I had kind of an awakening during my “After You’ve Gone” improv practice session yesterday. I didn’t realize it at the time, but as I watched the video (below), I realized I’ve hit a milestone. I’m no longer wondering “am I doing this right” but am instead thinking things like “how do I want this to sound?”
I’ve stopped thinking like a student and started thinking like an arranger. But whew, it has felt like a long road to get here.
The Piece and the Problem
I started Jonny May’s advanced arrangement of “After You’ve Gone” in January. It’s a wonderful and challenging arrangement with stride tenths in the left hand and a swinging melody full of slides, rolls, and crunchy harmonies. And of course, Jonny encourages you to come up with an improvised solo. I struggled through the arrangement itself for a couple of months, and it sounded passably good (not great) by the end of February. But the improv section? Couldn’t do it. Even using the “easy” four-on-the-floor left hand, I just kept hitting a wall.
Jonny’s instruction in the course is simple and straightforward: improvise using the notes of whatever chord the left hand is playing. So logical! So clear! So hard! The problem for me was that the chords change every half-measure, and they’re 6ths and 9ths—and I haven’t gotten that far in my jazz education. So even at a very slow tempo, I couldn’t think fast enough to track the harmony and play anything worth hearing at the same time.
Around the end of February, I set the piece aside. I was a little burned out on it, plus I had to prepare “You Are My Sunshine” for a mid-March recital. I told myself I’d pick up “After You’ve Gone” later. I wasn’t sure I meant that, but oh well.
Asking Jonny at “Ask Jonny”
I revisited the piece a few times in April, just to make sure I hadn’t lost it completely. In May, I decided to work on it again ... but I needed help.
Jonny May hosts a weekly “Ask Jonny” live event where Piano With Jonny students can ask him anything they want about the piano. So I attended, and I asked.
Why can’t I do this? Why is it so hard for me to follow such simple advice? “Just improvise on the notes in the chord.” That should be easy! I’m a smart girl! I’m a good piano player! Why am I hitting this wall?
Jonny was blunt but truthful: It’s too hard for you. The cognitive load is too much at this point. We need to make it simpler.
So we did. Instead of tracking the chord changes in real time, he said, start with a single hand position—C to G—and throw in an Eb occasionally. Then maybe improvise on the major blues scale (C, D, Eb, E, G, and A). Expand to two hand positions: C to G and F to C. Eventually, he explained, you’ll get bored playing within the constraints. That’s when you’ll be ready to branch out on your own.
So, by constraining myself to just a few notes, I would both learn to make much of little and prepare myself for the next phase of learning.
I tried this and found that fewer choices meant I could listen to the sound of the music, rather than to the anxious chatter of my brain as it tried to figure out what’s next, and what’s next, and what’s next. The cognitive load dropped, and what’s felt impossible for months began to feel doable.
It makes me think of when a kid orders a steak that’s too big for him to eat. What does Dad do? Dad cuts the steak into small pieces so the kid can handle it. If the kid still can’t finish it, Dad gets a to-go box, and maybe the kid finishes the leftovers the next day.
The Jonny-as-Dad thought is admittedly a little weird, but that’s essentially what he did with the improv section. He cut the approach into smaller, more manageable bites, and that allowed me to start where I was and make progress over time.
Thinking Like an Arranger
Now it’s starting to get fun.
Before, I was approaching AYG as a student, which is, of course, the right and necessary way to approach it. But when you’re in student mode, you’re constantly asking: How do I measure up against the model? Is this what he meant? Am I doing it right? What Would Jonny Do? (WWJD?) And why the heck can’t I do that?
But that’s changing. Now I’m experiencing “After You’ve Gone” as a kind of raw material that I want to make my own. I don’t want to just play what Jonny plays, I want to play what I play. Arranger brain is beginning to take over. And it has a vision.
So that is what I discovered while watching my practice video. If you watch it too, you’ll see that I’m now thinking of doing two distinct improv sections instead of one: the first with a four-on-the-floor left hand, the second with the stride tenths. (Yes! I’m learning to improvise with the stride tenths!) What I find fascinating is that the left hand pattern seems to shape how I handle the right hand. With four-on-the-floor, I want to play single-note lines, allow bigger spaces between phrases, incorporate a little wit. With the stride tenths, I reach for bigger chords, rolls, and runs. The music seems to want to get louder and wilder ... and who am I to stand in the way?
I also have an outro idea that’s really just a stock outro, but I’m excited that I thought of using it. And in the final run-through of the verse and chorus, I’m planning to work in some improv there too—more syncopated chords, a few runs, and some other ornamentation.
Not There Yet
So many of these plans are still just in my head, and it may be months before they’re in my hands. But I have a vision, and just having the vision brings it closer.
And to be clear about where I actually am: I’m still in the very early stages of learning to improvise over stride piano. I stumble often (you’ll hear it in the video!), and I try things my hands can’t do yet. I’m probably years away from being really good at this, but that’s okay. I have time. Or at least I pray I do.
And one of these days, a month or six months or a year from now, “After You’ve Gone” will be mine. I’ll let you know when I get there!
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