Greg Howe Improvisation Guitar Lesson - www.greghowe.com/lessons
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- Опубліковано 1 жов 2024
- www.greghowe.co...
Greg Howe demonstrates the benefits of using contrast and polarity to help define ideas and phrases while improvising in this lesson.
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Guthrie Govan: "I’m guessing that when most modern rock players say they want to get their 'fusion' down, they don’t particularly want to learn ‘Autumn Leaves’, they want instant Greg Howe! Listen to Charlie Christian, Django, Miles Davis, Wes Montgomery... listen to what those guys could do over a simple blues progression, you’ll start to absorb what’s happening harmonically, and after a while ‘jazz’ ingredients won’t sound so strange to your ears. That’s when you can start really using it!"
Where can i find the video where he talks about this ?
X2
Oh okay
Damn, you right tho 😭
Guthrie, Howe ....
Why is there always some idiot making comments on these types of videos about "feel". This guy is on the very tip of the spear for human capacity to master an instrument, don't try and take away from that because your plebian taste prefers the simplicity of mainstream guitar players.
I know. I used to joke about that with some of my teachers haha. they're usually old dudes who can't accept change and the fact that guitarists are evolving or at least, have evolved.
Agreed. Though for me they all happen to be old
R. S. Anthony harsh but true
pseudo elitists, these comments are hard to read. you guys are exactely the same, just different angles.
Evaluate
Great stuff Greg, looking forward to more!
Ha, Rick Graham just casually chiming in here before everyone learned that he is a legend.
Notice how many guitarists with extremely advanced playing style also have quite beautifully developed speech skills and rich vocabulary. Howe and Govan are great examples. Listening to them speak is just as exciting as listening to them do their magic on an instrument.
Greg Koch is another example.
Greg Koch is a killer! He is a great guy...
Guthrie is quite eloquent while speaking
That's an excellent insight. There is no doubt those abilities are correlated.
Same with Tosin Abasi! They organize their thoughts at a higher level than us mere mortals!
Cool, humble and intelligent, And, of course, a freaking monster.
Is it just me or does Greg's voice sound like Steve Vai's?
lol yea it does!
***** I think he sounds mellow, and smart...and it is his self awareness of that......that makes him mellow....and of course that is just a thought.....I don't really know....
Both aliens
You need that voice to be good at guitar in suppose.
Bocanada
I had the pleasure of taking a few lessons from Greg a couple of years ago. Great guy, great teacher, phenomenal player. When I asked him how he got his level of technique, he said he's never been the kind of guy to just sit there and do exercises for technique's sake. He would mostly jam with whatever happened to be playing on the radio or TV at the time. You can tell by his incredibly lyrical playing that he's not your typical 'technique' guy. But my gosh, this guy can burn!!!
Awesome job Greg! Playing is Awesome as usual and great presentation of ideas!
Peace,
Rod
This guy changed the concept of playing guitar. He'll be a legend of guitar mastery. No words to define.
Its all outside to me..outside of my ability that is!!!Great stuff though.
Greg’s left hand moves in a really unique way, he‘s like Wes Montgomery in that he doesn’t use the pinky that much. Lots of 3 note per string stuff.
I really love the way u play man
I'm f'in sick of people thinking Greg's voice sounds like Steve Vai's.....shit, can't you hear the difference in tone and inflection? If you can't, then I refuse to believe that you would have ANY credible statement about music.
He's a really bright guy in the verbal sense as well. It's great when an amazing player knows how to convey information to others. This is a great lecture...I may even add it to favorites.
Interesting. I like how he can actually try to explain his playing.
How good are you at shredding the guitar?
Greg Howe: Yes!
Been following Greg since the very beginning & MAN what a journey it’s been! It all came around & evolved nicely!🎸
The videos are great Greg!!
This is great, Greg should make a comprehensive instructional DVD. 8-)
This video changed the way I listen to and play music. Contrast is an amazing concept. Thanks for posting.
