Once again, guitar improvisation....?

Question

I have looked at countless questions on yahoo answers about guitar improvisation and the typical answers are "know your scales", "watch other people improvise on youtube, embellish that and add different notes to it", or "know your music theory". I have posted a question about improvisation before and got the same type of answer. I apologize if Im coming across as arrogant or not being happy with the answers Ive seen/gotten, but Im at a stand still right now when it comes to playing guitar. Ive learned a lot of songs (Voodoo child, Sweet child o mine, paradise city) but just like everyone else, Im stuck on repeating the same licks over and over. I know all 5 positions of the Am pentatonic and Em pentatonic, yet I still cant figure out. I have looked at countless youtube videos on how to improvise and they dont help much. What can I buy in order to figure this out? Is there some dvd or book that would really help me? I know Marty Schwartz has some good stuff but his dvd's are expensive. What can really help me with my improvisation? Thanks for the help. What parts of music theory do I absoluetly need to know to improvise?

Answer 1

As for improvisation, there are 4 types. One type which you seem to be focused upon is etudal. That's where you learn scales and chords and arpeggios.

Another type is quoting in which you take known melodies and apply them in your playing. Some players take known melodies and transpose them to fit over changes, or even change the tonality from major to minor(or vice versa).

Still another type of improvisation is on the spot composition. Creating melodies or harmonies of your own.

The gifted players do all three styles. They can compose, they can apply theory, and they can quote.

All of it comes down to application. It's great to know a lot of theory, but if it isn't applied "right", then it's just notes. Obviously, what's right is subjective and all of the styles of improvisation have some overlap in definition, but it gives you an idea of the method that each play applies. Keep in mind that players use different methods, certain chord voicings, certain rhythms, certain scales, even certain keys to create their sound. The variations are infinite. Some up pick, some sweep pick, some bend, some hammer on, some pull off, some tap, some pluck... it goes on and on.

For now, forget the theory and just listen to the stuff you life and play it. Then change keys. Use different chords, change tempos. see if that helps you along in your playing.

Answer 2

An easy way to start is knowing where the tonics of the scale are. Given that you know all your Am and Em positions, this shouldn't be too hard. Find each tonic and each dominant (i.e., the 1st and the 5th) of whichever scale you use. Start on a rock/blues 12 bar, so you get the rock feel with the blues-ish theory. Go with three different phrases - four measures each. As a general rule of thumb, especially in classical or otherwise orchestral/symphonic music, first phrases go up and end on the 5th, while the returning phrase resolves it by ending on the 1st. In the 12 bar, your first phrase should end on the 5th, your second should start on the 4th (i.e., the root of the chord that the progression changes to) and end on the first, and your third one should start on the fifth and end on the first. Now, I say "should" only to give you an exercise to adhere to; improvisation has playing out of the scale, repeating tones, pedal notes, and basically whatever you can think of; once again, this is just to get you started.



Alternatively, if you're still struggling with the multiple notes, try this. Find another 12 bar progression, ideally 20-30 minutes long, and play a solo ONLY using the first note of the pentatonic scale. This forces you to focus on rhythm rather than the actual notes. The second time, use the first two notes. The third time, use the first three notes, etc. If you finish before the progressions end (and you should), start again, or add embellishments (HOPOs, slides, trills, etc.)



Good luck!

Answer 3

The answer is pretty simple. No one can "teach" you to improvise. I remember when I had been taking lessons a few years I asked my instructor that, he told me the same thing. I cannot really teach you that. From the scales you know, you need to learn some licks. You can do this buy listening to others, by searching youtube for "easy pentatonic licks" or by buying a DVD of licks, although I don't generally find these DVDs very helpful for beginners. Also take the licks from the cover leads you know and and try to fit them into improvising over a backing track.



Once you have some licks in your back pocket, you have to learn to phrase those licks. Phrasing is also something that just cannot be taught "cookbook" style. You learn to phrase by listening to others, and by experimenting. I know this isn't the answer you are looking for, but it is an honest answer.



