The ability to listen — to the melody, to the underlying chords, and to what other musicians are playing.
Few solos are played in a vacuum.
You need to be able to hear the harmonic underpinnings of a song when you start to improvise.
You have to hear the chords and the chord changes
You haev to hear which notes and scales fit against those chords
You have to hear how all htose notes fit gotehr to create a melody.
You may theoretically know which notes fit a given chord, but you have to let your ears tell you which of those are the best notes to play.
Your ears can even lead you to notes that you might not think would fit, but actually do.
You have to truly hear the music to improvise to it.
- you need to read music; to communicate your musical ideas to others
- you need to know your keys and your scales; major and minor
- you need to know your chords, all of them; extended chords all 6ths, 9ths and 11ths.
1. Hear pitch. Be able to listen to a pitch, isolate it, and then replicate it. Develop tonal memory or pitch memory. Listen to the pitch and fix it in your head.
2. Hear rhythm.