loopers - melody over chords

[johnnywas]

I play unaccompanied - I am pretty good at rythm but would like to incorporate some licks

 

one way of doing this is that when you play the first verse record the chord progression using a sampler/loop station thru a foot switch and then replay the progression when the verse comes round again but this time add some licks

 

the nice thing about this is that in theory it can be done in a live performance

 

however I am not sure how well it works in practice

 

have other people here tried this - or something similar

 

what equipment do you use

 

how successful is it - what are the pitfalls

 

what songs do you think might lend themselves to this approach

[Stackabones]

Though I haven't done it for a while, I've used the Boss RC20XL Loop Station in solo performances. Works well. It can be a blast and sound great if used with discretion and taste.

 

One pitfall is that you have no interaction with other musicians. Another is that you can get lost in the looping and may drone on too much.

 

Any song running the blues changes or the rhythm changes can work well with the looper. Those two kinds of progressions are great to improvise over.