So I’ve been playing guitar for around five years and for the past three years I have not improved at all. I love playing improvisational music but do not seem to be very good at it. From articles I have read, it always tells me I should start by remembering scales, arpeggios, etc. but I feel like I’m wasting my time when I try to remember them.

What tips would you give to a young guitarist aspiring to become good at improvisation playing? How can I increase my hand speed? It seems like every note you hit sounds good no matter where it is on the fret board, how do you do that?

Thanks!

-John

I have been working with some of the concepts you’ve shared, Mr. Kimock, as well as with the book Harmonic Experience. And I have been gleaning many small nuggets of useful information and understanding. However, you had mentioned that not knowing how things have come about through history will keep me from really grasping things firmly.

So, my question to you is this, are there are “Music History” type books or resources I should look in to for an overview of sorts?

I think, maybe, I have been worrying about what the listener is thinking for too long. I think this comes from my days in school, because I was always preparing for a grade or an assignment. However it came about it certainly produces anxiety.

Not sure if you have ever read “Effortless Mastery” by Kenny Werner. I read that while in music school. My guitar teacher recommended it. Anyway, it is a very Zen like approach to playing music. One of the keys is being totally relaxed and empty.

The hard part for me in all this is the time frame in which I want my playing to change. This process you are talking about isn’t as quick as ripping off a new lick or trying to improv over some new changes. Then again, it took me about six months to get the head to “Donna Lee” to sound decent!

Anyway, I could go on, but I appreciate your availability. Time to unlearn a few things…

Oh, one last thing. Is that an old Gibson L-4 or is it an L-5 that you play? It sounds great. I’ve always wanted an L-4 CES.

David

“How do I know when I’m communicating music emotionally when I play?”

I don’t, really, know or care on any specific level between myself and any other individual.
That’s unknowable, rightly so, and not the point anyway.
I believe that music generally plays upon the listeners emotions depending on how receptive the listener is at the moment, but that’s not a case of me specifically communicating an emotion of some type and strength to a listener.
That’s just trusting that that relationship between emotion and sound is present in the listener.

I do my best to keep track of how music makes ME feel, in hopes that I’m better able to share those musical feelings with the listener, and I can tell when it’s connecting successfully for me, but that’s as far as that goes.

I’m pretty sure you can work on that. I’ve been trying real hard the last 10 or 15 years or so to be more in touch with how sound makes me feel, which is kind of the point of most of this discussion so far, and it does seem to result in more heartfelt music for me, but again, I can never really be sure how that’s received by anybody else.

Anyway, it’s a fascinating question: “What’s Communicated?”
Maybe some other folks can hop in and help with that.

peace

You and I have had completely different experiences with music, and yet they were the same, if that makes any sense… I have always been deeply affected by music in an emotional way. So I have been attracted to players who make me feel when I listen to them.

I started playing guitar at age 15, 25 years ago. To aid my progression I thought getting a degree in studio music and jazz would be a good idea. So I spent several years in the prison camp of jazz theory and improv. I made it through the curriculum, but I struggled because I do not have the best ear in the world. Anyway, after all that I still do not feel as if I am communicating emotionally when I play.

It is so frustrating, because now I have all of these “ought to sound like this” when I pick up my guitar. I guess what I am asking is how do you know when you are communicating music emotionally when you play? I know Garcia said, in the GD movie, that he learned that what he felt when he played didn’t necessarily mean the audience felt the same way. I guess I am sick of thinking that I need to get techinically better all the time.

I wonder if I am making any sense. Thanks. David

Our ears naturally want to hear variations and it’s more fun to be able to try and “challenge” your ears to see if they will accept those funny quarter tones where they should or shouldn’t be.

Does “pop” music today, “challenge” our ears with notes that may not belong? Shouldn’t that be allowed?

The Beatles brought in Ravi and it worked. MIles did “In a Silent Way” and that also worked out nicely. Seems like there aren’t a lot of rock musician’s out there performing music with a little “Asian Fusion.”

It’s natural for our ears to want to hear traditional R&B notes mixed with Gypsy Jazz and eastern modal scales. If it’s not broke, don’t fix it!