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Building a Solid Improvisational Concept Part 1 by Igor Saavedra
I’ve noticed through my career that when musicians talk about improvisation and soloing, most of the energy of the conversation is driven by topics like scales, technique, chords, licks, chops, etc,.
The reality in my opinion is that there are so many aspects within the improvisational context that are far more important than the ones I just mentioned above, aspects that have to do mostly with poetical, lyrical, philosophical, esthetical and psychological concepts.
In my opinion improvising is composing in real time…
When you compose, you either have some idea or feeling that inspired you in the first place, and you need to represent it with music, or, you just have some notes in your head that you are starting to like as you proceed.
In both cases you’ll start hitting some notes on your instrument, making some adjustments through the process, and then you’ll write or record them to make sure you don’t forget your composition. But the point is you have the opportunity to analyze, erase something you didn’t like, and then rewrite it, or just stop, go to the fridge, grab a sandwich, feel better, and then continue.
As I said before, when you improvise you are indeed composing, but the challenge remains that you are doing it in real time, so you can’t erase the note you just played if you didn’t like it. You just have to let it go and just care about the next note you are going to play.
Here is when the philosophical aspect gets involved within the improvisational context. I would say that this is somehow a “Quantum Physics” aspect, and I’m risking that you’ll start thinking I’m completely crazy and won’t read my articles anymore!!
Within the context of soloing, what is wrong and what is right is up to you to decide. Believe it or not, you have the power to change the past by taking care of the future…how?
First of all, never forget this humble advice from this fellow South American friend.
“The only note that matters is the following one, not the one you just played”.
When I say the word “note”, I’m not only referring to the pitch, I’m also referring to the rhythmical aspect and all the nuances involved on the exposition of that note; like dynamics, expressive resources, sound textures, etc. With that following note you will have the power to make the previous one look like a beauty queen, or a witch. So, as you can see, you indeed have the power to travel back in time…that’s the Quantum Physics part.
When you improvise, one the first things you have to learn is to love any note you have played like it was a son or a daughter. It doesn’t really matter how “good” or “bad” it sounded. If it sounded “good”, send that note more “brothers” so it won’t feel alone, the better the brothers the better the “family”. On the other hand, if it sounded “bad”, send that notes even more supportive “brothers” to help it and make it look great. But once you are improvising, never regret about a note you already played. Just love it, and support it all the way, you won’t believe how the following note can change everybody’s perception, including yours!
Play confident, don’t play “safe”. Take risks! A safe improvisation has no soul, no purpose to itself!
Probably the most important improvisational ability you are going to have to develop through the years is the ability to walk as close to the abyss as you can, and deal with the “mistakes” in such an elegant and beautiful manner it doesn’t effect your statement. You can choose walking on a plain and safe valley, but if you like that better, I’d suggest to dedicate your musical life to sitting safely in your own home or studio and composing great musical pieces instead, which is also an amazing thing to do.
Next month on the following part of this series I’ll be addressing the poetical, lyrical, esthetical, and psychological concepts that will help you to build a solid improvisational concept.
See you soon!
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Photo: Self-portrait by Melissa Auf Der Maur
Melissa Auf Der Maur is a Canadian bassist who played with Tinker, Hole, and The Smashing Pumpkins. She released her own work and is a photographer with photos published in Nylon, Bust, and National Geographic. She released her ‘90s Rock Memoir “Even The Good Girls Will Cry” on 17 March 2026.
KB: Did you always want to be a singer-musician growing up?
I’ve played music my whole life. In school, I played trumpet and sang in a children’s choir, so music was always within me. My mother was the first female disc jockey on the Montreal airwaves; her record collection played a huge role in my inspiration and love of music.
KB: When did you start playing bass, and why this instrument?
When I was 19, the early 90s music explosion began to percolate in tiny clubs around the world. I was lucky to be a ticket girl at Montreal’s underground music club. In one year, I saw Hole, Sonic Youth, Smashing Pumpkins, White Zombie, and The Breeders – all had female bass players. That’s when the seed was planted. By the age of 22, I was the bass player of Hole.
KB: Which brands of basses have you used in your career, and which one are you using now?
The first bass that I learned on was a vintage Squier Precision. Hole was sponsored by Fender guitars, so I upgraded to Fender Custom Shop Precisions. That is all I play, but I have a cool vintage 8-string Greco that I use on recordings to thicken up guitar parts.
KB: What equipment do you use or have you used with your basses?
Ampeg SVT amps and cabinets, a couple of Sans-Amp pedals, and that is it.
KB: How did you become a member of Hole, and what is your fondest memory of that time?
Billy Corgan of the Smashing Pumpkins was helping scout a replacement for (RIP) Kristen Pfaff, Hole’s bass player. My band, Tinker, opened for them on the Siamese Dream tour, so Billy had seen me play and could vouch for me. Courtney trusted her talented friend, and that was it. I initially said “no thank you” due to my commitment to my photographic studies and the drama and chaos surrounding the band during the “Live Through This” album release. Courtney took it as a good sign that I said no, so convinced me to reconsider, and soon after, I accepted their invitation, in the name of helping put females in the male-dominated landscape of rock music. My fondest memory is every show we played as a mostly female band, symbolizing what a woman could do in a rock band. Every show had a purpose: get more women to play music.
KB: You are a photographer as well. What makes a great picture? Do you shoot in color or b/w?
I started shooting photographs at age 15. Initially only shot black & white and worked in the art school darkroom. In university, I took a color photography course, and shifted mostly and forever to that, because it was easier to process film on the road when I joined a rock band. I experimented with many cameras, point and shoots, manual, polaroids, medium format, and vintage finds. The trick to a good photograph is to shoot many and all the time – the magic is in the edit and selection process.
KB: Are there artists you would love to collaborate with or wish you had?
??I’ve been lucky to collaborate with some of my favorite musicians in my career. I would still love to collaborate with a new generation heavy electronic artist on an analog bass, heavy electronic drums, and synths collaboration project. Take me out of my usual zone, merging the past and future: my love of 80s dark new wave and new artists exploring that genre. It was very futuristic back then, and we are now, after all, living in the future. I am in the mood to play bass to heavy beats I want to dance to.
KB: What are your 7 favorite bass lines in music across all genres? And why these 7?
“Mountain Song” – Jane’s Addiction (love a rambling, rolling bass line – feels like the ocean waves)
“Black Top – Helmet” (was the first bass line I taught myself)
“Gold Dust Woman” – Hole from “The Crow 2” Soundtrack (it was my first bass line contribution to the band)
“Get Ready” – The Temptations (Motown just feels so good, because of the bass)
“Lucretia My Reflection” – Sisters of Mercy (makes me want to hit the dance floor and play bass simultaneously)
“Be My Druidess” – Type O Negative (full chord bass playing at its best by iconic, demonic, Peter Steele, RIP)
“Romantic Rights” – Death from Above (1979 – unique distorted overdriven tone, combined dance rhythm and melodic intelligence, all in one shot – also! Shout out to a bass & drum only band, which is awesome, and we should have more of, but the bass player needs to be a killer to fill that role.
KB: What are you currently up to?
Releasing my ‘90s Rock Memoir “EVEN THE GOOD GIRLS WILL CRY”. Visceral healing process, it was to get it out of me and write it, but I suspect the real magic will begin by putting it into the world and reflecting with others on what the magic of the ‘90s was all about. Powerful music decade that carried us into what is now a brave new world of digital corporate weirdness – may the past shed a light on our future. That’s my hope for this book release and tour.
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