This article is written by Toru Hoshino, a jazz bassist and instructor based in Japan who teaches online lessons to students worldwide. In this article, he answers a common question: is it okay to play phrases you wrote out and prepared in advance at a jam session?
Here’s a question I get a lot: “Is it okay to play phrases I wrote out and prepared ahead of time at a session?”
People who are working on improvising often ask something like: “I can’t come up with phrases on the spot at all, so I’ve been playing lines I wrote out on paper beforehand — is it okay to play those at a session? Doesn’t that defeat the whole point of improvising?”
It’s true that playing something you wrote out in advance isn’t, strictly speaking, improvising in the purest sense. But as a practice method — writing out phrases and training yourself to release them naturally within a chord progression — that’s completely fine.
“Does this note actually fit over this chord?”
— deliberately checking that is genuinely valuable.
Sure, it’d be great if cool phrases just came out of nowhere with zero thought. But that’s not realistic starting out, so when you’re working on this on your own, really listen to how each note sounds against the chord — trust your own ear, even if it’s just “I like how that sounds” or “hm, not so much” — and once you land on something that feels good, repeat it until it’s second nature, then practice it in different keys so it gradually becomes part of your vocabulary.
When you’re just starting this process, the cool phrasing you’re imagining won’t come easily. But by steadily grinding through this process, your ability to respond to chords on the fly builds up bit by bit. So if you’ve ever felt like “I have no idea what to play when I’m improvising,” try writing out phrases specifically for the spots that aren’t working yet — it’s a genuinely effective approach.
A Recommended App
If you’re working on improvising on your own, the app iReal Pro is incredibly useful.
It lets you play backing tracks for over 1,400 jazz standards, in any tempo or key you want.
Definitely worth checking out.
Writing out phrases is a great way to build vocabulary on your own — but knowing which of those phrases are actually worth keeping is exactly the kind of judgment a teacher can speed up.
Want Personalized Feedback on Your Playing?
This is exactly the kind of thing that’s hard to fix alone — and where having a teacher makes all the difference.
At Line on Bass, I offer an online lesson service where you send me a video of your playing, and I give you specific, detailed feedback — every single day if you want.
Students from around the world are using this to fix exactly these kinds of issues and steadily improve their jazz bass skills.
