"That Doesn't Work, Does It?"

One of the questions raised by my last post was: How does a Jazz musician come up with chord progressions that are somehow "better" or more interesting than the ones provided in a commercial lead sheet? In future posts, I will use this question to motivate a detailed look at Jazz harmony--a topic about which I knew nothing when I started trying to play Jazz guitar. But first, I want to play my favorite clip from the movie Amadeus (above) since it provides a wonderful illustration of Jazz improvisation.

In the first part of the clip, the composer Antonio Salieri (F. Murray Abraham) is seen composing a "March of Welcome" to be played by Holy Roman Emperor Joseph II (Jeffrey Jones), a patron of the arts and amateur piano player, at the Emperor's first meeting with Mozart (Tom Hulce). Salieri is seen noodling around at the piano trying to come up with a melody line which, when it falls into place, he thanks God for the inspirational moment.

The scene then cuts to the Emperor trying, not very successfully, to play Salieri's March as Mozart enters the room not knowing that it is the Emperor at the fortepiano. As the Emperor continues to play, Salieri beams with pride over the accomplishments of his illustrious student. Upon finishing the piece, the Emperor offers the manuscript to Mozart as a remembrance. Mozart claims not to need the manuscript because he has already, on one hearing, memorized the piece. The Emperor asks him to prove it and Mozart sits down at the pianoforte and plays it through once flawlessly.

On the second time through he starts critiquing the piece and starts improvising over a more sophisticated harmonic line, transforming Salieri's "trifle" into the "No more gallivanting" march from the Marriage of Figaro.

Essentially, this is the process of Jazz improvisation:  try to get the composers intent from either hearing the song (if you have great ears like Mozart) or reading the sheet music. You are probably going to find the sheet music a little boring, as Mozart did,  so you go about adding chord changes "that work better" and a more interesting melody line. It helps to have a good understanding of Jazz harmony so you don't have to sit at the piano, as Salieri did, and pick out notes until you figure something out.

Amadeus is one of my favorite movies. It sets up the conflict between genius (Mozart) and mediocrity (Salieri) so beautifully. Salieri is a good enough musician and composer (he was quite good, quite popular in his time and his music is still played) to know genius when he hears it and to know that he isn't at the same level. One can be sympathetic!


NOTE: If you can't wait to find out the answer to the question posed at the beginning of this post ("How do Jazz musicians come up with chord progressions that work?), start reading Lesson 76. on page 201 of John Mehegan's Jazz Improvisation: Tonal and Rhythmic Principles. If you get lost, back track to the beginning of the book and work your way back to page 201. If you are a Jazz guitarist, in future posts I will work my way slowly through Mehegan's book, which was written for piano, and translate the main ideas to guitar.