I found this to be a very helpful tool. It has about 100 different backing tracks built in that you can play lead to and record yourself playing with the songs. This allows you to listen back and critique them, etc. You can also adjust the speed of each backing track and change the key.



http://www.musiciansfriend.com/amplifiers-effects/line-6-jm4-looper-guitar-effects-pedal

Answer 4

Try not playing a scale in "pattern positions" but learn how the scales link together up the fretboard and the 3 ways to play each octave of the same pattern on different parts of the neck.

Plus...pentatonics are lame to begin with. They limit you immensely. You are missing to other notes in each octave you could be playing.

I think I gave you this link before, but:

https://answersrip.com/question/index?qid=20131204073148AAOJIkF

(this applies to ANY scale)

Also look at this cheesy little youtube thing I did for a guy I was trying help to learn how scales can link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D7JgxoRLIGw

(surprisingly enough, this is my most watched video!)



Once you know some more scale patterns, you will be able to more easily understand what the classic soloists were doing and can incorporate that into your own playing.

Also you don't have to start a solo at the beginning of the scale or the end of the scale and work backwards.

You can start a solo at a 3rd or a 5th note in the scale.

It takes a long time to really figure it out nd the best way is to play with a friend who plays and just play a rhythm riff endlessly that is a "solo" section and just experiment.

I taught a friend of mine by jamming with him for 2-4 hours at a time and we would play one riff for 20 minutes , trading off solo and rhythm.

Another thing I cover in my answer is that once you know the pattern spacing for ONE octave, you now know the entire fretboard and can play a scale in any key, just by knowing the root positions of any note, using the dotted frets as a guide.

No DVD or youtube thing is going to make a lot of difference in teaching you musicality and the ability to think of a nice solo melody on the spot. That's why the big boys make the big money!!

Answer 5

One of the most important aspects of singing well involves correct breathing. Now you would think that we would already do this correctly. Try a site like https://tr.im/sbOce which has the best vocal exercises



After all if we couldn't breathe we wouldn't be alive! But in reality many people have bad breathing habits caused by a variety of things including poor posture and our often frantic lifestyles. Learning how to control your breathing is one of the keys to improving your voice.



Singing requires that you are able to take in enough air quickly before you are about to sing a line and then let this air out in a regular and controlled way whilst singing the notes. The mistake many novice singers do is to take a quick shallow gasp of air into the top of the lungs. This results in there being insufficient air, to get you through the line you are singing, and you will end up dropping notes. I'm sure you can relate to this experience and can remember times when you have had to quickly take in more air half way through the line or note you are singing.

Answer 6

The thing you can "buy" is private lessons, in-person, with someone who not only understands how they do what they do but can also express it to you in a way that you understand. That interaction is what's missing from all the other approaches. Yes, it's expensive, and so is a guitar, so is housing, so is a car... so you have to ask yourself whether you want this bad enough to pay for it.



I agree and I disagree with OU812 :-) You CAN be taught many things about "how to improvise" but the teacher CAN'T move your fingers for you, CAN'T internalize the ideas for you. As a music major with a jazz degree, I took MANY classes in which teachers of all instruments would impart not just the notes that made up a scale, or which chords that scale would work for, or ways to use that scale in different styles, but the more difficult-to-summarize concept of "musicianship" and what makes playing "musical" and how to "think like a jazz player" (or whatever other style intrigues you.) It took many years and thousands of hours of practice alone, playing in ensemble situations, going to jam sessions, sweating bullets at gigs, and just plain keeping at it to get to the point where these ideas began to show up in my playing. I'm still working at that... it is a lifetime pursuit, despite my having reached a professional level of skill on my instrument years ago, and I'm sure many other musicians will back this statement.



So, here's the actionable advice you are looking for:

- take lessons

- stop playing the licks you know and start learning new ones. one way to do this is to try inverting the patterns you do know: play the licks and scale patterns backwards. This is especially useful for breaking out of pentatonic prison... so many players learn their pentatonics only from the root up... try playing from the top note down, and then from each note in the middle to the next occurrence of that note... BACKWARDS. I.e. don't play your blues scale as 1 b3 4 b5 5 b7. Play downwards 1 b7 5 b5 4 b3 1. Then do the same thing starting on b3. Then on 5. And so on.

- make up new melodies of your own over chords or songs that you know. keep it simple. the idea is to connect your ears, your brain, and your fingers. try to simultaneously sing what you play and play what you sing. This will require you to slow WAY down and that's fine. Fast is not automatically good. Musical, lyrical, melodic, interesting is GOOD.

