How do i get good at guitar improvisation?

Question

i have learned the blues scale and the pentatonic and can go through them forward and reverse pretty quickly with alternate picking.

but i look at the videos on youtube of people improvising using these scales and they sound amazing, there is no way i could play something like that right now.

how do i get to that level?

any links to pages that could give me tips would also be appreciated.

thanks.

Answer 1

i have the same problem, so take this answer for what it's worth. improving isn't really something you can 'learn'. the best way is practice til you get the feel of it.  you can record a simple chord progression in the key you want and use it as a back ground track to which you practice the scales over.  i'd imagine there are websites where you can download pre-recorded back ground chords to play over.

Answer 2

hey fpa

Links won;t matter. If you say these videos on youtube. I will tell you the secret to shredding and its not the left hand.

Look at the video on youTube gain. Now, forget the guys left hand and see how he is using the right hand.

Their is a technique called'Economy picking" which will double and trible your speed if you get it right and that is what most are using.

Do you know arpeggios and how they are done. They are done using a sweep motion of the right hand with the pick.

To do arpeggios, you push your pick against the string and to do alternate picking, you use that technique. Harder to explain than to do.

Here is the link:

http://www.guitartricks.com/trick.php?tr...

http://www.ultimate-guitar.com/lessons/g...

http://www.guitarmasterclass.net/solo-gu...

I discovered this technique by myself and only to realize that it already existed. Trust me, this is faster than shredding when you get it right.

Answer 3

Improv is a skill. Its also being creative on the spot, and playing what you hear in your head to correspond to what you're hearing around you. Groove and flow, which hopefully  is done in a style and context that is identifiably your own based upon who your influences were and was grooved in a rhythmic or tasty manner. It should be ultimately to a point where you don't even really think about or analyze it.

You hear it, you feel it and you go for it and 'just do it.'

There are usually two camps on how to approach this, technique players and 'feel' players...personally, IMO, you want to combine both. 'Improv' really goes beyond technique, but, because technique is the means by which you execute that which you improvise, you have to be observant of that as well.

I try to be mindful of the style, the phrasing, note choices as well as timing.

What mood am I creating on this canvas? What point?

Drummers can really influence a guitar players improv and ability to opening doors of rhythmic variations. I also dig listening to other genres and instruments for tones, moods and phrasing choices. Metal, alternative, & classic.

Jazz sax, or Classical Oboe, flute, violin, cello.

Blues harp players, or swing era clarinetist like Goodman (Goodman had a lot of guitar greats in his bands also)

I can't leave out the Nashville country guys, these guys are killer players.  Check out guys from the 50's & 60's too.  Some great players who came up from the 40's swing era, as well as the blues and merged into the early RnR roots.

Listen to vocalists for inspiration and ideas too!

These really can open doors if you know where to have focus on applying their influence.

Since there are many many styles and many differing ways to phrase using the same patterns...you should at first focus on emulating certain players whose style you really like and build your phrasing by learning their material note for note, complete with feel, timing, vibrato and correct phrasing. Knowing how the progression works and the rhythm can inspire you to play a improv solo over it.  Groove and flow.

Find out more about those who inspire you and who and what made them play like that too!

Positioning often plays into where your improv phrasing can go as does note selection.  When you are learning...it goes beyond just picking and playing a scale in one position. You should learn to work across different positions on the fretboard....choosing where you go and how you play it is a matter of expression and taste.

Maybe learning some theory about chromatics, accidentals. Which notes are relative to which scales and which scales are relative to other scales/modes. Bends..bend some notes, not just any note either. Using slurs and pulloffs. Improv shoud strive to make musical sense and be cohesive to the context of whats going on. It should be melodic, or impressionable to the point of being memorable.

Most of us did not always play fast , tastefully or easy on day 1 or day 320. We worked our way to getting there and that is where being aware of technique and execution helps.

Imrpov is a way of thought and structure just like arranging words in a sentence and how it comes across is a matter of expression to the 'reader' (listener). You are doing the same thing with your tools that you are developing.  This doesn't come overnight, it comes though practice, learning and listening.  Copying other guys and then building/adapting on that to make your own style. Its often a matter of learning patterns, phrasings, how things are played and really paying attention to the inflection and feel.

Lastly, when I practice, I often start by playing slow and relaxed and then build up to work on faster 'up to speed' chops based stuff later on, playing with emphasis on 'as clean & as no slop' as I can. I often try to play whats been going through my head that day musically.

It didn't always used to be this way. I used to focus practice moreso on patterns, and scales, technique, rhythm, timing, modes, transposing over differing keys.

Listen to Bach's inventions and hear how he composes different variations of simple melodies and intertwines them with counterpoint and phrasing style of the day using both major and minor keys & utilizing both slow and fast tempos.

Great improv phrasers, oh, name just about any famous musician. Les Paul, Hendrix, SRV, Lukather, Holdsworth, Dimeola, Morse, Becker, Baxter, Carlton, Metheny, Gilmore, Beck, Gibbons, Page, Perry, Schon, Satch, EVH, Santana, EC, Buddy Guy, Johnny Winter George Benson, Danny Cedrone, etc...they know where to start, how to build and where to take it, in context and in style.   Most these guys 'hear' or know what they want to play when they play against progression. They know their style, their abilities and limitations. They're seasoned musicians who can switch gears in a heartbeat. They've invested the time to know and understand whats going on and can process it almost immediately.