Improvisation For Guitarists

If you ask anyone who's been playing guitar for a while how to turn scales into solos, you'll likely get a variety of answers. They'll tell you to learn licks, work on your arpeggios, even learn your favorite players' solos note for note. While this is all good advice, I've had some particularly stubborn students that wanted to go beyond that; they wanted to be able to improvise using any scale up and down the fretboard, but at the same time break free from those deeply-ingrained scalar lines and patterns. It was then that I suggested the zonal approach to improvisation; by working in reduced areas of the neck with specifically designed patterns, they were soon able to create melodic, flowing lines that didn't sound at all like scales--they sounded like real music! This is the approach you'll find in this book. We dissect 15 of the most common scales, beyond the pentatonics, and break them down into zones which can be practiced either by scale, or for any particular scale across the fretboard. The objective of this book then is to provide a structured reference to make the transition from playing scales to playing, improvising and creating musical lines when soloing. It’s aimed at the intermediate to advanced guitarist looking to be able to improvise confidently and freely on the instrument in a wide variety of styles. It is also aimed at guitarists that want to move beyond rote pentatonic/blues soloing and incorporate other scales and modes into their playing, as well as building up a vocabulary to solo fluently over chord changes.

(Berklee Guide). Learn to improvise fluently over common jazz progressions. Learn to use simple source material, such as four-note "cells," and characteristic bebop motifs to help you make fast progress towards "making the changes" while developing creative, flowing, balanced solos, in the bebop and post-bop styles exemplified by artists such as Charlie Parker, Joe Pass, and John Coltrane. You will explore many improvisation strategies, such as fingering guidelines, articulation (picking/legato, etc.), practice approaches, and more, and apply them to exercises and etudes.

(Guitar Educational). A comprehensive source designed to help guitarists develop both lead and rhythm playing. Covers: Texas, Delta, R&B, early rock and roll, gospel, blues/rock and more. Includes 21 complete solos; chord progressions and riffs; turnarounds; moveable scales and more. The audio features leads and full band backing.

Improvise for Real is a step-by-step method that teaches you to improvise your own music through progressive exercises that anyone can do. You'll learn to understand the sounds in the music all around you. And you'll learn to express your own musical ideas exactly as you hear them in your mind. The method starts with very simple creative exercises that you can begin right away. As you progress, the method leads you on a guided tour through the entire world of modern harmony. You will be improvising your own original melodies from the very first day, and your knowledge will expand with each practice session as you explore and discover our musical system for yourself. Improvise for Real brings together creativity, ear training, music theory and physical technique into a single creative daily practice that will show you the entire path to improvisation mastery. You will learn to understand the sounds in the music all around you and to improvise with confidence over jazz standards, blues songs, pop music or any other style you would like to play. And you'll be jamming, enjoying yourself and creating your own music every step of the way. The method is open to all instruments and ability levels. The exercises are easy to understand and fun to practice. There is no sight reading required, and you don't need to know anything about music theory to begin. Already being used by both students and teachers in more than 20 countries, Improvise for Real is now considered by many people to be the definitive system for learning to improvise. If you have always dreamed of truly understanding music and being able to improvise with complete freedom on your instrument, this is the book for you

A guitar player's guide to music theory. This book is a complete theory course with recorded examples that put everything in an applicable, musical context. The recording includes all the musical examples and play-along tracks.

This book is written -with the guitar at hand- to help you as a fingerstyle guitarist, improvise in a contemporary way on the guitar. Every musician can learn to improvise. You just need to study and practice the right tools. Each chapter focuses on a different improvisational approach. An extensive theoretical knowledge is not necessary. This book is written for all levels: the beginner, the intermediate and advanced player. Every guitarist will find new insights and concepts to broaden his improvisational skills. Studying this book will increase your confidence for improvising, stimulate your command of the guitar with scale, interval, arpeggio studies and above all stimulate your imagination and musical creativity. In every chapter there is a 'Your turn' section, following the examples. The aim is to create your own improvisations. The book contains standard notation and tablature. Include access to online audio.

(Guitar Educational). Learn to improvise freely over any chord progression! The "Fourth Note" principle is a truly remarkable method for improvising in jazz and other genres, combining ear training, theory and technique to enable students to play with unrestricted creativity. In this book/CD pack, master guitarist Tony DeCaprio shows how to incorporate this technique using "focus notes" to anchor your playing within a chord progression through comprehensive, step-by-step instruction with examples for practical application of every new concept. The accompanying CD includes 99 full-demo tracks. "A totally unique and revolutionary concept for teaching improvisation. There is nothing even remotely similar on the market. The approach is refreshing and brilliant. I highly recommend this book to both students and teachers." Jimmy Bruno