Improv From Scratch #19 Quarter notes and rests
https://youtu.be/Xmi4I1w_bXk
PDF file here:
Attachment 180921
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Improv From Scratch #19 Quarter notes and rests
https://youtu.be/Xmi4I1w_bXk
PDF file here:
Attachment 180921
I know this is a dumb question, but I’m going to ask anyway: how come something that sounds like so much fun, and LOOKS so easy when people do it well IS SO DIFFICULT TO LEARN? I play a LOT, but improv seems to be just on the other side of a very thin door. (I can hear it, but I can’t open the damn door!)
You just have to dive in and do it. Nobody is a good improvisor in the beginning. The best at it have been doing it a long time and have really studied how great players in the past have done it. You are just beginning the journey, so have fun, but keep doing it!!!!!
And there are no dumb questions. Yours in perfectly legit Mike.
:mandosmiley:
Mike, to Pete's great advice I would add that you need to lose your natural desire to sound good when you start improvising. There are lots of play-along recordings that you can practice with in the privacy of your own home. A great part of the success as an improvisor is to do what Pete says -- dive in and do it. It will not sound so great at the start, but as you do it more and more you will begin to develop finger patterns that will give you good sounding notes to begin with.
And separate from improvising practice, work on your scales in the most common keys that you're likely to want to improvise in. Then work on the pentatonic versions of those scales (notes 1,2,3,5,6,1) because that gives the least conflicting group of notes for improvising for a lot of folk, bluegrass, pop/rock, Great-American-Songbook tunes.
Another thing to do to help you feel more comfortable making things up is to simply make things up without trying to fit into an accompaniment. Just noodle on your mandolin in a specific key. Remember Sturgeon's Law that 90% of anything is crap -- when you see performers or hear recordings you have to remember that you're only seeing or hearing the 10% that is good, not the 90% that isn't good that got left in the practice room or on the editing room floor at the recording studio.
If anyone has questions regarding material in the videos, I'm happy to answer them to the best of my ability here. Or I can suggest a plan of action for practicing the material and how to apply it in improv in real time. There is a LOT to learn, but it IS learnable.
I'll add one more thing, a common jazz teachers saying:
"Good improv is 5% inspiration and 95% perspiration"
Holy cow is this true!:mandosmiley::mandosmiley::crying:
Improv From Scratch #20 How to Practice New Improv Ideas
https://youtu.be/N1Bm2GyqtNY
PDF file here:Attachment 182267
The next videos in the series will be looking at what to play on minor chords.
https://youtu.be/kt_pEQwvkOg
No PDF with this one
https://youtu.be/PsKYPemjRY8
PDF:
Attachment 185960
https://youtu.be/hEyzSMDwgio
PDF:
Attachment 185961
Here is video #24, chord tone scale ideas over a IIm chord.
https://youtu.be/SCus-W_iB2Y
Attachment 193334
Keep going. At the heart of it is another body part - your ears. Take it slow. Listen to what you’re playing. Ignore music theory initially. Maybe just use one scale. Hum slow, easy passages and try and replicate them. Don’t berate yourself for 'mistskes'. A flat third over a major chord is a 'mistake' in a sense. Yet sounds fantastic. Take your time. Don’t overwhelm yourself snd most importantly have fun.
You’ll get there. Try, but try easy.
PS @pete Martin . The video is great! Thanks!
I don't know enough improvising mandolin players work - but if you listen to popular (with the public) guitarists then noticeably innovative ones, you can often tell which ones learned hundreds of other people's licks and put them together when soloing. They're often the most popular ones, maybe because many people value familiarity over innovation. The guitarists I prefer are people like say Roy Buchanan, who seemed to be able to produce stuff nobody else had much thought of. I'll doubtless get a post telling me exactly who Roy lifted his licks from :), but you know what I mean...
One thing about being apprehensive about messing up, whether improvising, generally performimng or otherwise - smile and act confident, and most non players will never know. The players have all messed up at some time, so they don't mind if you do it.
Thanks for the links Pete!
Here is video #25, chord tone scale ideas over a VIm chord.
https://youtu.be/d_Zn_hmlIEc
Attachment 195887
Here is video #25, chord tone scale ideas over a IIIm chord.
https://youtu.be/D7RdCoy9_Tg
Video #27 making phrases from chord tone scales
https://youtu.be/dgWjrgDUFDI
Video #28 non chord tones on a major chord
https://youtu.be/2SVZ5OPk3CY
#29 Solo Strategies
https://youtu.be/JEvjYEQx4_8
Sam Bush Plays I IV V
https://youtu.be/KRQWGbVx_xU
A friend of mine is a real good music teacher. But when he was starting out, he had the exact same problem. Then he took lessons from an old jazz artist who recognized the problem. He stopped my my friend and asked him why he wasn't soloing more, and my friend said he didn't want to make mistakes.
The old teach made a big circle in the air with his hands and said, "I make my mistakes big like Mars!"
The obvious point: We're all going to lay down some clams. It's part of improvising. But if you just play through them, you stand to make some good music and have a lot of fun doing it.
And wouldn't Big Like Mars be a great name for a band?
I agree, while being able to copy and execute a previously recorded solo by some great player (on any instrument) does imply technical skill, determination, and accomplishment.
However copying an "improvised solo" is no longer improvising.
Now a lot of the "masters" talk about doing this in youth, so there is value to the method.
For my money I'd rather not hear live music "exact" as the album or last weeks concert, I'm more open to possibilities.
Thanks for offering a guide through this somewhat undaunting field.
Copying solos DOES teach you the language of the music style. It's up to each player how "authentic" to the style they want to sound like, but if you do want to play in a style, almost every great player has learned from past masters.
I have never regretted learning a solo from a favorite player. I've learned a few hundred.
No right or wrong here.
My newest video looks at the song Foggy Mountain Top and how one could construct a solo using ideas we have seen throughout this series.
https://youtu.be/xrpsDj_9d4U
PDF file:
Attachment 208510
Transcribing great solos, which is really just very intense listening, i think is like learning language. Most people who improvise at a high level, and I'm guessing here because I'm not one of those, are not thinking about which chord tones or patterns or alteration they are playing, just as when we speak we are not thinking about where to place an adjective, etc... But we have to practice the patterns/scales first to get them into our vocabulary.
I have to say I am a BIG proponent of learning note for note solos from your favorite player(s). It DOES teach you the vocabulary of the language. It also teaches how this level of players organizes their thoughts and how they solve problems, two VERY needed skills for anyone who wants to improvise well.
I learned a ton of solos from Sam, Bill, Tiny and a bunch of non mando Jazz players. I've learned something from every one and fell all were excellent time investments.
The latest video in this series is Monroe Style Phrases
https://youtu.be/4AfDWMT5Wyc?si=sDQ9ypEEfe-MX5VA
PDF file
Attachment 209225
The latest 2 videos.
Chromatically 3 to 5
https://youtu.be/yEAN1w3yuck
V7 > I Clash Resolve
https://youtu.be/RkixKeH-d3M
This video covers the key of B.
https://youtu.be/GdVaFfgWKcE
Playing minor scale ideas against major chord progressions for a blusey sound.
https://youtu.be/t5XZeS6Ajvs