by Steve Herberman.

George Van Eps set his goals higher than most solo jazz guitarists. He enjoyed discovering new ways to turn a phrase in the moment, often going to “the woods” and having to find his way back, inventing most of his journey. He would tell his audiences that he found it hard to believe that they found his “noodling” interesting. Granted he had his comfortable material to fall back on like any improviser, but he insisted on trying to improvise a string trio arrangement on the guitar’s fretboard. His use of an extra low seventh string helped him get closer to a piano’s wider range.

Van Eps’ philosophy has become the ultimate model in my musical pursuits. Not that I am seeking to play the same things he played, but I enjoy using the concepts of multi-line improvising to play some new things while in the midst of a solo gig - getting from one chord to the next a little differently or playing within a chord by creating an inner melody line leading to a soprano melody line, which could then be repeated in the bass register. It’s exciting to think about the endless possibilities behind such an open-ended approach. These concepts have shown me the wealth of variation in playing a musical phrase in a chordal fashion, hearing chords as a blending of multiple lines. It has enlightened me when listening to a pianist work inner lines through their chords or hearing a film score and checking out the string lines and harmonies, imagining how this could be played on the guitar. Van Eps’ books have illustrated this approach in a way that avoids teaching “style.” I find this refreshing in that the student must determine his/her own usage of such material forming, hopefully, an individual style in the process of all of the diligent study.

Personally, I see the value in a guitarist working out chord melody arrangements of the heads of tunes. But the question is always “what do I do now, after stating the melody?” The more one expects improvisation to occur, the greater the chance it will actually happen. If one practices towards this goal then success may be just down the road. (It’s a long road so be patient!)

If the manipulation of several melodic lines is practiced slowly over a tune, then eventually this can be raised up to tempo and help one to steer these lines around with greater success. For me to feel comfortable improvising in this way I need to be doing it at least a little bit every day. When my weekly solo gig turns into a duo or trio gig, I still use the multi-line concepts in arrangements and soloing, keeping the bass register open for the bassist.

For anyone looking to expand their playing into multi-line concepts I teach a monthly online masterclass at www.mikesmasterclasses.com.