Printable Version of Topic

Posted by: asandven Oct 16 2010, 10:36 AM

Hi guys.

I've been playing guitar for quite a while, gotten used to the pentatonic and abit major/minor scale.
I'm in a cover-band, kind of jam-a-long with the pianist/vocal dude in, well, a lot of blues-rock tunes.

Anyways, it's been quite easy to improvise solo to this, using the pentatonic scale, adding a bit from the major/minor.

But,... I must say, even though I try to jam/practice at home, when I get live I still end up in the same boxes, same licks over and over and etc...

I was wondering if any of you have been there... and figured a nice way out?

I need to get away from my safe spots when I'm live, if you get it...

Any hints, help, tips, whatever would be super.

If more info needed, just ask


Thanks
-asandven

Posted by: ruben_mcn Oct 16 2010, 11:52 AM

Here are a couple of things you can try

Improvise/Jam at home and restrict your self from playng in the boxes you are more familiar with.. ( So if the box you are better at is box 1 try to improvise without ever using it ) this will make you more confortable w/ the other boxes.. ( If you want to improve faster invite a friend to see you jam and ask him to slap you in the face every time you play the box you are restricted from playn )

After a few time of doing this you will find a new box that you will play in most of the time.. when that happends restrict you self from that box and allow your self the one you restricted before ( but try using it less than the other ones )

Also try to recreate your licks in difrent boxes this will be a cool exercise cause you have to play them in dfrent ways since boxes are shaped difrentlly..

by doing this you will probably learn new licks and find new variations of the older ones..and get acustomd to playn in boxs were you dind't play much before..

Posted by: Lian Gerbino Oct 16 2010, 02:07 PM

great advice above, specially this part: ( If you want to improve faster invite a friend to see you jam and ask him to slap you in the face every time you play the box you are restricted from playn tongue.gif ) LOL
well, this advice is good, take it, and try to force yourself to not use those boxes you are already familiar with,

on the other hand, a couple of new scales would be another way out.
since you are playing blus/rock, you cannot jump into too complicated scales, but you can add some new scales and then trying to get new licks from them.
here's a few.

Posted by: thefireball Oct 16 2010, 04:18 PM

I know what you mean, man. I do the same thing when performing for friends.

Posted by: Sollesnes Oct 16 2010, 04:57 PM

This one is great
http://www.martyfriedmandvd.com/dvdshop.html

Posted by: Crazy_Diamond Oct 16 2010, 05:42 PM

Best Advice !!! seriously ... I remember the first time I was recording on a 4 track with my band I had a trouble keepingthe rythm tight... The drummer put me on a helmet and he gave me the beat on my head.... Damn I have never been so tight in my life

Try to improvise in different type of shape... Use a lot of the backing track and practice with your band with the other scale once you are comfortable.... The more that I play guitar, the less that I use the 1st pentatonic position...

Also if you wanna spice it up learn the extension of those 2 boxes.

Good luck improving !!

Posted by: stratman79 Oct 17 2010, 03:01 PM

Make sure you know what degree of the scale your playing in the pentatonic...

Try to play chord tones of the chords you are playing over.

Think of your solo's as composing in real time, making melodies not just playing in boxes as quick as you can.

Then you can think about adding in extra notes from modes etc... I.e if your pentatonic is 1,b3,4,5,b7 you can think I'll add in a major 6 and give it a Dorian flavour or a b6 for an Aeolian kind of thing...

Posted by: Bogdan Radovic Oct 17 2010, 10:29 PM

Generally you just need to practice little bit more at home. Once you feel comfortable and new scales/licks find their way into your comfort zone you will be really to showcase them live. You shouldn't be scared to try new things live, even if you make mistake no one notice it. Musicians who take risks live do well - bassists Victor Wooten talked a lot about this. He does take his chances live and do things he didn't practice etc and yes he makes "mistakes" but overall it often turns up amazing. But as long as you practice improvising hard at home, you will feel more confident live.

Posted by: Ivan Milenkovic Oct 18 2010, 08:31 PM

Lots of good answers here. I should add and confirm that this is something that comes with time. What you may need now is more feel for the melody and harmony. You can do this by changing your practice routine a bit, and start practicing chords, different positions for them, and arpeggios. After you get comfortable with the patterns, start applying them over various harmonies, and try to make your solos a bit more interesting by using thematic approach, and building melodies nicely from low to high, and from high to low.