"Chop" Building?

[y2stevo]

How do you guys do it..??

What ways do you guys go about putting your licks to apply them to improv.?
Just plain ol'd practising em over an over?
Cos i just cant seem to master it Or even make a lame attempt at it..?

[Sly_D]

Re: "Chop" Building?

Well, I listen to my favorite players, try to learn their best chops, and practice them until my fingers bleeds... and then find some cool backtracks and improv until my finger bleeds

Improv is good because you end up finding your own chops and phrasing.

And every cool lick you learn from someone else enriches your playing background.

I don't think there's any other way... practice is the key word. Patience and determination. Like anything else in life, if your half-assed, you won't improve much.

I'll stop before I sound like your dad

[\m/(00)\m/]

Re: "Chop" Building?

find your root of your progression and play chord tones. thats what i do

[TwilightOdyssey]

Re: "Chop" Building?

Steve, you need to have serious discipline if you're gonna push your playing to the next level. Improvising will help with your compositional skills, as will jamming with a band (it's like "live theory"), but you need dedicated practice with a metronome.

I've been teaching guitar for years, and I always start with the basics, even with my own daily routine. Simple chromatic picking exercises that will take you up and down the strings and neck, picking every note in time, is a good way to start. Then move on to scales. Do you know all 8 scale positions for the Major and Natural Minor Scales? Do you know how to link modes together? This is a good place to start.

Then move on to more advanced stuff like arpeggios (again, there are 8 arpeggio positions to go with the scale positions). Then you move on to string skipping picking exercises, and 3-string arpeggios.

Then work on legato, tremolo work, vibrato, bending in key, and two handed tapping.

Lastly I usually work on a sight-reading exercise and chord work ...

Yeah, it takes a long time to do all this. But it will pay off in the end.

Oh, by the way: what's your T-shirt size? I'm going to send you a TO shirt with the CD!!!

[Hot _Grits]

Re: "Chop" Building?

I agree with Twilight, learning the major scale in all 7 positions is a massive tool for being able to get around the neck and find stuff that will work melodically.

the best thing you can do is listen to your favourite players, isolate small chunks of what they do and work on playing along.

Above all, listen to the timing of good players. Listen to how they fit their lines over the rythm of a piece, and listen for when the choose to not play. The spaces are as important as the notes. I cannot stress this part enough, it's the one thing I always hear hobbyist/developing player not doing enough work on.

[\m/(00)\m/]

Re: "Chop" Building?

listen to twilight

[JammerMatt]

Re: "Chop" Building?

8 positions? I've been doing the standard five. Are the other three the "three-note-per-string" positions?

My shirt size is Large. Sign me up for a TO CD. I'll PM you my address when you're getting ready to ship.

-Matt

[Vasshu the humanoid typhoon]

Re: "Chop" Building?

I play, never liked practising riffs and others peoples stuff.
I know scales, quite a few arpegggios, chords that I still use, equally I have forgotten just as much, rhythm in your playing and lines that connects over the chords.
Meaning finding the notes that connects the piece, earpractise is a great thing.

[Number One]

Re: "Chop" Building?

Improv to lots of songs. The more different the songs are the better, and u can get a general feel of scale patterns from different songs, and oftentimes find new patterns that u can use in future improv. But knowing your scales is definitely where u start.

[nuntius]

Re: "Chop" Building?

Ya know when you are walking down the road and you hear some chords in your head and you whistle an improvised solo to them?

i'm like this

i never practise my solos, only technique.

when i do a solo i just improvise the entire thing...

the plan is to get away from doing "licks" which are an easy way out if all your gonna do is string a few together.

The best way to learn how to improvise is to just do it... theres no other way to learn.

thats the only lesson i got out of the alan holdsworth video i watched, rest of it bored me

[y2stevo]

Re: "Chop" Building?

Medium,

Wow thats quiet a few posts more than i expected Cheers..

I dont think Determination or anything like that is a problem, i think its the fact that really ive only been properly playing for the last few months..Even tho Ive been "playing" for nearaly 3 years, I was one of those unfortunates to be sucked in by the commercial garbage and the power chord bands(not that there al bad but there not very creative and technical guitarists)Only latley ive been listnening to good music.........I do practise with a metronome and Know Modes (but very rusty on them) and Pentatonic scale in all 5,..

but the one thing i completly overlooked was actually learning songs..I Never really realised that that seemed to be the key..Even tho its pretty damn obvious...


Cheers All.. Thanks alot