Description
In this week’s guitar lesson, you’ll learn a process for how start improvising by starting simple (just 2 notes) and building on top of them. Learn how to find a major 3rd, minor 3rd, 5th, 6th, flat 7, and several other key notes and what they sound like.
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Simple and useful way to think about building upon phrases we have previously learned.
Very helpful.
Once you see all the many options available and ways to express those options musically with slides, bends, vibrato, dynamics and timing, you have all you need to improvise. Add in a melody or motif and variations on that motif and you essentially improvising. This lesson ties back in nicely with the basic concept of music where we are simply creating tension (away from the root) and releases onto the root, 3rd, or fifth of whatever the ONE chord is.
The scale degrees are incredibly important for sure, but don’t underestimate the power of knowing your note names on the fretboard. I feel like we all tend to downplay this skill by simply not working on it, but I really started to improve a great deal after learning what all the note names are all over the fretboard.
One of the first things I set about doing when I started playing, was learning all the notes on the fretboard. I thought it was important to know, and boy was I right
Great, I needed That.
This lesson piggybacks a previous lesson on this, I think it was ML073 about how to start to improvise. You are so right about working that in to your daily practice. Whenever I do that, I come away so much more satisfied with my practice time. Thanks for the reminder and the newer lesson on this.
Brian, so refreshing to hear you talk about the pro’s making mistakes. I am the front man in my band and I always tell my band mates we have three layers to master: song form & execution, lyrics & application, and DAMAGE CONTROL … lol. Whether I am playing solo or in my band, how to perform damage control is essential… and the only way to learn damage control is to continue playing the song and recover as quickly as you can. During our practices there is great temptation to stop when something (or somebody) goes wrong. If it’s a new song and we are learning it we will stop and debrief on the error. BUT, when we are practicing for a performance we never stop, we do real time recovery, and finish the song! Only after finishing the song will we take it from the top again.
I couldn’t agree more that band/performers who can recover faster increase their quality as performers. Its almost like its own skill in performing music. It seems many musicians don’t want acknowledge the reality of mistakes.
Some of the best licks are born out of mistakes,,,,
Brian, you seem to be concentrating on intervals more and more, something I’ve always thought was important from my earliest days on AM. I’m starting to recognize intervals around triad inversions for licks and rhythm embellishment as well. You demonstrated that around the G major root triad.
I agree with Michael above, learning note names on the fret board but also relating them to intervals within a chord or key is another layer of skill that can add to your playing.
Brian – This ML could be part of another mini-series? An ML for each of the remaining four CAGED shapes? I like that you focus on intervals in your lessons.
To be clear, is the reference point of an interval always the key of the song or the root note of the chord shape?
This lesson will help me to move faster across the keyboard without too much thinking. I think that’s one of the main reasons why I need this course.
I seldom practice improvising and your point makes it obvious why I am not thrilled with my technique. Thanks for some very good advice that I should have been able to figure out on my own a long time ago. Better late than never.
Thank you.. this is really a helpful way to learn to improvise. Knowing where the note intervals are is extremely helpful.
Great lesson! You have an excellent way of explaining your lessons! Thanks so much! Appreciate all your efforts!
I am a classik player and used to perform memorized classical and folk music
This lesson of yours and the last ones help me to lern improvising.
What still throws me is the timing of the notes and the groove
I would like a micro lesson about these very much
Thxs a lot brian
Greetings Klaus
I like this video for explaining basic rhythms. It’s the way drummers do it and is very solid info. He also goes over swing feel in this one which is very common in Brian’s compositions. These are just the basics, but it’s a good start.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IUYmnnswSxg
Hi Brian,
Thank you for this excellent lesson (yet another one!).
I agree with you when you say that what comes out of your fingers (improvisation) can be related to language (which, as you said, is also a form of improvisation).
But… the difference is that when you speak, you don’t just produce any random sequence of sounds one after another. You use a system which produces words and intonations, a kind of “music or melody” that is actually specific to each language.
