"Solo? The only solo I will play will be SO LOW that no one will hear it!"
                                                                          — Ann Nonymous

Improvising is what jazz music is all about. Using a number of well-practiced resources, the jazz soloist can weave through melodies and chord progressions a number of times without playing the same thing twice. Thus, creating a fresh and exciting approach to a song that has been played many times before.

The jazz group becomes an improvising machine. The pianist will play a brilliantly altered chord that compliments what the soloist is playing. The drummer pushes the limits of the soloist inviting polyrhythmic dynamics to the solo. In all, everyone in the group is part of the improvisation that delivers the music to it's audience.

To play jazz, you have to listen to it and learn a repertoire of "licks" to pull from your hat in a moments notice.

The following are some tips on improvising:

Simplify many chord changes to one tonality

What scales to play over certain chords

(You may need to refer to the scale lesson to view scale formulas for the following examples.)

When playing over chords that change every two beats one can become overwhelmed. In many cases when the chords are many, the tonality is only a few.
Most of the time these types of chord changes consist of II-V or II-V-I progressions. You have a few options here.

1.)  Play through each mode of each chord. Example:
      | D- (Dorian scale) G7 (Mixolydian scale) | Cmaj7 (Ionian scale) |

2.) You can simplify the II-V by playing either Dorian or Phrygian scale for both.
      | D- G7 (Dorian scale or Mixolydian) | Cmaj7 (Ionian scale) |

Tip: So that your solo does not sound like scales, begin soloing on notes other than the tonic note. Mix in the Pentatonic scale (5 note scale) for each tonality.

Other tips:

For 1-4-5- blues progressions you have a few options as well. You can play the dominant 7 scale (Mixolydian) for each chord or most simple, play the blues scale based off the key of the song for all chord changes. In other words, if the blues are in F play the F blues scale through all chord changes.

Besides playing the obvious over Major 7(Ionian) and Minor 7( Aeolian or Dorian) chords. Play the Pentatonic scales for each.

Altered Chords
Diminished scales work great on altered chords. Somtimes you may need to skip a note here and there or add the extra altered notes to the chord. As alway's it's up to you. Let's look at a few.

C7b9#9 play the C# diminished scale starting on C (another way of looking at this scale is playing a diminished scale starting with a half step on C).  Example:

C7b9#9 Notice the altered notes played when using the diminished scale.

Playing the Half diminished scale works for the minor 7 flat 5 chord. Example:

Cmin7b5 Notice the altered notes played when using the half diminished scale.

How about those sharp 5 chords. Play the whole tone sale.

C7#5 Notice the altered notes played when using the whole tonescale.

After all this, you deserve to go play the blues. Lets go look at some blues progression so you can put all this to work and begin jammin. The Blues

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