IMPROVISATION!

[flea claypool]

does anyone have any ideas for improvising?
im kinda stuck on moving on to the string below and doin scales but i want MORE.

I mainly play chilis and cream if that helps

THANKS
1 desperate Irish man

 

[Pacman]

This would better be handled by our friends in General Instruction, I think. I'll move this there presently. Watch the closing door.

 

[LowEndLobster]

... Improvise?

 

[sedgdog]

Try working on only chord tones for a while. Don't worry about scales or modes - just chord tones.

 

[jazzbo]

Many many books have been written on the subject you're discussing Flea. You could check out Jamey Abersold's Vol. 1, "Learning to Improvise" as a starter.

One rather quick piece of advice is to learn the melodies to the songs that you play. This is possible with Cream and RHCP songs, quite easily. It could be the vocal line, it could be the guitar parts. Learning the melodies, to ALL the songs you know, in ALL 12 keys, will open up ideas on how melody and harmony interact.

 

[cassanova]

Brush up on your scales & arpeggios. (In all 12 keys) Including the: Major/Natural Minor, Pentatonic Major/Minor, Melodic & Harmonic minor as well. Then when you have those down practice the scales modally. EX: G dorian mode, mixolydian mode, etc. melodic/harmonic minor, and pent major/minor, because a few of my students who have a good grasp of the major and minor scales in Ionian mode dont know the others)

This will give you a very firm grasp as to what your note choices are for any given chord changes.

Also listen to every type of music out there. Dont like Jazz, listen to it anyway. Jazz is an excellent sourse for listening to improv. By listening to the other styles of music you are going to open yourself up to new ideas for bass lines that you might never thought of doing. In short, it will expand your creativity.

 

[rodoherty1]

I was scared to death of improvisation until mid 2003. I had been playing a good 8 years but I couldn't solo to save my life.

My first huge step forward was when I learned the pentatonic scale ... from the lowest note on the bass to the highest ... in all keys. It took a few weeks to familarise myself with the patterns but my 30 mins a day paid off when I flew my Grade 3 exam a few months later.

Chilis and Cream don't tend to switch key too frequently so I don't think you could choose better stuff to jam with.

As a novice improviser myself, my suggestion is to invest 2 weeks in learning your pentatonic scale right across the entire fretboard in all keys.

Rob.