What do you practice when you practice bluegrass?

[Pepe]

...in classical music, there are lots of good strategies for getting a piece up to stuff...In improvisational music...and so on....

I'm assuming you mean 'up to snuff', as opposed to shenanigans of some type . . . ?
In the former case the goal is pretty narrowly defined; in the latter there can be quite a bit of latitude. If you define what you consider 'up to snuff' in that context, folks can give you more specific advice.

[farmerjones]

Eight years later: Jam frequently.

[William Smith]

Well I pick up my mando and go over stuff then usually try to inprovise of the melody sometimes it works out?
Here is one morning I did a tune my way Don't know if this is posted right? 1936 F-5 Fern!


https://www.facebook.com/elizabeth.s...2256490350164/

[Relio]

I should probably start a new thread since most people seem to have taken this the wrong way (probably the pseudo Raymond Carver-esque post title). What I meant is: in classical music, there are lots of good strategies for getting a piece up to stuff, most of them based around breaking them down to give intensive attention to tiny difficult passages. In improvisational music, to do this would be paradoxical, since theoretically you're the one inventing those passages fresh each time. So how does one approach improvised music from an intensive technical perspective?

I have been working on pentatonic scale patterns that I incorporate into my improvising. I have also been learning fiddle tunes out of the "The Fiddler's Fakebook" to get some new ideas. When I learn a new fiddle tune I try to break it down to its essential core melody notes and burn that into my fingers/mind. Once I know the core melody notes and which chord they're played over I have a much easier time improvising, but also staying around the melody. Good luck, it's a lifelong learning process.

[Mandoplumb]

When I practice, I practice bluegrass. Yes there is a lot of improvision in bluegrass as I think in jazz but does improvision means off the cuff? Not to me I work on breaks for tunes and songs, if they are my arrangement I think of it as improv.when performing I probably will play it different but the basic was worked out in practice. Now if I must break a song I haven't played before I can improvise on the fly but it won't be as well developed as one I can practice first.