Members erold Posted November 7, 2011 Members Posted November 7, 2011 I seem to have a problem when I'm improvising that I 'lose' the music and my playing becomes scaly and mechanical. I can have nice ideas for melodies when I'm not playing and listening to a backing track or sitting in silence but as soon as I begin playing my brain seem to switch and put all mental power into fretting the strings and picking and the music disappears. I do realize that it will improve with better technique and more practice. I've recently started really working on my ears and they seem to be improving (which might be why I've realized that my noodlings are quite bad and unmusical ) but I still have ways to go and that's part of my problem too, I realize. Is there something I'm missing/doing wrong, something I should keep in mind while playing? Or is it all about playing, playing, playing until my fingers intuitively move to the spot that will create the sound I'm hearing in my head? Have you guys got any tips, hints, exercises, readings, words of encouragement? I feel like I'm on the verge of stepping up my playing and music but I can't seem to quite get there and it's very frustrating!
Members jeremy_green Posted November 8, 2011 Members Posted November 8, 2011 First of all brother - I hear that entirely. You aren't alone in that stage for sure. Realizing it is the first step towards "fixing" it... so let's start with a question(s) to you. What do you presently practice?Do you spend a lot of time on scales?Do you noodle a lot with minimum regard to time, tone or musicality? Be honest and really think about what happens when you pick up the instrument. You ever heard the saying "you are what you eat?"For us that should be "you play what you practice" How often do you practice specifically being musical in a percentage?
Members EightString Posted November 8, 2011 Members Posted November 8, 2011 A couple of things I do to avoid that "running scales" sound: 1) I learn the melody (in jazz terms, the "head") of the song, and use it as a foundation for my melodic soloing ideas ... I may break out of the melody for a quick and more complex phrase, but I'll come back to a key point of the melody periodically to tie it back together. 2) When breaking OUT of the melody, instead of scales, I often use chord tones (chords played as single notes) as a foundation for my improvisational ideas Those two things taken together allow me to avoid "scales" as a foundation of my soloing, so what happens is, scales become a more rare commodity, and my solos sound much more interesting and melodic because they're based on real melodies AND based on the fundamental chord tones (and chord extensions) of the progression. The real trick with "playing through the changes" is to smoothly transition from one chord base to another in your arpeggio shapes. Also, I don't play them as even "sweeps", I play them as real intervalic ideas with passing tones and rhythmic elements that make it sound melodic and varied, like the arpeggios, when played musically, are just another form of melody, which they are. Even in rock, by applying these jazz principles, my playing sounds MUCH more flowing and filled with REAL musical ideas, not just mechanical exercises. Here's a fun one: learn the chord progression to "Whiter Shade of Pale". Now, on guitar, learn the instrumental melody part of the song, typically played by the keyboard. Use THAT already very good melody as a foundation to add little embellishments, coming back to the melody to keep it "grounded". Now, as you do this over and over, keep being more adventurous, and maybe incorporating some of those "chord tone" arpeggio ideas as melodic devices within your solo.
Members mosiddiqi Posted November 8, 2011 Members Posted November 8, 2011 This is something I wrote for Marks site a while back. It's a lot of fun to do, but does take patience. The good part is you will start to listen more to the music in your head, and hopefully start to play it. It does take time, I can't emphasise that enough! "For the purposes of this lesson, I created a backing track, just 1.30 long. Just a simple funk groove with a little Emin6 riff. Here it is: http://www.box.net/shared/fv7j8z3ya4 Now, here's what I'd like you to try, set up your recording gear so you're ready to go, guitar in hand, but other than being in tune, I don't want you to pay much attention to the instrument itself. 1) Listen to the track. Do NOT play! 2) Listen again. Can you hear something in your head that might fit?. Play it!..hit record and just go for it!..this is practice, you can screw up as much as you like!. 3) Stop and listen back to what you did. Chances are, it won't be exactly what you heard in your head, unless you're blessed with terrific brain/ear/hand co-ordination..but it doesn't matter..you'll get better at this. The key thing is to try and replicate what you're hearing. 4) Get ready to record again, this time when you hear back the phrase you played, what does it make you want to play next? Play it!..hint: try and play the same thing again!..repetition is a HUGE part of improvisation. Now, the chances are, when you try and replicate what you just played, you may not get it exactly the same..and that opens up another door. Each idea you get down, leads you to another one, you just have to LISTEN and trust yourself. This is a big thing. We get bogged down in theory and technique, but the music comes from inside you. Trust yourself...you'll get it wrong many, many times, but practice, practice, practice..and you might get a good take down now and then. And, then, it's worth the work. In the interests of full disclosure, this is me practising over the above track. It's full of mistakes, but you'll also hear repetition, me struggling to get an idea I can't quite execute out, so the timing falls apart, and also one or two nice enough phrases that might lead to something at some point. Which is the goal of the exercise. Those cool phrases make their way into my vocabulary and will hopefully become part of the music I hear in my head in order to be recycled in some other jam or song. I'm not thinking about scales or chord tones , I'm just trying to listen to what my head and instincts are telling me. Interestingly, as a side note, listening back I noticed that I stick almost exclusively to the E Dorian mode..which makes sense, but I wasn't thinking "Right, got to play E Dorian here"..that just happened to be what I heard. http://www.box.net/shared/mb8rgu2ja3 A common problem is where you can't hear anything in your head. This is where you need to be patient and be aware that maybe the track isn't what you enjoy and so doesn't give you any ideas..find something you do like and I promise you will hear ideas that might work!"
Members erold Posted November 8, 2011 Author Members Posted November 8, 2011 jeremy: Hm, it's an interesting question. Honestly I would say a large part of my playing time goes to being musical, or at least playing musically. I don't play much scales (I have in the past though) and when I do I don't just play them up and down. But I'm definitely very guilty of doing a lot of aimless noodling where I don't really pay attention to what I'm doing. Playing the same old thing back and forth, etc. I guess that's kind of what's happening when I solo too, when I start feeling unsure and don't really know what to do I revert back to the same ol' same ol' and it starts sounding boring and mechanical. I'm perfectly with you when you say that "we play what we practice"; I mean that's why we're practicing isn't it, to play? And I should really fix my sloppy/lazy practice 'routine'. EightString: That's some really neat ideas there. Especially to think about the basic melody and branch out from there. So when in doubt revert back to the basic melody rather than revert back the basic licks/scales. I gave it a quick shot today and it definitely sounded more musical and maybe I'm imagining things but it seemed easier to be creative when you started from that foundation. mo: That sounds like a great exercise! I'm definitely going to give it a go. Three replies and I already feel like I'm improving and have more direction! Good job guys.
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