Re: Derek Baily Improvisation TV

[Brian Good <bsgood@adelphia.net>]

>> I also like Bailey's interpretation of the value of transcribing in 
>> jazz or in learning to improvise. I've never found that as a useful 
>> tool, in terms of making me a better player or increasing my 
>> improvisation skills...maybe making it easier for me to copy other 
>> players' licks and clichés, but nothing from a creative standpoint.

I have to disagree with this. I suppose if you go into transcription 
with the goal of hijacking somebody else's style, that's all you'll get 
out of it. But transcription is an excellent form of ear training, and I 
would argue that good ears are, if anything, even more important in 
authentic free playing than in the mainstream. And nothing says you have 
to restrict your transcription to solo instruments. Try to pry apart 
some of Maria Schneider's dense large-ensemble jazz voicings; even 
though I can do it imperfectly, I think it can greatly improve one's 
clarity of expression.

Brian