How To Improvise Forever?, Got this question today Options

[Kristofer Dahl]

How do you improvise forever and avoid repeating yourself? Tough question! Here is my attempt to answer it:




Do you struggle with improvising? Why / why not? Do you have tips?

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[klasaine]

Xlnt advice from Kris.
"If you wanna make new stuff up, you gotta practice makin' stuff up".

Probably stemming from my inherent laziness, every new lick I learn or make up - I try to find at least 3 or 4 chords that it'll work over. A simple example is that most any A minor (minor penta) type line will usually work well over C major and E minor chords and also probably D minor and F major chords. Sometimes the lick just needs a one note adjustment.
I noticed early on that the best "improvisers" recycled a lot of their licks and lines within their solos but masked or tweaked them in ways that didn't make it so obvious ... until you really started paying attention. This is the stuff that gives players their sound and style.

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This post has been edited by klasaine: Jun 11 2019, 01:52 AM

[Kristofer Dahl]

Probably stemming from my inherent laziness, every new lick I learn or make up - I try to find at least 3 or 4 chords that it'll work over. A simple example is that most any A minor (minor penta) type line will usually work well over C major and E minor chords and also probably D minor and F major chords. Sometimes the lick just needs a one note adjustment.
I noticed early on that the best "improvisers" recycled a lot of their licks and lines within their solos but masked or tweaked them in ways that didn't make it so obvious ... until you really started paying attention. This is the stuff that gives players their sound and style.

This is def a solid way of looking at it. But for me this method was never inspiring when I tried it. Many years later I feel like it somewhat overcomplicates things - unless you are really fast at visualising theory.

I realised that if you are playing an Am lick over an Am chord, and the next chord is D minor - then chances are if you change the last note to anything it will sound like you adapted the lick. And if you are unlucky, just keep playing one more note and that one should be ok.

The explanation is that most of the times in pop/rock the chords belong to the same key - so the underlying harmony is typically 3 notes out of 7 possible. So if there is a chord change you will probably be ok - or you might need to move up and down one step in the scale.

What I am describing is not something to try on your first gig - but for practicing I think this can be a very smooth way of looking at things - without needing to understand lots of theory. I also think looking at it this way will give you free ear training.

That's also my favorite part, followed by this one:


"Here is a question for you... How do you keep improvising forever and never run out of ideas?... mmm I don't know"

Anything else wouldn't have been honest 😅

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[klasaine]

This is def a solid way of looking at it. But for me this method was never inspiring when I tried it. Many years later I feel like it somewhat overcomplicates things - unless you are really fast at visualising theory.

I noticed it (same lick fits over several different chords and keys) long before I knew anything about theory.
Think about it, the guitar is pretty visual - an Am looks a lot like a C.

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This post has been edited by klasaine: Jun 11 2019, 03:37 PM

[Kristofer Dahl]

I noticed it (same lick fits over several different chords and keys) long before I knew anything about theory.
Think about it, the guitar is pretty visual - an Am looks a lot like a C.

Yes, it feels almost like the same chord but with different root note.

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[Rids]

Another winner video.
Thanks Kris!

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