Learning to improvise

thehurricane · Joined: 06 Nov 2005 Posts: 10 Location: Louisiana

Plank, you have what I lack: formal training. I am going to try to get some this coming year if the taskmaster will let me have the time. I am fortunate in the fact that I have a good friend that is about tenthousand times better than I am and doesn't mind showing me things on guitar. And since you are an "older" player like me, how's the arthritus in the hands? I am at the age where it is just starting, feel it every now and again. Wondering if you have that problem. Hell getting old, huh?---The Hurricane

kingfreeze · Site Admin Joined: 20 Oct 2005 Posts: 303

Improvisation is a life long goal, and you never seem to get enough to seem happy. Improviastion involves a variety of ideas.

licks
scales
modes
stunts
motives
arpeggio's
ideas

and all must be crafted depending on the style you are playing, personally, I use some of the same ideas in different styles, but approach it differently, but I put my ideas in what I call "boxes". I try not to let the blues ideas spill into the jazz box, even though using blues scales can are used with great succsess in jazz. A great tool to be a good improviser is knowing some great melodies, not running scales up and down all the time but using some of this and some of that. The single most important step to improvising is have an intimate knowledge of all the notes on the fretboard, that's right. I had many students that could play rock pretty good, but didn't know what the notes were. Phantom is right in the sense that if you want to improvise blues, listen to great blues players and emulate their solo's, same with other styles. This week, I will publish an article on the quick way to recognize all the notes on the fretboard, pro's, don't roll your eye's, I have taught this and it works. Once that is accomplished, 5 positions of various scales, major, melodic minor, pentatonic, ect. should be memorized, that should keep you busy for quite a while. Throw in some arp's, a little theory knowledge and voila, hey your'e burin'. Don't forget, playing nothing can be part of a solo, and and old trick, if you play an idea that sounds terrible, play the same thing again. Chances are it will work the second time, and instead of suckin', your'e a genius.

Kingfreeze

plankguitar · Posted: Sun Nov 20, 2005 3:55 pm Post subject:

Frank Piotrowski · Joined: 03 Nov 2005 Posts: 19 Location: Lisle, IL

Osteoarthritis has wiped out the cartilage in the top joint of the pinky finger on my left hand. I was in constant pain as bone was rubbing against bone at the joint. I stopped playing guitar because of the pain. Two and a half weeks ago I had surgery to fuse the bones at the joint. Last Thursday the bandage and stitches were removed and I'm now wearing a cumbersome splint. I had the surgeon set the bones at a 20 degree angle so that hopefully when the bones fuse I will be able to play guitar again.

plankguitar · Posted: Mon Nov 21, 2005 3:56 am Post subject:

Kinda like Les Paul's smashed right elbow, set so he could still play after a wreck.

kingfreeze · Site Admin Joined: 20 Oct 2005 Posts: 303

I must say,the only thing that bothers me in my hands is when i play a jazz gig, and play a lot of chords, I get a little numbness in my left hand. However, the forum is not geezer physical problems, it's improvisation, you geezers. And I say this in the nicest way of course, you geezers.

Kingfreeze

crow · Posted: Mon Nov 21, 2005 7:53 am Post subject:

I certainly agree that improvisation in its purest form is compositional. If I'm stymied I'll listen to the rhythm section & scat sing something in my head (or under my breath) & then try to play it on the guitar. This technique has served me well and brought the music to places it would not have gone otherwise (for better or worse). I can only speak for myself, but for me - using scales and arpeggios as a basis for improvisation kind of gets in the way of the creative process - although I must say that I use them to explain what I'm doing to other musicians after the fact. There's definitely more than one path to nirvana.ymmv.
_________________
if it sounds good...IT IS GOOD!

plankguitar · Posted: Mon Nov 21, 2005 2:32 pm Post subject:

Agreed crow,
Like Mingus said, "...Forget all that stuff and just goaway..."

But as tools for learning the neck I found them useful. Then of course I forgot them (just like I forget everything else, being a GEEZER)! Wink

kingfreeze · Site Admin Joined: 20 Oct 2005 Posts: 303

Andreas Klemm · Moderator Joined: 23 Nov 2005 Posts: 74 Location: Germany

ship of fools · Posted: Tue Nov 29, 2005 7:18 pm Post subject:

Hey pierre there is only one way to learn practise practise practise you can only improvise by just trying out different things I use to run scales up and down the neck till I found something I liked you'll do the same in no time at all unfortunatley a book is not going to help you with this try other players and jam jam jam and it will come fast and furious. louis