Modes/Improvisation

[mojobone]

@ the Colonel: there's a terrific guitar method called Fretboard Logic (don't know if it's been translated into any other languages) that can be very helpful for position playing and fretboard pattern recognition. Explains how the fretboard is organized and why it's organized that way. I think it's brilliant.

[stephen]

Ok so we've learned bout modes and all there derivative scale parallel this diminished that etc etc. But for those of us who are into Jazz or any contemporary and need to improvise on the spot sometimes, how do you practice your scales? ( by this I mean all that has been discussed in this thread) so that your improvisation comes naturally without much thought.

[stephen]

I play the vocal chords and some piano and am now starting to practice this stuff.

[gongchime]

Listening to stuff that does what you'd like to be able to do is one good way, in order to get it in your ears. That's why I put up the Dorian Santana tune. Another way is that fretboard logic idea. First learn all the C Major voicings up the neck in each position. Then, play all the Major chords in the guitar's first position in the circle of 4ths; C F Bb Eb Ab Db Gb B E A D G. This means that chords such as Eb will have to be in first inversion. Don't forget there's an Eb major, an Eb Major 7th, an Eb minor, Ebminor 7th, and an Eb Dominant 7th that are accessible in the first position. Any kind of Eb chord is not a normal chord to play in the first position, Ab is another uncommon one, as is Db but you should know them because after you know where all these chords are then you're going to associate scales with each one. Then when going around the circle of 4ths the second time, don't play the E in the first position. Jumping from B to E is not optimal. Play the other E voicing that's up higher on the neck and which is flush with the B voicing you just played. If you keep doing that, then the chords crawl all the way up the neck as you cycle through the 4ths. It's up to you whether you want to associate Ionian or Lydian with each Major Chord.This method is a bit complex and actually, you don't have to go for any specific mode. Just get in the habit of playing "wrong" notes as neighbor relations or chromatic passing tones, and soon you'll learn which one's work when and which you like better. But the last thing to remember is that scales aren't music. And just as fundamental is the idea that playing the right scales isn't jazz. Jazz has a chromatic melodic vocabulary which includes chromatic approach tones that lead into arpeggios, pentatonic scales, tetrachords etc... And it has passing tones located in strategic places such as between the b7 and 1 of those tetrachords, pentatonic scales and arpeggios etc... One general rule of thumb when improvising is to play any motif you just came up with three times, perhaps with variations each time, perhaps not, perhaps resolving it on the final repetition or leading it into another motivic idea.In jazz there are no wrong notes. If you make a mistake, repeat it and maybe repeat it again. Improvise around the mistakes and they won't sound like mistakes at all. Another excellent way of dealing with improvisation is to just play altered versions of the original melody, trying to play something different but keeping it recognizable especially at the beginning and/or the ends of phrases.Lastly don't play anything your ears don't want to hear at that moment and I'm far too frequently guilty of that. It's much too easy for me to burn scales because I've practiced them. But we should be LISTENING and RESPONDING to what we hear not trying to show that we're the SHIZZ every second. If you blow all your cookies in the first song, why should anyone stick around for the rest of the night?