Expert: Mike Pawul - 10/25/2008

Question
I played trumpet in high school and 2 years of college and was very good at the time.  I had private lessons for 8 years, got the "50 yard line" solo, and was paid for small church performances. I played all the time in band, jazz band, orch, school plays, and churches. Unfortunately, computers were my bigger passion and that career took over my life.  I've taken a liking to a local band and know the leader.  He has a sax player in on some sets, and I kidded with a friend about brushing off the dust and playing, if at first just a practices.  And here's the rub - I was "book smart" playing off of music.  I was in a jazz band 4 years but never jammed.  Maybe this is a learn by doing proposition and that's the answer to the question: How can  one learn to play along with a band?  Or is it "innate" and not something one can learn?  I've tried to "play along" on some Maynard Ferguson tunes and felt like I didn't know what to do.  Can you help me get back into playing as a hobby?  Thank you!  -Bill

Answer
Bill, Welcome back to the trumpet community! One of the hardest things to learn for many people is to improvise. It requires a lot of trial and error and thinking. You need to get as many of your scales down as possible and then you can begin to experiment. I have found the best way to learn is to use a play along book. Jamie Abersold has a great line of books with CD that will walk you through easy to hard improvising. Here is a link to a few: http://aebersold.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Category_Code=TRUIMP

Anyone can learn to do improvising and have fun with it. Just like your playing, you start with the basic scales and work out from there. Most of all just have fun with it. You will make a lot of mistakes at first but keep practicing with it.