Mastering the Fretboard

dtaylor
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Sun Apr 10, 2016 4:18 pm

I've long admired anyone who can follow a chord progression and improvise a solo anywhere on the fretboard; it seems like a level of skill that only comes with many years of dedication, by professional level musicians. I have set the ability to improvise as my goal, so I'm after some advice from those in the know.

I've tried probably half a dozen times to work through the scales and modes theory lessons, and, while I'm not afraid of hard work, things grind to a halt when I reach the part where I have to learn every scale in 1st position, naming and numbering the notes, backwards and forwards. I guess I haven't got the dedication required...

Is there anyone who has reached that level of improvisational freedom who could offer advice?

Did you just learn every note, every scale/mode, everywhere on the fretboard by rote?

Are there any short-cuts from those that didn't learn it the traditional way? Any tricks of the trade?

Any advice would be gratefully received.

Here's an example of the sort of improvisational accompaniment guitar that I'd love to one day be able to duplicate, Ocean Colour Scene, The Circle:



willem
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Sun Apr 10, 2016 4:43 pm

I am very interested in a study playing thirds, not only as a harmony ( like in Tequila sunrise) but also like a sort melody or rhythm or just like the way you play a scale but then in thirds..

of course there is more needed for playing second guitar totally free,, the more you know the more you can use I think.

Willem


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daryl
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Sun Apr 10, 2016 5:05 pm

I am no expert. But the video you posted (and aspire to) sounds like "chord tones" to me. What does that mean? Know what notes are in each chord (e.g. C major: C E G; F major: F A C; G major: G B D) and start by only playing the chord tones for each chord played.

Grab a progress for example: Capo 3rd fret: ||: G Cadd2 D G G Em Am D7 :||


And then just play chord tones in one position. Once you get comfortable in that position, try a new position with the same progression. You don't need to play a lot of notes. It's good to leave space. Think about small "phrases" (for example: "cat", "I see a cat", "I thought I saw a cat", "now I see a dog", etc.) and play these phrases with chord tones. Once you're comfortable with chord tones, you can start adding passing notes, but you want to end your phrases on chord tones. Once your comfortable with using passing notes, then you can start adding "color". For example if the chord you're playing over is a C-major (CEG) you could see if ending your phrase with an A (a 6th) works or an F (a 4th) etc.

Here's a little improv I came up with using the above progression:


dtaylor
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Mon Apr 11, 2016 1:42 am

That sounds very impressive Daryl, did you just pick it up by experimentation? Do you have that mental picture of where you want to play and what it will sound like before you strike a note? I mean do you know where all the Cs Es and Gs are on the fretboard when you're playing over a C, and by extension, the notes for every other chord?


davidrfinn99165
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Mon Apr 11, 2016 3:07 am

That sounds great Daryl ! Really fluid playing.!

I thought Neil's Guitar Geography course last year was excellent in freeing the hands up to work with confidence up the fretboard, and in taking my hands away from first position melodies and accompaniment parts. And it was much more interesting than just slogging through scales, which i've never been able or willing to do....otherwise we'd all be playing the piano ! (apologies to any pianists out there).

And I'd echo what Daryl says about finding a starting point using a chord tone up at a higher fret and then progressing from there. I've been using Garageband to record myself playing just a couple of verses of a famiilar song using basic chords or fingerpicking patterns, and then trying to create a second solo part over that, but starting up at the higher frets, without the safety net of the capo. The first versions aren't always pretty haha but the discipline of sitting there going over the same two verses til i have something on top of the original recording and that actually works has felt very rewarding, and without claiming any great improvisational ability yet I know it is something I I wouldn't have been able to do 12 months ago.

The second guitar part in the Ocean Colour Scene video could come from something like that approach... i'm thinking it looks semi-arranged rather than purely improvised? My goal is to be able to take on a second guitar part similar to the work Alun Davies did with Cat Stevens, or Maurie M did with Jim Croce. I'm not there yet, but i'll keep trying....

Have fun....


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daryl
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Mon Apr 11, 2016 5:32 am

dtaylor wrote:
That sounds very impressive Daryl, did you just pick it up by experimentation? Do you have that mental picture of where you want to play and what it will sound like before you strike a note? I mean do you know where all the Cs Es and Gs are on the fretboard when you're playing over a C, and by extension, the notes for every other chord?
Yes, mostly by experimenting. Although I do know the fretboard quite well. But no, I don't have a mental picture of where I'm going. But I sort of have an idea what my "phrase" *might* sound like, but once I start a phrase it might morph into something else before it's complete. It's kinda like when you're talking. You know what you want to say, but you haven't pre-formed the entire sentence in your brain. Know what I mean?

Just start your improv using 2 or 3 note phrases and change the "rhythm" of the phrase (hold the 1st note of the phrase longer than the others, then hold the 2nd note of the phrase longer the next time, etc.) Don't be afraid to play one note more than one time (think of Neil Young's stuff).


dtaylor
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Mon Apr 11, 2016 11:20 pm

David, Daryl, thanks for your insights, I like the idea of Garageband to practice following a progression. I'll start small and see where it gets me.
Dean


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