I just improvised a guitar solo for the first time in my life, and I didn't do too bad because I realized it will sound okay if it remains in the same structure, and you dont get so random and offtrack.

Im asking about tips to help my improvision method. In this case i just stuck w/ the pentatonic E scale (at the 14th fret of the D string), but i had to improvise for like 2 and a half minutes along w/ a rythym the rest of the band was playing, but i started to run out of ideas near the end so i just repeated notes a fair amount. How do I become better at understanding strucures and keep goin? Some one help me out here.

build the rythm pattern in your head & go along that pattern to start with...slowly try phrasing your solos over that pattern & then go for incorporating various techniques

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Whenever I solo, its almost completely improv.

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I take it that you're talking about something rather melodic, so here goes...

What I feel is most limiting to me is that I can't find the notes of a certain scale anywhere. If I'm soloing in say E minor, I "see" that scale as something running from the 12 fret on the high E down to the 7 fret on the A string with 3 notes per string. I can find other places too (for example just placing it on any of the E strings (single string scale)) but they take time to find, and I can very seldom "get there" so to speak, IE play so my fingers can reach those areas. So learning to figure out where you can go and not is a very good idea IMO.

And for "ideas", I've got two "modes".
1) When I'm performing: Just stick to what I know sounds nice, and try to do something that somehow feels right for the song.
2) When I'm practicing/fucking around: Try to challenge myself, do strange things, skip strings in weird places in phrases, sweep in ways I wouldn't normally try, and stuff like that.
The second mode is really an inbetween of finding new things to "move" to the "[serious things]-folder" and just practicing weird fingerings and picking patterns and stuff.

And don't forget, long notes are your friend. If you feel you're going to run short on ideas, and you've got quite a bit left to do, do some long notes with bends. Don't overdo it, and don't make it too obvious (use them when you've still got ideas too), and they'll help. They give you time to think. Plus, you can allways do weird rhythmic patterns on one note for a while. You don't have to be flying around the neck like you're trying to catch a bullet. Sure, every once in a while, to show off technicality or if it fits the song, go ahead, but you don't have to.

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Yeah, I like using long sustained notes.

I will apply what you guys have told me, thanks. Today I just started learning the blues technique all over again so I can actually get a full version of the structures instead of the twisted ways of playing I've learned on my own, but that doesnt mean I'm going to trash or it was useless.

buy this book immediately:
Advanced Modern Rock Guitar Improvisation, by Jon Finn
http://www.melbay.com/product.asp?ProductID=98053BCD

it's sweet. first it starts you off by showing you all the shapes to pentatonics. by like the 3rd chapter , you'll be able to play the pentatonic scale anywhere you want. in the 3rd chapter, he shows that if you play a pentatonic scale that has a different root note than the chord you're playing over, you'll come up with cool stuff.
next, he expands on the pentatonic scale and says that you if you add a few notes to the pentatonic scale, you'll get scales that sound similar to the 7 modes.
then he shows you the modes, and how to remember and use them.
Eventually with some practice, you'll be able to play in and out of modes, and utilize each of their sounds.
it's very helpful, because he gives you mnemonic devices for everything and shows everything in terms of shapes. He knows that guitarists memorize everything through shapes and not note names and crap like that.

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How do i convert my US currency into Discontinued??

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oh i guess you have to buy the whole book+cd+dvd
http://www.melbay.com/product.asp?P...=&author=&mode=

it's actually a good deal.....i paid like 20 bucks for the book/cd, i could've gotten the dvd for 10 bucks extra, i didn't have the opportunity.....

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ill check this book out...right now ive been learning alot of solo tabs, to understand them...like right now im workin on "master of puppets" solo and this carlos santana song.

it is impossible to be able to explain how to improv well on a forum, lol.

you should do these, though:

learn the major/minor scale and modes ALL OVER the neck. very important.

learn the key signatures.

memorize the notes of the guitar for every fret. only 12 notes.. get to it.

learn chord construction theory. try to follow the notes of the chord progression you're playing over. arpeggiate the chords, emphasize certain other notes that are in the same key.

develop your ear. lots of perfect pitch things floating around. it will make you be able to play exactly what you hear in your mind, which is what improv is all about.

learn solos from your favorite guitarists. dissect them. like a certain note that was held? what melodic and harmonic intervals were involved?

learn many other scales. minor harmonic is a good start.. many foreign scales will be of great inspiration, and most are very closely related to the minor/major scales, they just leave out a few notes (so they emphasize certain melodic intervals.. emphasis of intervals is soo important to soloing).


that'll give you a year or two of work. great improv solos don't happen overnight. noodling of a pentatonic scale does, but...

well, if i slaved, it would take up less than a year

i shall take all of that into account

PINCH HARMONICS.... should be every metal guitarists best friend....

I like Putting the Pick in my mouth and using two hands to tap all over the frets when I am improvising a solo. I tap, as fast as I can, 4 or 5 arpeggios of either Major, Minor or Diminished, depending on what I hear going on in the Rythm section. I don't really bother with Augmented chords. That or I'll tap notes that have absolutely no place in the current key. Makes it sound really alien and strange.

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A thing that seems too help me, when i´m suddenl stuck omewhere on the fretboard is licks. It´s an easy way to use a couple of seconds to think.

Incoporate the licks, so they seem like improvised, and practice them a lot, so they are in your fingers, and not your head.

i agree to your lick instrustions, but 2nd's sound horrible when they are accented

another good book is "Scales Over Chords"
it teaches the theory you need to know to improvise.
http://musicbooksplus.com/product_i...roducts_id/1353

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