Members poopypocket Posted January 8, 2004 Members Posted January 8, 2004 hey guys, I was just wondering, how do you break out of a dull improv rut? Like i'm trying to play some blues improv over a backing track, and i always seem to just be tempted to go up and down the pentatonics and blues scale. How do i change that? Should i throw in some licks here and there? Try phrasing?
Members edeltorus Posted January 8, 2004 Members Posted January 8, 2004 poopypocket, Learn some new material to play over the blues.. Try out the mixolydian scale, the bebop scale and major pentatonic. There's really a lot more than just minor-pentatonic +b5 to play over the blues. It's different first, but can be very cool. When I find myself playing the same stuff over and over, I usually end my lick, do a short break and then start something simple on the mixolydian scale. That works very good for me. It gives my playing a nice bebop feel. I can tab out some of my mixo-licks to get you started if you want to..
Members Terje Posted January 8, 2004 Members Posted January 8, 2004 Originally posted by poopypocket hey guys, I was just wondering, how do you break out of a dull improv rut? Like i'm trying to play some blues improv over a backing track, and i always seem to just be tempted to go up and down the pentatonics and blues scale. How do i change that? Should i throw in some licks here and there? Try phrasing? Listen to Albert King. Copy his licks and his phrasing. That should help.
Members poopypocket Posted January 8, 2004 Author Members Posted January 8, 2004 hey edeltorus, why the mixolydian though? does mixolydian sound jazzy? It'd be nice if you could tab out a few things. That'd be awesome.
Members edeltorus Posted January 8, 2004 Members Posted January 8, 2004 poopypocket, That mixolydian idea is an old one.. The jazz-guys started with it. You usally play you blues with major 7th chords, right? e.g. E7, A7, B7 for a blues in E. If you look at the intervals of these chords you have 1, 3, 5, and the b7. The mixolydian scale is made up of exactly these notes, but also adds the 2, 4 and 6. The 4th is part of the pentatonic, so it's nothing new. The 2 and 6 also sound very good and are common notes for the blues improvisation. You can throw in the 2 most of the time as a passing tone.. the 6 is a bit more difficult to handle but if played the right way it rocks (listen to some bb king. He likes the 6 a lot). The main difference between playing mixolydian and minor pentatonic over blues is, that you don't emphase the minor third anymore. You can play it, but it's better to play it as a passing-note only. This will give your solo a different sound and feel. (ain't that what you're looking for) Btw, playing the minor third in your solo against the major third in the chord is a big part of the blues sound. Playing mixolydian will sound very good but a bit less blues-oriented.. A word of warning: You can't just take the mixolydian scale in E and play over the entire blues progression (like you most probably do with the minor pentatonic). It will only sound fine over the E7 chord. You either need to play through the changes and switch key per chord, or go back to the pentatonic over the other chords (that's what I do most of the time). I'll tab out some simple licks.. Can take a day or two though. In the meantime you can try out this little mixolydian based scale (has some chromatic passing tones, play it over A7). I hope I tabbed it out right.. I have no instrument here..|-------------------------5----||---------------------5-8------||---------------6-7-8----------||-----------5-7----------------||---4-5-6-7--------------------||-5----------------------------| Nils
Members Terje Posted January 8, 2004 Members Posted January 8, 2004 Originally posted by BigBird listen to t-bone walker too Amen!
Members HeHateMe Posted January 8, 2004 Members Posted January 8, 2004 Originally posted by edeltorus You usally play you blues with major 7th chords, right? e.g. E7, A7, B7 for a blues in E. I beleive you meant dominant 7ths, right?
Members Little Dreamer Posted January 9, 2004 Members Posted January 9, 2004 One of the few real uses for those melodic patterns that shredders practice is to teach your fingers to become familiar with new patterns of movement. Go to http://www.zentao.com/guitar/patterns/ - there's about a zillion of 'em. Other than that, practice jamming over a very wide range of rhythm tracks. The variety will open new doors for your improvisation. Also, just slow down and spend about an hour or so coming up with the "perfect" melody to go with a chord progression. Something that you can hum - something that a listener might hum as he walks out of the room after hearing it. Melody is really the basis for any good guitar solo. Coming up with a strong one is what differentiates a great song from the rest. Once you've spent some time coming up with a good, basic melody, expand on it and jam.
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