I wonder if any here would care to share some ideas on how they would deal with making sense of an unrehearsed chord progression. I work with a few singers and much of what I need to play I already know and have performed with them. (I'm talking popular music here rather than Lieder!) Occasionally however, I am called upon to play something "on the fly" with a given chord progression. I am not seeking information on chord recognition, or soloing techniques, but rather approaches from a textural point of view. After all, one can only draw from one's own bank of textures and apply them to the required harmony. Reggae styles, for example, I am particularly good at (so I'm told; ). Another I might use a lot would be right hand chords on each beat of a 4/4, with the bass line used to inject a little movement. (which I suppose is a little like an unsyncopated reggae?). I'm tiring of my textures though. Any thoughts?

A very difficult subject to talk about, and while I like improvising, I don't like analysing it. Have you tried the Jazz forum?

Edward

I'm a bit of a beginner at this chord malarky but have an excellent book - 'How To play From A Fake Book' by Michael Esterowitz, published by Ekay Music ISBN 094374819-4. It gives chord theory , basic accompaniment patterns, more complex accompaniment and embellishment of the left hand part, fleshing out the harmony, embellishing and varying the melody and lots more. I would reckon that by the time one gets to the end of the book they would have a pretty good grasp of accompaniment. Hope this of interest.