This is interesting !!! Nice lesson prof. Greg :) Hope to see more from you, bless Vlad
No greg howe, no guthrie govan...only for that he is a legend among legends.
I want that guitar, I can't believe ESP did not release it as a sig model.
I never in my life have heard a guitarist/guitar teacher explain so eloquently the idea of improve and creativity in guitar soloing. Excellent, I felt a gained an immense amount of insight after watching, thank you Greg Howe.
Great advice and summary by Greg. One of the most influential guitarists when it comes to improvisation. My channel has a variety of backing tracks for improvisation in many styles. Give it a look, I am sure you could find something interesting if you are a musician.
when you go 'outside' what notes are you playing relative to the key given? i like the sound of it
Anything not in the diatonic scale. b5, #5, b9 and #9 are good places to go.
One of the most informative video's I've seen on UA-cam by one of my favourite players.
Thanks Greg :)
Man do I miss him being 10 minutes from my house!!haha..Greg is an AMAZING teacher!!!
Hey Greg, I love your playing, you play every time very tasteful and with a amazing tone!
Thank you for the lesson!
5 stars*****
Best regarts
Richard
its not even funny anymore how every other guitarist seems to be ridiculous compared to greg howe... dayum...
Sick
Underrated Wizard! I was blown away when I heard the introspection album!
I find it harder to play fast without using a good overdrive, or gain...I can't really Feel my way around without it...
My Axe-Fx only has like, one decent tone that I use, but it really needs tweaking for that Jazz Rock fusion tone I'm looking for...
Plus, my strat (Main Axe) doesn't do it...
I need a PRS or ESP Guitar with a tight Trem...
Thanks a Million, Greg...I look up to You; always have...
Keep on doing IT!
What a great guy, and a fantastic talent!
Great lesson & super inspiring! Thanks! :)
Great lesson Greg. I've been trying to incorporate more outside playing lately. Been stuck in the run of the mill scales and licks for a while and trying to break free. Thanks
@ojideagu balls to say it? hehe man... If it was a matter of having balls to say it I would have had hope for this genre! The sad part is not that people don't have the balls .. but that THEY DONT FUCKIN HEAR IT!!!! They really honest to got are genuinely impressed with his speed and his harmony. THEY SEEK No story telling, no motivic development, no continuity, no long-term solo curve thinking, they seek no qualities that make improvisation be worth listening to!!! Thats why the silence!!!
@ojideagu I like his "house of mirrors" tune. and several other songs.. and mainly I like bits of his harmonic language.. most of his fans are Dream Theatre fans...!!! and that really does say everything about what his music really contains and communicates. and mostly about his own musical value system - whats IMPORTANT TO HIM in the music.
@ojideagu you're right.. and i can sort of see WHY he would be mentioned as a jazz player but man... if we really really strip it down.. the DNA of all that shit, the core values of it is PROGRESSIVE ROCK... really.. theres no continuity in his playing.. no motivic development,. rhythm is absent all together... how is this jazz?? NO STORY TELLING!!!!
@ojideagu i agree with everything you said except one thing. A.H is often lauded at as the best jazz guitar player?!!?!? H.U.H???!!? LOLZ.... By who?!?!??! hahahahaha :))) He has a personal sound to his music, and a unique approach etc... but he has not played a single note of jazz from the day he was born into this world.
@ojideagu well in all honesty, if there was actual CONTENT to his improvisation.. actual narrative compositional content to his solos -- i wouldnt mind bending no bending etc.. to each his own, u know? BUT CONTENT -- thats something no one gets a pass for Not Having. Sorry.
Good advice here...!!!
Rock on Brother...!!!
Lehigh Valley, PA.
Sunrise, Florida.
I just don't know how he does it...His fingers just seem clumsy! He's not physical in my book....as I see it....his music comes from his mind! Big time! It's his attitude towards it....not flashy fingers ripping up the fret board. Of couse he's got skills....but it's his mind that makes him special.
