Pick a scale or a mode, (first a key..duh haha) and play within it at a certain timing! BUT DO NOT just run up and down the scale..that way you wont sound like youre just playing scales, know what I mean, you want a song not an exercise sounding thing.
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Improv tips?
- Thread starter BassClef 2010
- Start date
Pick a scale or a mode, (first a key..duh haha) and play within it at a certain timing! BUT DO NOT just run up and down the scale..that way you wont sound like youre just playing scales, know what I mean, you want a song not an exercise sounding thing.
I am still learning myself - you never stop, hopefully.
Clear, concise statements are key, IMO. The best way to make statements is to use the chord tones as 'key frames' - on the 'strong beats' - in a rhythmically interesting fashion and use repetition to demonstrate you aren't just making random comments.
Melodies are typically close-voiced,and rhythmically simple statements for the most part - with larger interval leaps used to add interest or punctuation.
Think about "Happy Birthday" - the first couple statements are very simple, close intervals, that closely resemble each other. The third statement uses a large leap to 'accentuate' the phrase and it finishes with a statement that is similar to the first only reversed. So it has simplicity, repetition, uses a 'leap' to add flair and mirrors itself to add symmetry.
All of these are things humans recognize to be logical and make sense. Practicing creating small, logical statements and discovering how to repeat them, reverse them, put in leaps and other highlighting moments and finish them in a way that makes sense is a good way to create complete melodic statements.
