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Posted by: sova007 Mar 5 2010, 08:49 AM

Hi there GMC'ers, just a few question about improvising...
how can i create licks, do you know some techniques instead of playing ascending and descending scales?
what are the kind of notes which could be a target in improvising? root,thirds, quarte,quinte?
finally, how can i learn the fretboard easilly?
any ideas with lessons and more???
thanks a lot see ya!!!

Posted by: ruben_mcn Mar 5 2010, 01:06 PM

Hi sova007 .. Check out Ivan´s Pentatonic work shop ... He teachs the caged method (if you don´t know it yet) and on some lessons he teachs some licks w/ the caged method (here you can learn to combine the boxes and stuff like that ) ..

Posted by: Crazy_Diamond Mar 5 2010, 03:28 PM

This is a great question.... IMO there is a different ways to look at your fretboard and each perspective allows you to create different melodies....

Ruben_mcn gave you a great suggestions but I can also recommend you to look at the student instructors lesson I have wrote in the past http://www.guitarmasterclass.net/guitar_forum/index.php?showtopic=31321

Good Luck with that

Posted by: Ivan Milenkovic Mar 5 2010, 05:51 PM

You have to learn the chords and arpeggios within a scale to understand what is troubling you. Also you have to know the scale inside out. If you don't know it already, check out my "Mastering Diatonic Scale" lesson. There is CAGED method there. After that you can start learning arpeggios in that pattern, and memorizing them. These arpeggios contain strong notes that appear in chords/harmony, so they are basis for improvising.

Posted by: sova007 Mar 6 2010, 11:04 PM

ok, and then after learning the diatonic patterns how can i use them most of all how can i know which are the strong note in improvising...i just don't know playing licks cause nothing come from my mind i just play note in order to the scale, i seem a bit confused do you understand???

Posted by: Muris Varajic Mar 6 2010, 11:13 PM

You need to learn a way more to be able to improvise better.
Improvisation is actually 95% made of things that we already played/practiced,
what we do when we improvise is that we use different segments from different
solos/licks and we mix them all together into a new "improvised" part.
Learning scale is good for not getting lost on the fretboard but it's not enough,
you have to learn more licks, more songs, more solos etc,
there is no better way of improving your improvisation ability imo.
And as you learn to play new things you'll also learn which strong notes sound "strong" and when.

Posted by: Vasilije Vukmirovic Mar 7 2010, 01:48 PM

Well, try to focus on rhythm instead, and in the beginning limit your self to one position.
Also, degrees on which you want to lend depends on how much tension do you want to create. That depends on chords also, but lets say you're playing Am. The first chord. Playing the first degree means almost no tension at all. 3rd, 5th, it is all low-tension intervals, and all belong to chord beneath. Try to go bit around the chord-degrees. 2nd, 6th, to see how it feels. Try same thing with other chords as well.

Posted by: Daniel Realpe Mar 13 2010, 12:43 AM

One important part that might be overlooked is to be able to sing melodically over the backing track. This can help you tremendously. This way you are not confined to your technical abilities but your over all musical sense.

Posted by: Ivan Milenkovic Mar 13 2010, 03:26 PM

I agree with everyone, and specially with Daniel, when he states that this part is overlooked. Singing a melody is something that sounds natural to humans, and those melodies are usually a lot more natural then playing melodies on a guitar, because, as Muris said, we usually play stuff we practiced/played before, but in a different way.
So, forming a natural melody with your voice, and trying to play it on the fretboard will often require new skill of playing, because these melodies can be a lot different from what the beginner guitar players tend to practice.

Posted by: Bogdan Radovic Mar 24 2010, 08:21 PM

I definitely agree on trying to sing melodies and then finding notes on the fretboard. It may be weird at start but you will get better at it. Resulting melodies/solos will sound much more interesting that way as you will come up with something you wouldn't usually play and don't have it under fingers.

Posted by: Vasilije Vukmirovic Mar 27 2010, 02:38 PM

Important thing is harmony. You must know the chords behind your solos. Is it A, G, D? Is it major or minor? What is the key?
You also must know chord tones, and you should learn to focus on them, to keep those notes longer or similar.

Posted by: Todd Simpson Mar 30 2010, 06:40 PM

All of these are great replies this question. I thought I'd add my two pence. One of the first things you have to figure out is what "key" your playing in. That way you will know where your root notes are. Root notes are simply the notes in the key you are working in. For example, if you are doing some blues in the key of A, then your "key" is "A" and you can start with an A Pentatonic scale. There are three A notes in that scale if you start it at the 5th fret. The trick is landing on the root notes at the end of a lick. It's about tension and release, when you bend a string or run a scale you build tension, when you "resolve" on the root note, that's the release.

hope that helps
Todd

Posted by: Marius Bob Apr 2 2010, 05:48 PM

study the major scale, for major example, in thirds, fourths, fives... octaves and then play it on different rhythmic variations: quaters, eights, sixteenth, triplets and combinations of these, using a metronome or else.
Combine them how you want, free your mind and let your fingers "dance" on the fingerboard, without fear. Just if you experiment yourself each scale, you will find interesting combinations of intervals, which gives you different "moods".
Even the mistakes could be great ideas for a composition.
Music is the alternance between tension and relax.
Find these by your own exploring the scale and then use it to express yourself in music.
Play on instrument what you hear in your mind. It's not easy, but worths all the time in the world to practice this.