Improvising solos in your head... and transferring them to your fingers

[AlexMC]

I'm rubbish at improvising lead guitar lines... but in my head I can generate great sounding solos at will - particularly when I've just gone to bed and put the lights out. However, I find it incredibly difficult to translate that to actual notes on the fretboard, IF - and that's a big 'if' - I can remember the note runs I was imagining.

 

Anyone else have this problem?

[Selsaral]

Hugely, and after years of playing I still can't do it.

[Musicscotty]

Something like this could be your very, very best friend....

[Hubert Stumblin]

Depends on complicated it is. Some stuff I can do just fine.

There's other things that I can hear in my head that would be Wes worthy, but good luck me ever getting it out of my head, into my hands and out of the guitar.

Probably the best thing would be to sing the solo and, as Musicscotty suggests, record it. It could help you work it out later.

[Burgess]

What you're talking about acheiving is one of those things the best of the best do.

Don't feel bad about not being able to do it though. That's just one of the reasons why the best of the best are the best of the best.

[Will Chen]

I'm exactly the opposite. I grew up improvising lines as I simply became frustrated trying to learn all the shred solos note for note in the 80's and early 90's. Still hate transcribing solos. As such, when it comes time for me to solo it's pretty much always improvised. I may know where I want to start and end but everything in the middle is on the fly. Often after playing I find myself feeling the exact opposite of how the solo actually came off (ex. feeling I couldn't get to where I wanted but listening back and things work perfectly).

 

I think the key is simply becoming comfortable on the neck and understanding your chords and scales. I know I'm over simplifying things, but once you understand how these things sound, everything else falls into place. I'm not even speaking of specifically learning a bunch of modes and theory (though I absolutely think it helps), simply understanding how a major and minor third sounds within a chord and being able to find that same sound on the neck.

 

To get started improvising, simply record a simply 2 chord change and practice soloing over it. Learn what works and how to connect your melodic lines as the chords change. Add exercises purposefully emphasizing and omitting certain notes for example don't hit the root note, etc. It will all come with practice...

 

Good luck!

[Musicscotty]

I'm exactly the opposite. I grew up improvising lines as I simply became frustrated trying to learn all the shred solos note for note in the 80's and early 90's. Still hate transcribing solos. As such, when it comes time for me to solo it's pretty much always improvised. I may know where I want to start and end but everything in the middle is on the fly. Often after playing I find myself feeling the exact opposite of how the solo actually came off (ex. feeling I couldn't get to where I wanted but listening back and things work perfectly). I think the key is simply becoming comfortable on the neck and understanding your chords and scales. I know I'm over simplifying things, but once you understand how these things sound, everything else falls into place. I'm not even speaking of specifically learning a bunch of modes and theory (though I absolutely think it helps), simply understanding how a major and minor third sounds within a chord and being able to find that same sound on the neck. To get started improvising, simply record a simply 2 chord change and practice soloing over it. Learn what works and how to connect your melodic lines as the chords change. Add exercises purposefully emphasizing and omitting certain notes for example don't hit the root note, etc. It will all come with practice... Good luck!

 

 

 

Excellent advice.

[Nazgul6]

I'm exactly the opposite. I grew up improvising lines as I simply became frustrated trying to learn all the shred solos note for note in the 80's and early 90's. Still hate transcribing solos. As such, when it comes time for me to solo it's pretty much always improvised. I may know where I want to start and end but everything in the middle is on the fly. Often after playing I find myself feeling the exact opposite of how the solo actually came off (ex. feeling I couldn't get to where I wanted but listening back and things work perfectly). I think the key is simply becoming comfortable on the neck and understanding your chords and scales. I know I'm over simplifying things, but once you understand how these things sound, everything else falls into place. I'm not even speaking of specifically learning a bunch of modes and theory (though I absolutely think it helps), simply understanding how a major and minor third sounds within a chord and being able to find that same sound on the neck. To get started improvising, simply record a simply 2 chord change and practice soloing over it. Learn what works and how to connect your melodic lines as the chords change. Add exercises purposefully emphasizing and omitting certain notes for example don't hit the root note, etc. It will all come with practice... Good luck!

 

 

This is good advice but what happens to me if constnatly go this route is I fall back on some of the same licks, tricks and scales that have become confortable for me. To break out of that, I do what the OP said only I don't have the talent to immediately transfer it from my mind to my fingers. If my band has a song that I have to come up with a solo for, I'll listen to it in the car and kind of sing a kickas solo and then try to figure out what's in my head. This way I'm not held back by rote patterns.

[Selsaral]

Yeah if I have a melody in my head I have to painstakingly work it out on the guitar, I can't just play it. It's like transcribing the solo from a recording, except it's my own. On the spot I can only play things I've previously practiced the crap out of, my (boring) box of tricks.

[jtr654]

The longer you play/practice the more comfortable you become with the guitar neck. Playing melodies or something you can sing and remember comes as you mature as a player most never get there.

[johanneswiberg]

I think it's the same with this as with all the other stuff - you've gotta practice. Easier for some, harder for others (I'm in that category).

I'd say, strap on the guitar and sit down with the backing track and hum along without playing until you're getting there. It might not be as good as the one that came just before you fall asleep (to my knowledge, it never is) but something good will crop up sooner or later. Then play it, painstakingly at first. Hum the line and find the "core", the figure or what it was that was the key, what made it great, and learn that figure/interval/rhythm and how it fits. Then start playing a bit and use that figure when appropriate. Repeat until your brain collapses. Do this often, and I'm sure you'll see results.

