As promised I am posting my first serious attempt at improvisation.  You
can listen to it by clicking here.

While I have fooled around with improvisation since starting out, most of my
time has been spent trying to play the trumpet.  I definitely have a long
way to go with regards to my technical skills but I feel I must build confidence
creating melodies on the spot, especially with the jazz master class looming in
my immediate future.  It is very important to me that I can at least make
an effort to play with the skills that I have.

I am working with Aebersold Volume 1 – "How to Play Jazz and
Improvise", 2nd track.  It is modal in format as the rhythm section plays in concert F
minor, Eb minor and D minor – eight bars of each.  To me it is reminiscent
of "So What" from "Kind of Blue."  I tried to keep that
vibe in my head while playing.  Prior to tackling this track I worked on
each key using Aebersold’s Volume 24.  To get familiar with each, I played
the first 5 notes of the scale, the entire scale and then the chord.  I
also played a lick in one key and then tried to repeat it in the others.  I
also try singing a short phrase and play it back.  The key there is singing
something that I can actually get out of the horn!  Since I’ve only been
playing 3 years I have to keep the ideas simple…  that’s tough.

My biggest compliant is I totally loose all technique (articulation and tone)
when I try improvisation.  I think I am so wrapped up in what notes to play
that I forget to move air through the horn and all the other fundamentals that I
busted my butt to develop.  I can only hope that it will get better as I
get more comfortable doing it. I also recorded this clip while listening headphones which is AWFUL when you’re trying to hear yourself. I need to come up with a different way to record.

It was very difficult for me to post this sound file.  The more I listen
to it — the worse it sounds.  I take some comfort in the fact that I will
get better.  This will be an excellent marker of where I began. 
Please offer any suggestions or comments that you have – good or bad.

On another note – I’ve been having some email problems since starting this
site.  If you sent me a message and I did not respond to it, I probably
didn’t get it.  If you want to send a message again – feel free to do so as
I feel the problem is solved.  You can also email me at kindofblue32@hotmail.com.