Improvisation

[Paul K]

Hi guys Paul from Ireland here………happy New year to everyone……….im really enjoying the course I think it’s great………..i just have a quick question I hope someone can help me with…………im using the blues lead course to try and Learn improvisation………..has anyone been successful with this? Do I just learn the licks and then repackage them making some changes and adjustments to make them a bit different? Any advice would be really appreciated

[6stringer Pete]

What you may want to do is download some drum tracks and play along with them. Take what you are learning and throw them on the fretboard. “trial and error” Kind of like the best way of learning.

The melody of the notes is what expresses the art of music . 🙂 6stringerPete

It really is all about ”melody”. The melody comes from a language from our heart. Our heart is the muscle in music harmony. The melody is the sweetness that it pumps into our musical thoughts on the fretboard. 🙂 6 stringer Pete

Pete
Active Melody
Forum Moderator

[charjo]

Paul,
It’s an ongoing process. The licks in the blues lead course are a great place to start. Modifying those licks to your taste is a great idea. You will start to see licks in lessons that you might assimilate. You will start to see how some licks work better in certain parts of the 12 bar or how to modify them to fit better. You will start to see how to use a major pentatonic scale over parts of the blues progressions and minor pentatonic in others. You will learn how to mix the minor and major within a lick. You might start to change keys in different parts of the 12 bar or begin to use chord tones within the licks. You might, also, start to use major modes, chromatic notes and exotic scales like the diminished scale.
I think improvisation comes from a strong familiarlity with the pentatonic scales, an understanding of chord shapes and the scales and intervals around those chord shapes and a vocabulary that you build over time. This whole process takes years and, yes, I have seen tremendous progress in many AM members. Enjoy the journey.
John

[Dieter]

Hello Paul,
I would say, it s like a puzzle, to built from many parts as to use scales, to learn Riffs and licks, to try Arpeggios, to know the fretboard, to play tabs (easy-ones at the beginning), to play simple melodies and rhythm to jam-tracks, to hear the progress and to have patience, because, it s a long process as John already said.
Wish you a good success.

Dieter

[Billy]

I try to use them as words, I write out a sentence and then try find the licks that work for it.
Tbh when I started on the blues lead course I wasn’t long until I began to find it a tad boring, so that was why I decided to look at it from another angle.

..Billy..

[sunjamr]

I recorded the jamtrack into my DAW, then on separate tracks I recorded most of the lesson licks for just one cycle of the 12 bar jamtrack. So I choose one lick track, start off playing the lick with the jamtrack exactly like the lesson. Then as the next round of 12 bars comes around, I slightly modify the lick, maybe by just a note or two. Then for each subsequent 12 bar cycle, I keep modifying the lick more and more. By the time I come to the end of the jamtrack (unless I loop it) my lick usually sounds nothing like the original lesson lick. And that’s the goal.

Sunjamr Steve

[Paul K]

Thanks for all the helpful hints guys………i have another question and again any advice is greatly appreciated……….should I wait until I can improvise to start a band or is there never a right time and just do it now?

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