how to Jam in Am Pentatonic

Discussion in 'The ChitChat Lounge' started by hemant_spidey3, May 5, 2012.

  1. I'm asking you all again, I was here for looking for some help. If you can't help me that's really fine, but please don't spoil the thread or fight with me.
     
  2. Morbid_Angel

    Morbid_Angel Sid the sloth

    well you certainly don't wake up everyday to get along with people either..

    so what exactly are you doing on this forum again? (wait, don't answer that. it's a rhetorical question :grin: )
     
  3. Oh God, how hard is this simple thing man. Help if you can, please don't spoil thread or start altercation. how much intelligence does it require to understand this simple sentence.
     
  4. bjr

    bjr Lady of the Evening

    When you're improvising, it's very important to create a melody. If you keep thinking of improvising within boxes, it's difficult to get a nice melody...you end up sounding like someone practicing scale runs. I'll try and give you a couple of very basic tips that you always keep in mind while improvising.

    a) Think more in terms of the chords that are being played than in terms of the scale that you are playing. When playing, always remember which chords you're playing and it always sounds nice and warm when you touch the notes of the chords that are playing in the background. So if you're playing Am G F, I'd play a tune which goes like

    Am----G----F
    A-C-A-B-G-A-C

    This is just the top of my head...without a guitar in my hand. I think it should sound nice anyway.

    The melody, very often in ballads and rock music, just connects two chords together. I can give you a hundred examples of this but you'll see this yourself as you start picking up songs. Scales are great for fast runs and as fillers between melodies but the melody itself is very closely related to the chords being played.


    b) Don't play too many notes. Especially when you're starting out, less is more. Playing lesser notes gives you more time to think of what you want to play next. Take this ballad in Am I just found on you tube for example. I think it's lovely:

    Dhalif - Ballad in A Minor.wmv - YouTube

    Notice how he starts off playing very few notes and then raises the intensity later. You don't even have to raise it. You can keep playing few notes and sound tasty like he does. As you learn, you'll get better at "taking off" like he does.


    c) Initially, think about what you want to play a little before hand. Have a rough idea of the tune you want to play and then improvise. It'll help you create better tunes. If required, keep a paper and pen with you and draw out a little plan. Keep the notes of the chords being played handy....and try to see if you're being able to follow them.

    d) There are certain techniques which come in handy when trying to improvise. Learning arpeggios is the first step. You don't have to play full arpeggios like they do in sweeps (though that's handy to know and sounds very nice)....you can play tiny arpeggio parts and connect them together. Mark Knopfler from Dire Straits is a master of this. Then you can try and play your entire solo on 1 string...or maybe refuse to use the 3rd string altogether while playing. This sort of forces you out of the scale shape and lets you create different melodies.

    Feel free to ask questions if you need to. I'm not much of a soloist but I can try to help to the best of my rather limited abilities.



    As far as the rest of the discussion goes, I'd just say that if repeating yourself once didn't work, it's probably not going to work the 7th time.
     
  5. Morbid_Angel

    Morbid_Angel Sid the sloth

    see dude, you just needed a little patience to wait for the right person to come and help you out. :grin: *secretly takes credit for bjr's answer*
     
  6. I was looking for this kind of explanation.......thanks a lot. After having so much altercation for this thread, somebody really understand my mind. Thank you a lot BJR. You're the best.
     
  7. Sumanovo razor

    Sumanovo razor New Member

    bjr is that u in that video...dhalif one...
     
  8. Sumanovo razor

    Sumanovo razor New Member

    well that video reminds me of songs from the movie life in a metro
     
  9. ayu135

    ayu135 New Member

    To the OP dude first of all you make a mistake by posting your query in this section of the forum, when others try to correct you, you offend them. If you feel people should help you please post your thread asking for help in the section that is meant for it. Beginner's Q&A Forum this is the place where you should have created this thread. There is a description below every section of of the forum that says what should be posted there. Abide by this in the future.
     

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