
12:45 Change Rhythm Subdivision
14:25 Use Blues Scale and Quotes
16:45 Repeat Yourself
17:15 Conclusion and Secret Phrase

[@larry4589]

Cranberry sauce ..great lesson thanks!

[@JeremySiskind]

Awesome, Lawrence! Thank you!

[@martynramsden]

Great lesson Jeremy! I'm off now to eat my Cramberry Pie with that gorgeous cranberry sauce. My old Granny's favourite 😋😉👍

[@marklarson596]

such clear illustrations!

[@federicomelo1853]

Cramberry pie. Great lesson.

[@JeremySiskind]

It was cranberry sauce, but close enough!

[@joycehancock280]

Very good. SO many ideas! Great help. Love the cranberry sauce. Thanks!

[@Ludada101]

Cranberry Saaaauuuccceeee

[@gayleprevatt5292]

Cranberry sauce! Great lesson, Thank you Jeremy!

[@JeremySiskind]

Yay! Thanks very much, Gayle!

[@francescomanfredi]

Great lesson as always Jeremy! Also the audio is very good 👍 did you change something in your setup?

[@JeremySiskind]

Thanks, Francesco! I’ve been tinkering with it trying to get it better and better. It’s one step forward, one step back, but I’m glad this was a step forward!

[@EugeneSherman]

Hi Jeremy l love your riffs Is it listed in your jazz books?

[@abrahambhonkar3150]

hi Jeremy thanks for wonderful videos just wanted to ask you about phrase length . its easy to figure our the phrase length with spaces but how do u recognize phrase length when there is continuous playing or a smaller value such or 1/8or quarter rest appreciate your help.

[@JeremySiskind]

Hey Abraham. Hmm, I'm not totally sure how to answer the question. Phrase length is about the total number of beats the phrase lasts, so it doesn't really matter if you're playing fast notes or slow notes, it's just the total amount of time. Does that help?

[@EugeneSherman]

Which jazz books have samples of your greatest licks

[@JeremySiskind]

Hi Eugene! I'm not really that into "licks," but in my "Jazz Piano Fundamentals" series, each unit has a lick or pattern to transpose. You can check out all those books here: jeremysiskind.com/product-category/jazzpianofundamentals/

[@kenseidman409]

Another very rich offering, Jeremy! A further query: I often hear great improvisers talk about “telling a story” and knowing the lyrics (if there are lyrics) to the song they are playing. In this lesson you are focusing on musical and rhythmic ideas to create variety and buildup but could you say more about integrating these “tools” with telling a musical story? Maybe I’m really asking how you conceive of a musical story when you are improvising? Don’t feel obliged to respond to this less than clear question! 🤪

[@JeremySiskind]

Right! That’s deep and hard to define. There is a sense in which building a solo with variety is related to telling a story because it essentially increases the tension as the story goes on just as a good plot will make you more and more curious and draw you in further and further. But just like a good story, I’ve good improvisation needs to mix continuity and variety which is why I think developing motives and repeating yourself is so important to the idea of telling a story. Just like a good story, there needs to be different moments that stand out in a solo and these devices can help create those moments that grab our attention.

[@kenseidman409]

Great answer, Jeremy. Thank you!

[@gsbarsh]

OK, I'll bite (figuratively)...Cranberry Sauce.