So you’re also a Jazz violinist. I didn’t know that pirates play jazz. 

Kinda.
Just about every time I sit down to practice, I play a 12bar Blues progression in D. There's enough "fence" around the outside, yet lots of room to stretch out.

On occasion, I’ve done this for fun. It can be interesting to see how a phrase changes meaning with a bit of rearrangement and it can make you pay more attention to certain aspects of playing. At times it can provide insight into playing a phrase more cleanly when returning to the standard form. It can, as mentioned, be a sort of springing board into improvisation.

I do that some. I think I do it more when I am humming or replaying music phrases in my head.

Marty it depends. When I play with The Brigands, the music is pretty set and the crew gets upset if I improv too much, especially on duet tunes ( rightly so). But when I'm playing bluegrass, especially songs, fills and breaks, I always improv over the melody and chords. Trying to create a style thats elements of BG, Celtic, Swing and what evers in my head that night. Doing the above helps me flesh out ideas. Like poking a ball of clay and see what comes out. Keeps my bowing fluid and less rhythmically locked in.

I was just curious if anyone else does this.

All the time.

That sounds like a really good exercise!

I don’t do it much, because I have a fear of forgetting how the actual tune goes…
as time goes by they get a bit morphed and mushed in my head already. :-D

The band dedannan did a really cool version of the beetles song hey Jude. You should look it up. They changed the feel of it completely.

COol! Frankie Gavin is such a creative and entertaining musician... hey Jude

I hardly ever play my repertoire of jigs, reels and polkas, but they are on reserve in case a bush dance pops up. However, when practicing "the Bow patterns" I do make up phrases to fit each pattern, and those phrases change as I become fluent with the bowings, as I continue to sequence them through the scales. Some times the bowings sneak into the tunes at appropriate places. I also find that the bowings will influence melodic ideas in my improvs.

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Originally posted by wrench13

Take a phrase, say an 8 note one, and play around making it sound different - bowings, timing, emphasis etc, just to see what it sounds like? I do more of this then anything honestly. I feel it improves all sorts of skills and muscle memory, and allows me to improvise much better and faster.

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Yes, similar I do this in various ways and to different degrees.  Maybe this relates to discussions about how learns tunes, and playing freely. It's pretty much my background; part of how I learned to play, and how think about playing music, what goals. That is, I didn't come from background of formal music world; practicing; of things like scale exercises and execution of fixed idea "as written" instructions, (nor nec that there was a single rigid fixed "right"). Rather included lots of the idea of freedom; experimenting, noodling with and exploring ways can twist and turn the melody, (harmonically and rhythmically) to give different feel/expression. Also included borrowing ideas from other styles/grooves or instrument; or just noodling around, from happy accidents of discovery; open to what different possible ways a melodic idea can be.

I don't really think of it as jazz per se; nor necessarily about jazz improvising, along those lines.

A lot of it is  "just to see what it sounds like?" - staying curious, ask what if? Some are set up as various exercises, using some seed idea as initial spark, see where goes. Doesn't always fully pan out, but feel like I learn something from it; overall skills or understanding, that might find useful for something else. One aspect it helps IMO, is for jams... ability to listen adjust and adapt.