Improving Improv

August 30, 2008 by Scot.

Many of us seek ways to break the tedium of stock scale positions and regurgitated licks. Here are a few tips to break the mold and improve your improv.

1-Incorporate more embellishments. By simply adding slurs(hammer-ons and pull-offs), bends, vibrato, tremelo picking, etc.. to your normal routine of string slinging, you have added a whole new dimension to your solo excursions. Seek counsel if these are mysterious in execution.

2-Avoid the same old position playing that lock people into the same old riffs. Find at least 3 locations to play the scale with a 3 octave distance total and good fingerings to get you from one to the other. Use open strings in the scale to help connect the postions to add a new dimension.

3-Incorporate new rhythms to pause more. Most people just ‘noodle about’. Not giving enough merit to the rhythms that can take your meolodious efforts beyond. If you are a down and upbeat stresser only, learn about 16th notes, with rests and triplet patterns. What a difference a displaced beat can make.

Look into products like Jam Sessions at http://www.silvermusicstudios.com/store/index.php. to give you a steady barometer to measure against and be creative. Happy exploration.

-scot- 8-30-08

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