- when you come up with a short melodic phrase or idea that you like, try to play it in different positions on the neck, and over different chords, and in different songs.

- try running a recorder while you practice. if you stumble on something you like, go back and learn your own licks :-)



Do NOT plan to be great overnight, or in a month, or in a year. This is a long LONG slow journey. At the same time, if you really take this advice to heart and FORCE yourself to stop repeating what you "know" and start making yourself do new things, you will experience breakthroughs and improvements that will surprise you, and you'll find yourself progressing more quickly than you have in the past.



Just take it slow, take it easy, and keep at it. We all go through this. You'll get there.



Good luck!

Answer 7

Improvisation means to create your own melody based on the chords in the song. Don't overthink.



One of my favorite songs to listen to for improve ideas is "Don't Answer The Door" by BB King.



BB is very economical with notes.

Answer 8

This advice came from jazz actually - start with the melody. Yes, you need to know the theory and more is better. You probably are stuck because you are riffing. Play Mary Had a Little lamb, play Tommy from The Who, whatever songs you like but play the melody. Mary had a little lamb, little lamb....... Then you take off FROM the melody, and all melodies being somewhat different you will be playing different songs and leads. This is just advice on how to get into it - later comes more expressive and abstract stuff.

Answer 9

If you know all that, practice and still can't pull it off then you're just not creative or inspired enough to improvise. Face it.

Answer 10

I can understand your frustration. Nowadays I think there's simply too much "information" around (some of it simply wrong) and too many people with a little knowledge and understanding that they've picked up from someone else and that they then repeat. I also think there are too many gimmics: when I was learning I read that a C major scale consisted of the notes CDEFGABC. I can't see that getting that information from a DVD or the internet is any better. more of a gimmic, maybe cooler, but better?



I learnt to play decades ago and picked up 99% of the "theory" I know just from learning to play guitar - in those days, for example, learning, properly, how to play the guitar without learning how to play an ordinary basic major scale or to understand the basics of reading music would have been unthinkable.



Nowadays there seem to be two extremes: people who think they've learnt to play the guitar but can only copy, from tab, someone else's ideas. They don't understand what they are playing and can't create (play) anything original. at the other extreme are people who learn lots of what they call "theory": lots and lots of scales and modes. They learn them in every position and in every key. They don't seem to have learnt this in the context of playing the guitar though and they can't actually use these scales and modes to play any music. To me, it would be like a person trying to learn a foreign language beginning by learning as many words as possible from a foreign language dictionary. They'd "know" lots, but not be able to use it.



In the middle, then there are people who begin by learning the pentatonic scale and "power chords". Then they wonder why their "soloing" is so limited.



I am not a good soloist or improviser but I can do it. Years ago I spent hours playing over the top of chord sequences I'd recorded on an old tape machine. To begin with I knew two scales: an ordinary major scale and something magical I found in a magazine called "the blues scale". Each of these, in a given key, I could only play in one position. I was VERY limited but I found I COULD improvise - if a chord sequence was in C I could use the C major scale to "improvise", to select notes from that "fit". If they didn't, I'd try the blues scale. Gradually, over the years I learnt a few other scales and learnt to play all the scales I knew in different positions. I also found that my ability to choose, to feel, the correct notes improved. There have been times when I have improvised or carefully worked out a solo without actually knowing what scale I was using, i just knew that particular notes "worked" in particular places.



I believe that if I had taken the trouble to learn as many scales and modes as possible and to understand how they related to music (if I'd learnt more theory) I'd be a MUCH better player, but NOT if I'd BEGUN by learning all this stuff.



To me, begin by keeping it very simple - start with a basic major scale and practice playing over the top of chord sequences, develop your ear, look for notes outside the scale that still fit, see how inventive you can be just using three different notes, try just listening and singing lines that sound good - then learn to play them. A keyboard instrument can be great, play, for example, a C chord with one hand and learn what each note in a C scale sounds like played over it. Repeat with a Dm chord, then Em and so on. To me, as a person develops the ability to improvise, THEN it's the time to learn all the scales, modes and "theory".