IMPROVISATION IS SIMPLE (Guitar News Weekly #115, November 6, 2000

GuitarSite.com
Guitar News Weekly
Edition #115, November 6, 2000

IMPROVISATION IS SIMPLE
By Charles Rathmann

When you're growing up, you're already learning to improvise. You first develop the mechanical ability to form your first words. As you listen to others, you figure out quickly how to string these words together into rudimentary sentences. At first to get what you want (I want Cheerios, Mom). Later, you begin to use sentences to express complex ideas (I'll trade you a Pikachu for two Parasects, but only if you eat my green beans).

So it is with improvising on the guitar. Our first challenge is go get our hands to interact with the strings as we want them to. We get to the point where the physical act of playing is effortless. Then it is time to focus on ideas. Our music must become as instinctive as language in order for us to meaningfully string notes together in the moment. This physical side of the instrument is the focus of the first book I wrote with my guitar guru, Jim "Rockin. Jimmy" Crimmins. This book contains a solid program that will allow you to master the physical side of playing improvised guitar solos. Most guitarists give up long before they get to this stage. That.s where ROCKIN' JIMMY.S DAILY GUITAR WORKOUT comes in.

But there is more to it than just your phalanges! And that is where our next book will pick up. How do we manage to effortlessly express ourselves on our instrument?

Conversation.

Of course, a monologue is not as interesting as a conversation. And a guitar solo, most of the time, takes place over other instrumental sounds. Therefore, learning to LISTEN to the other musicians playing with us is important if we are to truly create excitement in our playing. Imagine yourself leaning back in your chair after a decent meal with friends . basking in the warmth of the wine and the company. You listen to each other thoughtfully, and offer responses intended to move the conversation along gracefully.

Having just endured an election season, many of us are starkly aware of the contrast between this type of conversation and the one-sided, stiff, argumentative style of most politicians. Responses to questions are rehearsed and inserted at unnatural moments. There is no interest it bringing oneself closer together with the listener, only in distancing oneself from a competitor. Yes . there are some highly technical and aggressive guitarists we can draw comparisons with here. But there are also a lot of engaging, emotive players who can show us the way.

IMPORT: Make your playing like a comfortable conversation. Let it flow in the moment, and enjoy every minute of it.

Building and Releasing Tension

Can I ask you a question? Have you ever heard a guitar solo . one that glides in after the refrain, picks you up, twirls you through the ionosphere only to deposit you in a completely wonderful, musical new part of the song? I know I have. Great players understand how to capture your attention with a solo, and their styles are defined by how they go about doing this. Mike Bloomfield used to avoid notes that would reveal whether he was in a major or a minor mode . and then, as the tension built, would hit the flatted fifth or flatted third to let you know where you were.

My guitar guru, Rockin. Jimmy, is famous for using really adventurous note choices to build tension, then launching through the diminished scale to a more relaxed-sounding mode.

There are a lot of books on theory that deal with ways to structure solos. Playing the changes (choosing notes from within each chord in a progression) is one way to do this because the progression, if it is written properly, will naturally build and release tension. Concentrating on avoiding the tonic or fifth degree will also build tension, and that tension will release once you resolve to one of these more solid-sounding notes. Probably the best way is to experiment with your own style . but the hard part is that you have to listen. Really listen. George Benson used to record himself every time he played live so he could critique his performance. Another way to listen carefully to yourself is through the use of a four-track or a PC-based recording tool like Sonic Foundry.s ACID or Sound Forge programs. Just as a great novel or movie will build suspense with plot twists and complications, we need to keep people.s attention.

IMPORT: Listen to yourself enough during practice, and you will be able to listen to others during performance.

Don't gild the lily

Gilding the lily. taking something naturally beautiful and plating it with gold. I know I am often guilty of taking a beautiful melodic idea and cramming too many notes onto it. I can.t help it . I.m type A. But the best playing each of us will produce will take place in moments when we.re just hooked on the melody. Sure, each time through the refrain or verse we might find a slightly different way around that melody, but it is still the melody we are playing. My friend Perf De Castro . who has some cool guitar lesson information on HIS web site . advises us to allow our phrasing to follow our breathing. As we get to the end of a breath, we resolve the phrase we are playing. This allows us to keep our playing uncluttered and natural-sounding.

Lately, I.ve been listening a lot to one of the best guitarists in history . Django Rheinhardt. As excellent as his playing is, I am continually impressed with the harmonic simplicity of it. As much as I love guys like Allan Holdsworth, I think most non-guitarists would rather listen to Django.

IMPORT . Don.t try to say too much. You will wind up saying too little with too many notes.

THIS IS THE SECOND IN A SERIES OF ADVANCE RESEARCH NOTES ON THE NEXT ROCKIN' JIMMY INSTRUCTIONAL TOOL, THE TAO OF GUITAR IMPROVISATION. SENDING THESE ADVANCE NOTES WILL PUT PRESSURE ON US TO FINISH THE MANUSCRIPT. THANKS FOR YOUR SUPPORT IN THIS.

Lessons from Chuck's buddy Perf De Castro:
http://www.geocities.com/SunsetStrip/Basement/9985/