Members Beatles-1964 Posted March 3, 2003 Members Posted March 3, 2003 I would like to improve my improv skills what is a good practice regimine?
Members djmojo Posted March 3, 2003 Members Posted March 3, 2003 I posted stuff for this all the time. its best if you build one for yourself. Things you know you need to work on.... for example, play little 6 note licks to warm up for 10 mins, play slow, really slow and cleanly, so your fingers get ready for the workout.. then write down something you find challenging and practice playing it cleanly until you can do it 10 times in a row cleanly and at a consistent speed (slow and clean is better than fast and sloppy). Always use a metronome. Here is my setup 10 mins warmup20 minutes practice patterns I find challenging (arpeggios mixing with licks and scale sequences)20 minutes practice a song or two, either a new one or work on a hard one I cant quite get10 minutes break so if I practice for 50 minutes I skip that break... if Im going to play for a couple hours, then the next hour is a mix of theory, more challenging exercises, and more theory. I find the more you learn your theory the easier it is to play because the notes seem to make more sense to you... thats just me Ever since I starting with arpeggios, I have been able to identify intervals sooo much faster, and I know my way around the fretboard better too. So I suggest playing straight scales as little as possible, learn them, but arpeggios are better practice I think, because they teach you scales, but also intervals, which are very important.
Members Terje Posted March 4, 2003 Members Posted March 4, 2003 Originally posted by OrangeAD140 I would like to improve my improv skills what is a good practice regimine? Learn stuff off records and CD:s. This will train your ear and also teach you what the pros are actually playing. It's pretty good to just play along with your CD:s too, without actually learming all the notes of a solo or riff, just trying to fit in with the band. Playing with other people is of course the best thing you can do for your improvisation skills, cause this is playing music in real life. It's not a bad idea to sometimes sing stuff and then try to play what you just sang. You don't have to do it on the level George benson does it, just play along with your singing. On top of this you could also get some Aebersold play-a-longs and learn a bunch of standard tunes and improvise with the melodies and the chord tones, and the licks you've picked out from those CD:s
Members Phil Brigham Posted March 5, 2003 Members Posted March 5, 2003 It depends on what you're looking for, but I think it's not a bad idea to divide your practice time into three sections:1/3 of the time, try yo learn something that's brand new to you and/or something that's giving you a lot of trouble...1/3 of the time, work on stuff you understand pretty well, but need some work on...1/3 of the time, play the stuff you do well already...builds your self-esteem back up a little, and music should be fun once in a while (LOL) Terje's right - play along with CDs to develop your ear...make a chord chart out for that new song you just learned, and then apply the "Number System" to the chord progession...then play the song in several keys. Even if ultimately you or your band will always play it in a given key, understanding the chord progression is valuable.Tape yourself playing fairly simple repetitive chord progressions (make them up yourself)...play the tape back, and try finding every melodic idea you can to jam with the progression. Also helps you play better rhythm gtr., because you have to jam to it later.If a musician friend is available, have them play say a C note on their instrument, telling you it's a C...then rapidly they play another note after it, and WITHOUT an instrument in your hand, see if you can name the 2nd note played.
Members Terje Posted March 5, 2003 Members Posted March 5, 2003 ... forgot one that's really good. Tape yourself and listen back to it. This is how you know what you sound like. But be careful with how you do this! It's easy to be discouraged for the wrong reasons if you do it the wrong way. Here's my suggsestion: Tape a short thing with yourself playing. It could be anything really, something you're working on, an improvised solo, whatever. Do not listen back to it right away, cause if you do all you'll hear will be your "mistakes" cause you still have a fresh idea of what you wanted it to sound like. And what you wanted it to sound like, that's exactly what we want to avoid hearing here. You want to hear yourself like others do, and they have no idea what you want to sound like, they just hear what you actually sound like. So, listen back to it a week later. Maybe even two weeks later, when you have no idea what you were going for on that solo. Try to listen to it as if you were listening to someone else. Also, don't just listen for your mistakes. Be kind to yourself and observant and try to really hear the good stuff you do. And memorize those good things. This is the only way you can use this to get better.
Members blanketman Posted March 5, 2003 Members Posted March 5, 2003 The two most important things in becoming a good improviser are listeing to music, and just doing it - improvising, on your axe, preferably with a live band. Do both of these things compulsively and with obsessive fervor and you can't go wrong.For a more methodical approach, I recommend mixing up the following depending on your particular needs: Transcribing, analyzing and playing along with anything you like, especially solos Playing with backing tracks or recordings of the changes major, melodic minor, harmonic minor and blues scales and their modes in as many unusual fingerings as possible, and don't just run scales up and down, noodle around, juggle the notes different ways Scales in skips - 3rds, 4ths, 5ths, 6ths, 7ths Harmonized scales in those same intervals, as well as triad and 7th chord scales Arpeggios - major, minor, 7, maj7, min7, dim, aug Scale expansions (where you play the scale in skips without doubling back at all, so if you played an expansion in thirds instead of going up a third then back down, you go up a 3rd, then up another 3rd and so on, so an expansion in 3rds is really a 13th arpeggio) Originally posted by Terje ... forgot one that's really good.Tape yourself and listen back to it. Yep. Be sure to use a metronome when you do this. This was Wayne Krantz's favorite practice technique for a while. I think there is something to be said for listening back immediately as well. Hearing every little mistake and obsessing over it is the pathway to incredible chops like Krantz, Holdsworth, Henderson etc.
Members Terje Posted March 5, 2003 Members Posted March 5, 2003 Originally posted by blanketman The two most important things in becoming a good improviser are listeing to music, and just doing it - improvising, on your axe, preferably with a live band. Do both of these things compulsively and with obsessive fervor and you can't go wrong. You're right.
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