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GMC Forum _ PRACTICE ROOM _ Phrase Or Guitar Fart?

Posted by: SpeeedyT Mar 14 2011, 07:59 PM

Hey there everyone, I took some time away from GMC but am back in business!

I've been having a lot of trouble developing phrases while improvising. I seen to be having the most problem with building off of a small idea and then circling back to it to tie it all together. I've been trying to stick to just pentatonics to minimize the confusing passing notes and other tones. I'm sure there are plenty of threads addressing this topic but I haven't found one to be specific to helping me.

Is there a common progression in building off phrases in a I IV V?

I'm sure there are basic formulas for all musicians to build off and then they can adapt their own style. I would appreciate leaving the 'you just need to feel it' comments out for now because I can't feel it for years now!

Thanks in advance!

Posted by: Ivan Milenkovic Mar 14 2011, 09:14 PM

Do you know your chords? You should learn all the chords in all positions in order to relate strong notes to your phrases. Start by learning 5 positions of I chord on the neck, then learn 5 positions of IV and 5 positions of V too. Then, try to move between those strong notes, it will be much more natural.

Let me know if you need more help on this, I'll be glad to help.

Posted by: SpeeedyT Mar 14 2011, 09:24 PM

QUOTE (Ivan Milenkovic @ Mar 14 2011, 01:14 PM) *
Do you know your chords? You should learn all the chords in all positions in order to relate strong notes to your phrases. Start by learning 5 positions of I chord on the neck, then learn 5 positions of IV and 5 positions of V too. Then, try to move between those strong notes, it will be much more natural.

Let me know if you need more help on this, I'll be glad to help.



Sorry I was not more specific in the post...

I learned FB Logic long ago and I know all chords/scales/and more theory than I can apply.

I'm most stuck when trying to make musical sentences. And like many others, if I come up with a phrase for a progression in a given key, I cannot make new phrases and get stuck with the same sound. I understand that playing the chords in different locations is a discussion on voicing? Or should I just being using those positions so I can always land on a chord tone? Please advise. Thanks.

Posted by: Bogdan Radovic Mar 15 2011, 01:22 PM

There is actually no strict rules about this or any formula. I would suggest starting your phases on chord tones at first (but not on the root note). Practice landing on those notes on chord changes. Those will be strong notes. Then - try to make short cells out of other possible notes (from the scale). Try to make up 3 and 4 note cells and go through all the possible combinations of it. You will find some cells sounding more interesting then others. Idea is to explore which 4 note sequences are possible to play over a certain chord. That way you'll be practicing your fingering and find some new ones which you wouldn't normally play.

Those cells will look like this : 1 2 3 4 , 1 4 2 3 , 1 3 2 4 etc... Numbers being scale degrees/notes.

Try practicing like that.

Overall advice would be to try to learn as much licks as possible. Then spend time analyzing them in terms of which notes of the scale they use and how. That way you'll be able to make up your own licks pallet which you can apply to all the different chords. Everybody does this - we all learn from each other.

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