So I wonder whether “improvising” on a guitar is not simply a matter of ” singing a melody over chords”. And it’s precisely that exercise—improvising a melody—that is so difficult ! You would almost need to try to find that melody in your head… at the same time as you’re playing. Or even before playing, before improvising, if you have time to think about it. If you don’t find this melody (in your head) in order to transmit it to your fingers, you may be disappointed by the succession of random sounds you produce.
What do you think? / What do you all think?
Thanks again for all your lessons. I have learned a lot thanks to you.
Greetings from Belgium,
Patrick.
Personally I’d say it’s a little bit of both. I started out several years ago, as most do, just trying to solo randomly using the minor pentatonic scale. Then I learnt about the existence of licks and saw a marked improvement. Then I learnt about intervals and chord tone targetting and started being more selective about the licks I was playing. Then I started having the confidence to experiment and play around with the phrasing of the licks whilst also adding a little of my own scale exploration into the mix. Then I started becoming mindful of occasionally mixing minor and major pentatonics. Now I’m at a point where I’m using all of this in one big soup, using the licks as a bedrock and finding my own voice amongst the scales, intervals and phrasing. At each and every stage, and the more I practice, the more confident I become and the more natural my soloing sounds. It’s a long process and it requires a will to improvise and lots and lots of practice, but if that’s you you will find the whole never-ending journey immensely satisfying and a lot of fun.
Of course, yet another great lesson Brian. I would love to see your next recommendation in a progression of learning (sort of what Graeme C describes)… We are getting the idea of identifying key chord tones and how to “execute” the interval we hear in our head… Should I challenge myself now to add the IV chord and improvise over a I IV chord progression? Target the chord tones? Replicate the ideas from this lesson, but in the CAGED shape for the IV chord (the A shape C chord…)? What do you recommend as the next step to challenge ourselves?
Everything you describe in this lesson from mistakes of the pro’s to the difference in practicing a song versus practicing improvising is hugely helpful! Don’t stop with this one! PLEASE!
This was a nice lesson to help me generate ideas for improvision. And I prefer looking at the notes as numbers rather than the note names. It’s easier to remember their number and simply apply them to any key. Thanks Brian
Brian , I’ve been a member for several years. I appreciate your method of teaching. Your last lesson ML-136 gave me an idea that would help me tremendously.
In your play along section, the fret board feature shows the letter value of the notes. Is it possible to also include the relative value of the note?
For instance, if a song is in the key of C, instead of highlighting the notes with letters; c,d,e,f,g,a,b, use the relative numbers; 1,2,3,4,5,6,7.
This would also help with transposing songs.
Keep up the good work.
Exactly what I needed to see. Very helpful.
Thanks !!
What an important lesson you’ve given us this week-the idea that jamming should be built into our practice sessions and then giving us such a practical way of jamming by ourselves. Thank you yet again Brian!
Thank you! this lesson really helps me focus in one area, and use the scale to improvise. I am usually all over the place, just hoping for the best. Can you do more lessons like this as i like how you explain it, i need it drummed into me hahaha. Going to practice this right now, not been this excited about learning something in a long while! cheers
Brian—this may have been at least for me, your very best lesson about “How to play, period” which is how I saved it as a favorite. You started off by saying this was just about”learning to play spontaneously in a jam”, but it of necessity may have become your most crystal clear lesson teaching “practical theory”. Love it. More like this one., please !
Wonderful tool for developing licks.
Excellent lesson Brian. Now can you expand on this as a typical one, four, five song might normally do. In other words would we use the same concept of the third and fifth of the four chord and the third and fifth of the five chord as the chords change. It’s improvising over the changes. It’s how I play, but I don’t recall you ever doing a lesson on playing the changes in this simple format.
Thank you,
Dick Spindler from Philly
Bonjour Brian,
J’ai vraiment débuté l’improvisation en étudiant vos cours. Cette leçon y contribue. Je vais m’entraîner en suivant vos conseils sur le backing track, Bravo,
Je me rends compte que le choix des notes est très important mais le choix du rhytme aussi. Ensuite de rester dans le tempo et de savoir à quelle mesure on est sur la partition,
Just felt like saying that I wish people didn’t use this chat to promote themselves
I love your lessons 🙂
Excellent lesson Brian and really very helpful . I struggle with improvisation and so this will help me find some ideas