Improvising in other keys

[williampiano]

Hey! In my improvisations, I've lately noticed that I have a lot of difficulties improvising in Major keys. Nearly all my improvs are in minor because usually, whenever I try to improv in Major keys, it sounds bad. Am I the only one with this problem? Do any of you have difficulties improvising in certain keys?

-Will

[Derek]

When you're just starting out as an improviser, one usually plays entirely within the notes of a certain scale at first. I'm not sure whether this is just engrained habit or assumption in Western musicianship, or not, but that's typically what we do. For me anyway, I found minor keys to provide convenient "ear candy" for me as an inexperienced improviser. I just liked the pure and simple sound of them, even though I couldn't do much with them besides very simple little riffs and melodies. Major always sounded "cheesy" when I started out.

So I'd say what you're experiencing seems natural. The best antidote to any perceived stagnation in improvisation is to induce change, even ones that feel odd at first. Try throwing in notes that are not part of the scale, or even combining keys that are unrelated (like C major and F# major). Or, try emphasizing different modes of the major scale, such as lydian or dorian (two of my favorites) Experimenting like this can help you discern which sounds you like and which sounds you don't, and eventually some of them may become a part of your personality. Good luck!