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Pete Martin
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I know this is a dumb question, but I’m going to ask anyway: how come something that sounds like so much fun, and LOOKS so easy when people do it well IS SO DIFFICULT TO LEARN? I play a LOT, but improv seems to be just on the other side of a very thin door. (I can hear it, but I can’t open the damn door!)
You just have to dive in and do it. Nobody is a good improvisor in the beginning. The best at it have been doing it a long time and have really studied how great players in the past have done it. You are just beginning the journey, so have fun, but keep doing it!!!!!
And there are no dumb questions. Yours in perfectly legit Mike.
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Pete Martin
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Mike, to Pete's great advice I would add that you need to lose your natural desire to sound good when you start improvising. There are lots of play-along recordings that you can practice with in the privacy of your own home. A great part of the success as an improvisor is to do what Pete says -- dive in and do it. It will not sound so great at the start, but as you do it more and more you will begin to develop finger patterns that will give you good sounding notes to begin with.
And separate from improvising practice, work on your scales in the most common keys that you're likely to want to improvise in. Then work on the pentatonic versions of those scales (notes 1,2,3,5,6,1) because that gives the least conflicting group of notes for improvising for a lot of folk, bluegrass, pop/rock, Great-American-Songbook tunes.
Another thing to do to help you feel more comfortable making things up is to simply make things up without trying to fit into an accompaniment. Just noodle on your mandolin in a specific key. Remember Sturgeon's Law that 90% of anything is crap -- when you see performers or hear recordings you have to remember that you're only seeing or hearing the 10% that is good, not the 90% that isn't good that got left in the practice room or on the editing room floor at the recording studio.
If anyone has questions regarding material in the videos, I'm happy to answer them to the best of my ability here. Or I can suggest a plan of action for practicing the material and how to apply it in improv in real time. There is a LOT to learn, but it IS learnable.
I'll add one more thing, a common jazz teachers saying:
"Good improv is 5% inspiration and 95% perspiration"
Holy cow is this true!![]()
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Pete Martin
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www.WoodAndStringsBand.com
Jazz trio
www.AppleValleyWranglers.net
Western Swing music
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Pete Martin
www.PeteMartin.info
Jazz and Bluegrass instruction books, videos, articles, transcriptions, improvisation, ergonomics, free recordings, private lessons
www.WoodAndStringsBand.com
Jazz trio
www.AppleValleyWranglers.net
Western Swing music
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Pete Martin
www.PeteMartin.info
Jazz and Bluegrass instruction books, videos, articles, transcriptions, improvisation, ergonomics, free recordings, private lessons
www.WoodAndStringsBand.com
Jazz trio
www.AppleValleyWranglers.net
Western Swing music
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Pete Martin
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Jazz and Bluegrass instruction books, videos, articles, transcriptions, improvisation, ergonomics, free recordings, private lessons
www.WoodAndStringsBand.com
Jazz trio
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Western Swing music
Keep going. At the heart of it is another body part - your ears. Take it slow. Listen to what you’re playing. Ignore music theory initially. Maybe just use one scale. Hum slow, easy passages and try and replicate them. Don’t berate yourself for 'mistskes'. A flat third over a major chord is a 'mistake' in a sense. Yet sounds fantastic. Take your time. Don’t overwhelm yourself snd most importantly have fun.
You’ll get there. Try, but try easy.
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PS @pete Martin . The video is great! Thanks!
JBovier ELS; Epiphone MM-50 VN; Epiphone MM-40L; Gretsch New Yorker G9310; Washburn M1SDLB;
Fender Nashville Deluxe Telecaster; Squier Modified Vintage Cabronita Telecaster; Gretsch 5420T; Fender Tim Armstrong Hellcat: Washburn Banjo B9; Ibanez RB 5string; Ibanez RB 4 string bass
Pedalboard for ELS: Morley Cry baby Miniwah - Tuner - EHX Soul Food Overdrive - EHX Memory Toy analog Delay
Fender Blues Jr Tweed; Fender Greta;
I don't know enough improvising mandolin players work - but if you listen to popular (with the public) guitarists then noticeably innovative ones, you can often tell which ones learned hundreds of other people's licks and put them together when soloing. They're often the most popular ones, maybe because many people value familiarity over innovation. The guitarists I prefer are people like say Roy Buchanan, who seemed to be able to produce stuff nobody else had much thought of. I'll doubtless get a post telling me exactly who Roy lifted his licks from, but you know what I mean...