I've done it on occasion but I need to do it way more often. Too much work and no play...

[BG76]

This is why I'm glad I had to take 4 semesters of ear training @ Berklee.

 

As un-fun as this was, learning solfege and being forced to sight sing and transcribe (without an instrument) is what you need to do.

 

It's like learning your colors in pre school. Once you understand what you're hearing it's easy to figure it out and write it down.

[Guitzilla]

This is why I'm glad I had to take 4 semesters of ear training @ Berklee. As un-fun as this was, learning solfege and being forced to sight sing and transcribe (without an instrument) is what you need to do. It's like learning your colors in pre school. Once you understand what you're hearing it's easy to figure it out and write it down.

 

 

This is something that I've always been interested in, but I don't know where to start to begin.

[BG76]

The thing is, the professors were great. You would think you sang something right and they would tell you how flat/sharp you were.

 

It was friggin brutal. You would be singing (from sheet music in solfege) in front of your class - some of which are voice principles.

 

You would have to conduct with one hand while you sang - in the right pattern (4/4, 6/8, etc...).

 

To make it harder - right from the start - the material was in bass, treble and alto clefs. Then when you get accidentals you have to sing teh, fi, etc.... Then they would hand out manuscript paper and the teacher would play a scale once and play a melody on the piano and you would have to not only transcribe the notes, but also notate it correctly.

 

I honestly would never have done it without the class and had I attempted it I wouldn't have known when I was doing anything wrong.

 

Although I hated it at the time, it has helped my playing, mixes and just made me enjoy music a lot more.

[guitarman3001]

I'm exactly the opposite. I grew up improvising lines as I simply became frustrated trying to learn all the shred solos note for note in the 80's and early 90's. Still hate transcribing solos. As such, when it comes time for me to solo it's pretty much always improvised. I may know where I want to start and end but everything in the middle is on the fly. Often after playing I find myself feeling the exact opposite of how the solo actually came off (ex. feeling I couldn't get to where I wanted but listening back and things work perfectly). I think the key is simply becoming comfortable on the neck and understanding your chords and scales. I know I'm over simplifying things, but once you understand how these things sound, everything else falls into place. I'm not even speaking of specifically learning a bunch of modes and theory (though I absolutely think it helps), simply understanding how a major and minor third sounds within a chord and being able to find that same sound on the neck. To get started improvising, simply record a simply 2 chord change and practice soloing over it. Learn what works and how to connect your melodic lines as the chords change. Add exercises purposefully emphasizing and omitting certain notes for example don't hit the root note, etc. It will all come with practice... Good luck!

 

 

I don't know any of that stuff. If I sit down when I'm not playing, I can figure that stuff out with a little work but on the fly? Hell no.

 

However, I am pretty decent at playing melody lines if I hear something in my head. I'm not great at it but I am decent, especially with simple melody lines.

[bloolight]

I feel like I can do it well, but only if I'm playing with stupidly simple blues scales and chord progressions. All bets are off when it comes to jazzy stuff, where my lack of theory bites me in the ass. I just don't have that sort of voice on the guitar. With blues stuff, though, I've always spent most of my "practice" time playing improvised melodies.

I've always approached soloing like scat-singing. I've spent so much time noodling around with blues scales that there is no translation between the sound in my head and my fingers. My biggest struggle is avoiding the standard blues cliches along with repeating my own little riffs too many times.

[AlexMC]

I feel like I can do it well, but only if I'm playing with stupidly simple blues scales and chord progressions. All bets are off when it comes to jazzy stuff, where my lack of theory bites me in the ass. I just don't have that sort of voice on the guitar. With blues stuff, though, I've always spent most of my "practice" time playing improvised melodies. I've always approached soloing like scat-singing. I've spent so much time noodling around with blues scales that there is no translation between the sound in my head and my fingers. My biggest struggle is avoiding the standard blues cliches along with repeating my own little riffs too many times.

 

 

Likewise, I mostly play other folks' blues songs, and when improvising that is the natural path for me to take... but I keep coming back to those same 5-6 licks.

[theAntihero]

I improvise solos a lot, in fact our all night set includes 3 instrumentals of 4, 17, and nearing 30 minutes most of which are guitar solo. I rarely try to figure it out in my head before hand. In all honesty i think it sounds better if your trying to play with the music as its happening instead of trying to push your bandmates toward something you prepared.

Ive come up with stuff in my head that sounds great, but mostly i have a problem playing it on a guitar. I think its because i dont have perfect pitch in my head, or frankly in real life.

The best advice i can give you for improvising is to just do it, if you do get in tune with everything magical things can happen, athletes call it "being in the zone" and there is tons of other things to call it, but you will know when it happens.

[satannica]

You need to build a library. Learn and practise the scales and modes. Also learn other people's tricks, come up with your own variations and keep a little lick-library of your own to come out every so often.

[DeadNight Warrior]

I think one thing that has helped build my ear without actually learning as such is just playing along to CDs. Not actually learning or working out the riffs and jamming along, but just playing along to main melodies by ear, particularly vocal melodies and working out harmonies on the fly over them.

 

To start with, if you're playing an exact copy of the vocal melody, I guess you're sorta getting your hands familiar with playing melodies that you already know in your head, so you're sorta making that connection there. From there, I start improving little changes here and there, adding harmonies over the vocals, etc.

 

Mind you, I only do this because I get bored and am too lazy to actually learn other people's songs, but it does seem to have helped.