How to Improve Musical Improvisation and Making Music In General?

[Progbusters]

Re: How to Improve Musical Improvisation and Making Music In General?

First off, I understand that I just asked "the" musical question, the one all the greats had to find out to get as far as they did. But what I want to know is what must I do to open myself up musically, my current bag of musical tricks is somewhat limited, I always find myself falling back into the same few patterns. I have a few crap "styles" that I fall back onto when I don't know what to do (single strum to accent chord changes, palm muted quarter note chords followed by a non muted half note chord) and even when I do know what to do my styles are fairly limited, my two main styles are pseudo bell choir (like Jeff Buckley's Hallelujah) and punk riffs that don't have more than 4 notes or chords.

What can I do to expand this? I try to play songs and incorporate themes and techniques from the song into my own playing, but I can't seem to remember when it comes time to get the band together.

Do any of y'all have experience or resources that can help me?

listen to other direct examples and then other forms of art. This works for my photography, graphic design, as well as music.

 

[Mincer]

Re: How to Improve Musical Improvisation and Making Music In General?

listen to other direct examples and then other forms of art. This works for my photography, graphic design, as well as music.

This is good advice. Great art transcends the medium in which it is expressed, and ground-breaking artists will change your perspective on things, regardless of the discipline.

 

[Undone]

Re: How to Improve Musical Improvisation and Making Music In General?

Have you tried experimenting with different tunings? Even a basic drop tuning or open G can bust you out of a rut.

 

[B2D]

Re: How to Improve Musical Improvisation and Making Music In General?

Lots of good advice in this thread so far. Here's some of mine:

Listen to as much music as you can get your hands on, however you can. Try to learn something from it. Try everything once, just to see what's out there. You can learn a lot from jazz horn players, for example - musical rests, phrasing, playing through changes, etc. Guitar/Rock/Blues based music is important but it's a very small slice of a very big pie.

Find REAL PEOPLE to play with. Forums and YouTube and all that is cool but it's no substitute for a live human in front of you, especially if that human knows what they're doing. Teachers and mentors can teach you huge amounts about the nature of the instrument and your relationship to it. Also - JAM with people. Real people. People that are equal to or slightly above your playing level. You'll learn a lot about how to create music as part of a larger group.

Go see live music, as much as you can to see how people do it in the real world. How to cope and adapt with unexpected situations on the fly, how to play a room and play to an audience.

Record yourself, preferably to a click track or a drum/beat track. This will do worlds for your playing. Listen to your strengths and weaknesses. Did you do something you thought was cool? Awesome! See if you can do it better next time. Did you not like what you heard? Then work on it until you get it right, or just don't do that again.

Study your influences. Read about them, listen to and read interviews. Get inside their heads. And then study THEIR influences. I started understanding Joe Satriani a lot more when I got deeper into Led Zeppelin, The Doors, Jimi Hendrix, Stanley Jordan, The Stones, and a lot of R&B/Soul, jazz, and bop music. Into SRV? Cool, you should also look at Hendrix, Howlin' Wolf, Albert King, Lonnie Mack, and Lenny Breau. Learn their licks and get into the sound, figure out how they can make that sound they make, or at least as close as you can get. Even if you don't learn licks per se, you'll discover something about yourself along the way.

Lastly, read these two books. These contain more truth and wisdom on playing music than any theory book I have ever read.

https://read.amazon.com/kp/embed?as...linkCode=kpe&ref_=cm_sw_r_kb_dp_LAe4zb7SY876P

https://read.amazon.com/kp/embed?as...linkCode=kpe&ref_=cm_sw_r_kb_dp_gBe4zbRDEM8Y8

Good luck!

 

[Mincer]

Re: How to Improve Musical Improvisation and Making Music In General?

Zen Guitar is a great book. It is a must-read for anyone who wants to carve out their own path. The sequel to that is A Book of Six Strings, also a must-read.

 

[B2D]

Re: How to Improve Musical Improvisation and Making Music In General?

Zen Guitar is a great book. It is a must-read for anyone who wants to carve out their own path. The sequel to that is A Book of Six Strings, also a must-read.

Oh rad, I didn't even know he'd written another one.

Have you read Vic Wooten's book? What'd you think of it, if you did?

 

[Mincer]

Re: How to Improve Musical Improvisation and Making Music In General?

I hadn't read it yet, but it is on the list.

 

[B2D]

Re: How to Improve Musical Improvisation and Making Music In General?

I hadn't read it yet, but it is on the list.

You gotta read it, man. It's very insightful and it's a good STORY as well. Really eye-opening and speaks to a lot of things I'd long suspected or at least was feeling on the nature of living life with music in general.

 

[Securb]

Re: How to Improve Musical Improvisation and Making Music In General?

Zen Guitar is a great book. It is a must-read for anyone who wants to carve out their own path. The sequel to that is A Book of Six Strings, also a must-read.

Just ordered it on Amazon. I will let you know what I think. Thanks for the tip.