Most musicians practise scales for years and still freeze when it is their turn to improvise. Musicians, Play the Changes (a working title, after the jazz phrase for improvising over chord changes) is the idea of learning improvisation the way it actually sticks: by playing, with feedback on every note, the moment you play it.
What it would do
- See if it fits. Play over a chord, a scale or a backing track, and every note glows: green when it fits, amber when it is tense, red when it clashes.
- Jam over anything. Improvise over a backing in a new key and mode, and watch which of your notes land.
- Train your ear as you go. Short drills on intervals, triads, seventh chords and the seven modes, so you start to hear it before you see it.
- Build on what you play. Record a part, improvise over it, and see where the two resonate or clash.
- Keep what you played. Anything you play can be written out as sheet music or note names.
What we are validating
Whether seeing, on every note, that it fits makes people improvise sooner and more often than drilling scales on their own.
What happens next
Jam sessions with musicians who want to improvise but freeze when it is their turn. What they feel on the spot decides what gets built first, and whether it gets built at all.