Article Tags: improvising practice

Here's an idea to work on improvising. Taking the idea from many posts ago about improvising on one string only, I decided upon a similar idea. Stick to a note value. Such as play 8th notes constantly for a given block. This really emphasizes rhythmic feel and note location. Add some key changes and you're really going to get a workout.

I made a background track for the Billy Joel song "You May Be Right" and improvised over the verse blocks. The chord changes are, by 4 beat measures: A, A, A, E, Bm, G, E, A. Strictly sticking to the note values forces you to find something different to say musically and really shows you if you're too routine in your lick phrasing.

Added on: 2009 03 28