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Please excuse my English, I’m German
I’m not a beginner, I play classic guitar alone and together with a flute.
I like to improve my playing and widen the horizon with learning to play lead and solo. I learned the theories of scales and find them fascinating.
But on my own I can only play the scales with few variations up and down.Then I found here by activemelody the tutorial EP025.I like it very much and practice it and try to improvise about it. But on my own, I wouldn’t achieve anything worthwile.
I practice and hear the whole day long the blues tutorial EP065 and EP066 to get the feeling and to be able to play the scales in this way.
Is there something you can recommend me to do?
I would apreciate it -
Hi Klaus, take little rythmic patterns you hear in someone else’s music and use them with different notes over the top. Just LITTLE one and two bar phrases at first. This is something I’m working on, I don’t find it easy to play coherent musical solos. But figure out your rhythm first, if it’s strong, what’s funny is almost ANY notes will work. Easier said than done, alas.
Some wiseass gittar player said, “This is just the scale, the fish comes later.” Then he ripped from the highest E down to the lowest, playing some scale, just all straight eighth notes—and he made that sound like music.
Don D.
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@Klaus G, I doubt even Eric Clapton makes up everything on the spot from scales. It may be worthwhile to learn several stock licks that can be inserted over the chord changes. Brian describes it like learning words that can be used in a sentence. Brian has a whole section of this site dedicated to basic blues licks that can be used in many varied ways.
John -
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welcome Klaus
Chargo hits the main point very well – the opportunity here is to build a vocabulary of riffs and licks, then short solos.
A riff is a little melody phrase that can be used alone, repeated, combined with others, etc.
With practice, this material gets into you fingers, and you can use them to build your own solos.
One little riff, played with feeling, can move an audience. -
Can you make up and sing a phrase? Doesn’t matter how long, just try to do it.
When you do it, do you know what scale you are using? Probably not. We tend to sing, even made up stuff, more from instinct.
So start by singing the phrase. Then try playing what you sing. Then, over time, try to play the phrase at the same time that you are singing it. Then, eventually, you can get rid of the singing part. It’s a slow process, but it is learnable, and it is something that you will get better and better at as you practice.
Learning stock licks can help, but it will only take you so far. Eventually, if you want to improvise, you have to try to make things up on your own. You might as well start now, since its a lifelong process.
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@Klaus G
Hello and welcome to AM, your English is perfect and much better than my German!
When I started playing guitar at age 11-ish, my teachers were all classical guitarists, and that’s what I learned, fortunately most has stuck with me…however, that did not seem useful as you say, in making music that was in my mind and soul…..that music came from listening to the music of the time…..Hendrix, Beatles, Cream, Zeppelin, etc….So I made the crossover into soloing when I learned to use the scales to play what was in my mind….as JOhn (@charjo) says, part of it came from learning the licks and the songs I loved…..I see the scale only as a practical combination of notes that works for the key/theory….but the musicality needs to be internalized in my humble opinion.
What to do, well
1. listen to the great players…..all the way back to Robert Johnson….have the music on all the time as practical…I still do that
2. take the blues course on AM, learn the licks….not just memorize, learn them to be able to express.
3. learn licks form great players…..whole solos aren’t necessary, but licks that you like and make you feel….those will stick forever.
4. play with backing tracks, many online…or with original songs. Once a week I turn on pandora through my stereo and play with every song that comes up…
5. listen some more.when you can play what your mind says, you’ve made the crossover……
Good luck and let us know if you need help…..
Roberto
Roberto
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Thank you all very much for your useful advice.
I’m listening to blues almost around the clock till my wife can’t hear it any more.
I have to learn it by heart from notes to get it in my brain and my fingers.
Probably I have enough musicality only in hearing and not in improvisation and jaming.
But I will try my best with the little I have got in this respect.
I will search for all the licks on acoustic guitar here and I will practice them and will transpose them in other keys.
I can’t sing since the time my voice broke with 15.
I will try the advise with the rhythm of short licks and playing them with any Kind of notes
Thx again -
Duffy made a great suggestion about singing the lick and then trying to play what you sing. Before discovering Active Melody (and being in what I would call a 15 yeare rut), I would marvel at how in many of his live performances Hendrix would often sing and play the exact same notes in a lead part. It certainly makes sense now and quite honestly the best songs I can emulate the lead parts are songs I can just about sing the lead part by heart. Any you don’t even have to sing, per say… hum, whistle, even in your head and not out loud helps.
One other thing- the licks you hear others play were probably played by countless players before them. Even guitarists with a true unique style- oftentimes you can hear elements of their influences in their playing, even if subtly. When I listen to Brian’s lessons, I hear a lot of influences in his playing. Licks where I would think “how did he come up with that?” when I first heard them I am now rediscovering in blues songs recorded by others.
Stick with it, it’ll come eventually!
Mark
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Yeah Klaus – I think we have all grappled with the difficulties of learning to improvise and can identify with what you are experiencing.
Once you have the minor pentatonic scale in the root position (position 1) under the fingers, a couple of Brian’s lessons may help you in taking the next step of playing a solo within the scale:
Play an Easy Guitar Solo with Just 2 Notes – LEG020 https://www.activemelody.com/lesson/play-an-easy-guitar-solo-with-just-2-notes/
How To Create a Solo Using Only 3 Notes – Using Both Major and Minor Pentatonic Scales – LEG023 https://www.activemelody.com/lesson/how-to-create-a-solo-using-only-3-notes-using-both-major-and-minor-pentatonic-scales/
In these two lessons, Brian demonstrates how with just 2 or 3 notes you can create a great sounding solo.
Beyond that, I’ve found there is no substitute for putting on a slow blues jam track and actually trying to solo over it with simple licks that you improvise on the run from just 2 or 3 notes – in the way Brian demonstrates. I’ve found with improvising that getting in and having a go is the way to progress. You’ll make mistakes and that is part of learning but you’ll more than likely be surprised at just how reasonable your early efforts can sound. And the best part is that it is great fun and is enormously satisfying.
All the best,
Rick
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as Maradonagol, Aussie Rick,Duffy,Bryce, charjo & Don D. said…
and set aside some time every practice for improvisation. the only way to develop the skill is to work at it.
at first it will seem frustrating, but in time things seem to start to fall in place and your phrasing will start to get better and easier as you go -
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