Everyone who has ever taken jazz lessons will know the conventional wisdom on how to get better at improvising:
“Play everything in 12 keys!”
“Learn the rules… Then forget the rules!”
“Transcribe, transcribe, transcribe!”
No doubt, all of these are great for learning theory and training your ear to recognize melodies and harmonies. Nevertheless, I’d like to submit yet another musical activity to the pantheon of strategies for improving your improvising: arranging compositions that already exist.
It’s been several years now since I noticed that my improvising was noticeably more clearly thought-out after working on an arranging project, but I never understood why. Here are some ideas that I’ve developed about why arranging is such a good hobby for improvisers.
- You see the big picture – When you’re arranging, you’re not just concerned with the melody. To create an accurate arrangement, you have to know each instrument’s part and what role that part is playing to serve the entire ensemble. When you’ve done your job right, you know the chords, who is playing which chord tones, which instrument(s) have the melody, and much more. This opens tonal possibilities, as well as the ability to think of your improvisation as both your melody and its own accompaniment.
- It’s improvising, in slow-motion – As a private lesson teacher, I am often taking famous large-scale works and arranging them for a smaller group. To do this effectively, I have to listen to the original piece extensively and be willing to make changes to make the chamber group sound as much like the original as possible. This really is no different than improvising: the act of using your ear to bring what you’re imagining into the world.
- Add to your mental library of melodies – One of my favorite ear-training warmups is to play a compelling melody in twelve keys. After a few weeks of doing this every day, though, it can be difficult to come up with new, fun melodies. Arranging songs and pieces is a great way to learn new melodies from the greatest composers of all time. Do you like throwing quotes into your improvisations? Arranging requires that you listen to the source material so many times that you won’t be able to stop yourself from quoting it!
Whatever the reasons, arranging can be a fun strategy for clarifying  your ideas and getting them to come out of your instrument. It doesn’t hurt that your arrangements can often earn you a little cash on the side too!
What are some seemingly unrelated musical activities that you have noticed have helped your playing? Let me know in the comments! Happy Practicing!