One thing about being apprehensive about messing up, whether improvising, generally performimng or otherwise - smile and act confident, and most non players will never know. The players have all messed up at some time, so they don't mind if you do it.
Thanks for the links Pete!
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Pete Martin
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Here is video #25, chord tone scale ideas over a IIIm chord.
Video #27 making phrases from chord tone scales
Video #28 non chord tones on a major chord
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Pete Martin
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Western Swing music
#29 Solo Strategies
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Pete Martin
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Sam Bush Plays I IV V
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Pete Martin
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A friend of mine is a real good music teacher. But when he was starting out, he had the exact same problem. Then he took lessons from an old jazz artist who recognized the problem. He stopped my my friend and asked him why he wasn't soloing more, and my friend said he didn't want to make mistakes.
The old teach made a big circle in the air with his hands and said, "I make my mistakes big like Mars!"
The obvious point: We're all going to lay down some clams. It's part of improvising. But if you just play through them, you stand to make some good music and have a lot of fun doing it.
And wouldn't Big Like Mars be a great name for a band?
Gibson A-Junior snakehead (Keep on pluckin'!)
I agree, while being able to copy and execute a previously recorded solo by some great player (on any instrument) does imply technical skill, determination, and accomplishment.
However copying an "improvised solo" is no longer improvising.
Now a lot of the "masters" talk about doing this in youth, so there is value to the method.
For my money I'd rather not hear live music "exact" as the album or last weeks concert, I'm more open to possibilities.
Thanks for offering a guide through this somewhat undaunting field.
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"Mean Old Timer, He's got grey hair, Mean Old Timer he just don't care
Got no compassion, thinks its a sin
All he does is sit around an play the Mandolin"
Copying solos DOES teach you the language of the music style. It's up to each player how "authentic" to the style they want to sound like, but if you do want to play in a style, almost every great player has learned from past masters.
I have never regretted learning a solo from a favorite player. I've learned a few hundred.
No right or wrong here.
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Pete Martin
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www.WoodAndStringsBand.com
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www.AppleValleyWranglers.net
Western Swing music
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Pete Martin
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Jazz and Bluegrass instruction books, videos, articles, transcriptions, improvisation, ergonomics, free recordings, private lessons
www.WoodAndStringsBand.com
Jazz trio
www.AppleValleyWranglers.net
Western Swing music
Transcribing great solos, which is really just very intense listening, i think is like learning language. Most people who improvise at a high level, and I'm guessing here because I'm not one of those, are not thinking about which chord tones or patterns or alteration they are playing, just as when we speak we are not thinking about where to place an adjective, etc... But we have to practice the patterns/scales first to get them into our vocabulary.
I have to say I am a BIG proponent of learning note for note solos from your favorite player(s). It DOES teach you the vocabulary of the language. It also teaches how this level of players organizes their thoughts and how they solve problems, two VERY needed skills for anyone who wants to improvise well.
I learned a ton of solos from Sam, Bill, Tiny and a bunch of non mando Jazz players. I've learned something from every one and fell all were excellent time investments.
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Pete Martin
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Jazz and Bluegrass instruction books, videos, articles, transcriptions, improvisation, ergonomics, free recordings, private lessons
www.WoodAndStringsBand.com
Jazz trio
www.AppleValleyWranglers.net
Western Swing music
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Pete Martin
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Jazz and Bluegrass instruction books, videos, articles, transcriptions, improvisation, ergonomics, free recordings, private lessons
www.WoodAndStringsBand.com
Jazz trio
www.AppleValleyWranglers.net
Western Swing music
The latest 2 videos.
Chromatically 3 to 5
V7 > I Clash Resolve
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Pete Martin
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www.WoodAndStringsBand.com
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Western Swing music
This video covers the key of B.
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Pete Martin
www.PeteMartin.info
Jazz and Bluegrass instruction books, videos, articles, transcriptions, improvisation, ergonomics, free recordings, private lessons
www.WoodAndStringsBand.com
Jazz trio
www.AppleValleyWranglers.net
Western Swing music
Playing minor scale ideas against major chord progressions for a blusey sound.
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Pete Martin
www.PeteMartin.info
Jazz and Bluegrass instruction books, videos, articles, transcriptions, improvisation, ergonomics, free recordings, private lessons
www.WoodAndStringsBand.com
Jazz trio
www.AppleValleyWranglers.net
Western Swing music
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