I Play Because I Want To:: A Self-Help Strategy for Fearless Jazz Improvisation

By Abe Ovadia

The Improv Paradox is real: The more you know, the less you are able to express.

Are you a technically proficient musician who freezes under the spotlight? Do you hear the perfect solo in your head, only to have your Inner Critic hijack your hands, forcing you back to "safe licks" and paralyzing self-doubt?

For two decades, acclaimed improvising guitarist and author Abe Ovadia was trapped in this agonizing cycle. He had the degrees, the knowledge, and the talent, yet every performance became an intense, internal war, defined by fear and comparison.

This is not another theory book. This is a guide to psychological freedom.

I Play Because I Want To is written from the trenches by a musician who found a clear, radical path out of the anxiety cage. Abe Ovadia shares the life-changing philosophical shift that allowed him to silence the toxic voice demanding perfection and recapture the simple, childlike joy of playing.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: B0G7HZ21C2
• ISBN13: 9798278921936
• Release Date: December 2025
• Publisher: Independently published
• Length: 61 Pages
• Weight: 0.16 lbs.
• Dimensions: 8.0" x 0.1" x 5.0"