You’re at a small, cozy gathering with friends, and someone hands you a guitar.🎸 The spotlight’s on you. Your heart races a little, but there’s also that thrilling spark of excitement. Instead of sticking to the same old songs everyone’s heard a million times, you decide to try something different.
You close your eyes, let your fingers 🖐🏽find their way, and before you know it, you’re weaving a melody that’s completely your own. That, my friends, is the magic of improvisation!
Improvisation can feel like one of the most intimidating aspects of learning guitar or bass, but don’t worry! Fender coach Genna Projanksy brings you this week’s newsletter where we will break down some ways to improve your improvisation skills.
Scales🎼
The foundation of great improvisation lies in your understanding of scales. Start with the basics:
- Pentatonic Scales: Major and minor pentatonic scales are a great starting point. They’re simple yet versatile, and they sound fantastic in almost any context.
- Major and Minor Scales: These provide the building blocks for more complex solos.
These scales are a great jumping-off point as they take 5 strong notes from each full scale to make a simplified note selection that's perfect for practicing solos and fills. A great exercise is to practice improvising along to a song, especially one that has a solo section!
Take, for example, Come Together by The Beatles. The outro jam happens over one looping part that fits perfectly with the D minor pentatonic scale, and goes on for several minutes, allowing you to truly explore the fretboard!
Practice Tip: Spend a few minutes each day running through these scales in different positions on the fretboard. This will help you internalize their shapes and sounds.
Study and Learn📖
Another tip for building improv skills is to study and learn fills from some of your favorite solos and jams. Having a memorized fill to come back to can create an anchor in your improv, and give you something to build off of in the moment.
Pick your favorite guitar solos and learn them note for note. Then, take the time to analyze them:
- What scales are being used?
- How are the phrases constructed?
- What techniques (like bends, slides, or hammer-ons) are employed?
Practice Tip: After learning a solo, try to incorporate similar phrases and techniques into your own improvisation.
Jam with Backing Tracks📻🎸
Playing along with backing tracks is a fantastic way to practice improvisation in a realistic context. Start with simple tracks in one key, then gradually challenge yourself with more complex progressions:
- Backing Track Sources: YouTube has a plethora of backing tracks in various genres and keys.
- Focus on Musicality: Don’t just play notes—think about creating melodies and telling a story with your solos.
Practice Tip: Record yourself improvising over a backing track, then listen back and critique your playing. What worked well? What could be improved?
Improvisation is all about expressing yourself in the moment. It’s your musical fingerprint, a unique blend of your influences, emotions, and creativity. And the best part? There are no mistakes—only happy little accidents that lead to new discoveries (thank you, Bob Ross).
Whether you’re noodling away in your bedroom, jamming with friends, or performing on stage, improvisation turns every session into an adventure.
I hope these tips help to make the art of improvisation more accessible.
Happy practicing!
Drill of the week: A Minor Pentatonic Scale Warm Up – Alternate Picking Triplet Sequence
Triplets are a great way of adding more rhythmic versatility into your lead playing. Practice this exercise to internalize the rhythm and get it under your fingers.
