Learn the Changes

[jhatpro]

I've heard people say "learn the changes" virtually my entire musical life and I'm not sure I've ever fully understood it - or at least fully understood the process.

When accomplished jazz artists take a 32-bar solo what's happening in their head? Are they visualizing the note choices they have as they play each bar? Each four bars?

Is the process similar to speaking or writing in that we can become fluent speakers or writers without thinking about whether the words we're using are nouns or verbs or adjectives?
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Jim Hatfield

"The notes are there - find them.” Mingus

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2005 Bach 180-72R
1965 Getzen Eterna Severinsen
1946 Conn Victor
1998 Scodwell flugel
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[HERMOKIWI]

[jhatpro]

Great answer, thanks!

I do find that when I'm playing trad, which I think makes fewer demands on improvisers, I'm able to solo pretty competently by just playing interesting, rhythmically appealing lines that fit with what I hear or pre-hear.

I have more difficulty with some of the solos that crop up in a big band book, solos that stretch out, have lots of changes and go through multiple keys.
_________________
Jim Hatfield

"The notes are there - find them.” Mingus

2021 Martinus Geelan Custom
2005 Bach 180-72R
1965 Getzen Eterna Severinsen
1946 Conn Victor
1998 Scodwell flugel
1986 Bach 181 cornet
1954 Conn 80A cornet
2002 Getzen bugle

[TrumpetMD]

[HERMOKIWI]

Here's an excellent article that tells it like it is:

http://www.halgalper.com/articles/practice-and-performance-goals/

Here's a quote just to pique your interest:

"All the great players I had the good fortune to apprentice with over the years played by ear. They also learned their vocabulary the same way. They could not describe what they were doing theoretically."
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HERMOKIWI

[dstdenis]

When we've talked about "the changes" in jazz bands I've been in, it meant the chords that would be played during the solo by the rhythm section, and "learn the changes" just meant knowing what that would sound like well enough that the solo sounds coherent.

An analogy could be if a member of a group of friends announces he and his family will be moving out of town to some place on the other side of the country, and someone in the group decides to organize a going-away dinner party for him. The organizer becomes the unofficial host, and at some point during the dinner, he will stand up and say a few words about the guest of honor.

In this situation, some speakers might forget that they're supposed to say something, and after getting poked in the ribs, stand up and babble in an incoherent way. That guy didn't know his changes.

Another guy would be better prepared. He'd think about it in advance and decide that he's gonna (1) thank everyone for coming, (2) say what friendship with the guest of honor has meant to him, (3) wish him well on his new adventure, and (4) raise glasses in a toast. He hasn't written out a speech, but he's prepared a structure in his head that he can riff on and sound coherent. He knows his changes.

A third guy might not feel confident about this, so he'll write out a speech word-for-word and read it at the party. That guy isn't improvising.

When I play a solo, I have an idea what the changes played by the rhythm section will sound like. I don't know exactly what I'm going to play, but I know what notes and scale patterns would work. I like to think of a structure that I can follow, for example (1) start big, (2) back down and noodle, (3) get big again, then (4) wind it down and hand it over to the next soloist or ensemble.
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[BeboppinFool]

Rich Matteson taught us to sit at the piano and memorize the chord changes to tunes. And if you couldn't write out the chords for a piano player, you didn't know the tune.

Next time somebody calls Moments Notice or Lazy Bird or Giant Steps or All The Things You Are or Cherokee and you just "earball" it, unless you're one of an extremely tiny number of select mortals, you're going to sound like caca if you haven't worked on and memorized the chord changes.

That's the truth, no candy coating, no warm fuzzies. If you don't know what the changes are, you're constantly hoping for miracles . . . you are not living in the real world.

And when you do truly know the changes, then (and only then) do you not have to think about them. You can only rely on autopilot when you know the material so well you can do it in your sleep.
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Puttin’ On The Ritz

[Jafuentes3]

Hello!
Great answers by everyone.
If I could add something;
I think learning the changes (aside from "hearing the changes") also has to do with exploring the possibilities of said chord changes. (How can I alter these chords? What extensions are most appropriate? Where and how can I add/substitute some chords?)

Learning how the melody relates to the chords is very important; I always like to think that there are things that work better than others in a tune and it's because of the song's/tune main melody!!

Hopefully that helps.

All best,
J.

[Trumpetingbynurture]

[kehaulani]

Too much for me to read, apologies if it's already been said, but one thing about the changes is knowing their harmonic direction. Chords in isolation can be meaningless, but knowing where they go is vital.
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"If you don't live it, it won't come out of your horn." Bird

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[crose]

The language analogy works great if you follow it all the way through

You don't have to know how to read or write to speak the language - but you will always be limited in expressing yourself. Same for a jazz musician.

Knowing tons of grammar and vocabulary will not make you a great writer or speaker - but you will never be truly great at either without those. We have all suffered through listening to someone recite all of the licks the have learned and never really "say" anything.

Truly great jazz musicians are like great orators. They have the ability to speak extemporaneously, but use familiar phrases and vocabulary that are either a product of their listen and learning or on rare occasions something unique.

The analogy also hold through with learn it and forget it. Even though we are not thinking about the parts of speech and sentence structure when we have to speak if front of a group of people, you can generally pick out the folks who have a firm grasp on those when they speak. Same for jazz musicians.

The goal is communication. The more you have to think, the less you can intuitively communicate.

I am sure there have been great orators in history that could not read or write. However, they could only speak about what they knew and would have a tough time learning something else to speak about without reading. Same for jazz musicians. I am not sure how many times some of the folks we use as examples of playing by ear (Chet Baker) had to hear some of the tunes they could play to learn them and be able to express themselves while soloing - but I know the answer is more times than I have time for...........

Knowing more is always good.

[kehaulani]

Excellent post and analogy but just one quibble:

[jharris2]

[mm55]

[BGinNJ]

I agree with the importance of "learning the changes". My other instrument for that (rather than the piano) is guitar.

The problem I have, and it shows up with guitar more than trumpet, is retaining and being fluid with the memory.

That is, remembering the next chord without stumbling for it, perhaps losing a beat, like you would if you were speaking and couldn't remember the right word- getting tongue tied. One way I've tried to overcome this is repetition, but some tunes come easier than others, and if I don't play one for a while...it goes in the recycle bin.

I wonder if I need some memory trick, or maybe jazz standards are just too hard (after 35 years of trying...)

[TrumpetMD]

[HERMOKIWI]

[homebilly]

*** devils advocate warning ***

what if you are subbing on the jazz chair in a big band that only plays
original tunes?

you are going to have to be able to sight read changes in a big way
as you will have no time to wait to hear the progression to be able
to figure it out.

this is another part of the art of improvising
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[TrumpetMD]

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