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 question he gets often: what does “improvisation” actually mean, and where should you start?
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What Is Improvisation, Really?
I recently got asked: “Is improvising about coming up with something completely new on the spot, something you never planned? Or is it really just using phrases and licks you’ve copied from other players?”
The honest answer is: both.
But if it were only the first one, total chaos would count as “improvisation” too. My son is about to turn two, and he loves banging on the piano just for fun — that’s technically improvised. But it’s not music.
And as the second part of the question suggests, using phrases and licks you’ve copied is genuinely important too. The catch is, if you copy them with zero underlying knowledge, your fingers might learn to move, but you won’t be able to apply what you learned anywhere else.
So the real goal is building up enough musical knowledge that the right phrase shows up naturally, at the right moment, when you need it.
If you’re just starting out with jazz improvisation, by far the best first step is:
Learning your chord tones.
If you see F7 and your fingers know F–A–C–E♭, or you see Dm7 and your fingers know D–F–A–C — being able to play the chord tones the moment you see the chord symbol is a smooth first step into improvising.
If you want to join sessions, want to try improvising, or just don’t know where to start — start with chord tones.
Where Do I Start With Chord Tones?
That said, “where do I actually start” is a fair question, so I made a video for it. Getting chord tones to come to mind instantly when you see a chord takes repetition and practice.
So here’s a no-instrument-required brain-training video you can do anywhere. A chord shows up on screen, and a few seconds later, the chord tones appear. There are 30 questions in total — repeat it regularly if you want to build up your ability to react to chords on the fly.
Subscribe to my YouTube channel here for more videos like this.
Things like chord-tone recall are easy to drill on your own, but hard to know if you’re actually applying correctly — that’s exactly where having someone check your playing helps.
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.