Gary Hughes His fingers are not clumsy. Where do u ever get that.
+Jack Long I think he meant that Greg's fingers look clumsy, not that they actually are clumsy. Greg is incredibly musical and has loads of technique and is very clean, but at times his fingers can 'look' a little clumsy. Anyway, it doesn't matter how it looks in my opinion, it matters what it sounds like. Marty Friedman has the most awkward right hand I've ever seen but he sounds amazing.
@MrRuggo
I agree. But- just because you CAN do something doesn't mean you should. (Music is considered to be a highly individualized artform,so I get your point.) Players are free to hold the instrument any way they wish. For example- a guitarist could put the end of the guitar on the ground with the headstock facing the ceiling like a cello. Don't expect to play "sounds and notes" like Chet Atkins or Greg Howe,however,with the guitar in such an individualized playing posture.
This is in regard to an old comment that criticized how Greg holds the guitar that annoyed the heck out of me. Django Reinhardt,Merle Travis,Chet Atkins,Al Di Meola,Paul Gilbert,Vinnie Moore,Tony MacAlpine,Jason Becker,Marty Friedman,Danny Gatton, Eric Johnson and Alex Skolnick all sit/sat with the instrument on their right leg as Greg does. Just because the latest cookie-monster rocker holds his 9-string guitar on his left leg when sloppily sweep-picking doesn't mean you should do it.
If anyone is interested, I transcribed the "playing outside" solo portion of this video. You can check it out on my channel. I also have a PDF of the transcription available.
Marvelous, Greetings from Rio de Janeiro - Brasil
great lesson thanks man. but i have a question, alot of fusion shredders i see like greg howe and all these russian dudes and japanese shredders on youtube, and even like guthrie govan all have these bands at the end of thier guitars.why?
That's just a string damper, to eradicate open strings noise while playing legato or smth. When Michael Angelo Batio plays his double-neck guitar, he uses similar thing, cause it's impossible to mute strings without second hand.
Check out the users "coffeebreaksongs" and "quisttv". They've got a bunch of awesome and free tracks.. Else check out david walliman. He has his own site with cheap and awesome backing tracks :) happy jammin' mate!
great lesson!..can anyone of u tell me that in outside playing are you supposed to play some specific notes which would make it sound like an outside playing??..otherwise it would just sound like an off scaled improvisation..
to me improvisation and organized are opposite.. at least to a degree.
This need for utter clarity and mistake free playing is sterile.
Jimi Hendrix and Jimmy Page and any blues legend pretty much improve. and the mistakes here and there just come out in that pursuit.
Just my opinion
yeah of course... but everyone steals a little from somebody but the thing is not to be the copy of that guitar player... i can't play the solo exactly how it is on the album is crazy.. and not musical...
you know I was just thinking this now for the first time even though I've seen so many vai and howe videos
@analduct by working out everything you possibly can by ear. only when you improve your ear can you hear notes before you play them
oh man... can't you do a your solo?? i mean... everybody tries to learn exactly how an artist is playing that tipe of song without creativity... grow up!!! have your own style..
@jay2xtremefy For it to really be considered "outside playing", it also has to resolve back into the key eventually. The point of outside playing is to use "wrong" notes to accentuate the right notes. Hope that helps.
@maxomilian his vocabulary in my opinion is just typical of a hugely intelligent and aware human being of which he is. I throw Ben Harper in there too.
Great summary of thought!! I've came to the same conclusion in my own playing. Challenging yourself to stay out of " autopilot mode" and be more aware of the moment by moment improvisation and creating new ideas as you go. It should be an intentional expression of feeling rather than a mechanical robotic flurry of notes up and down the scales. Play intelligently and thoughtfully like you're trying to get your musical words across to the audience. Use the guitar to "speak and deliver the message" as EVH often said.
This is a wonderful insight in Greg's approach and thinking. I attended Greg's guitar clinic almost 15 years ago and I still remember how down to earth and so talented he was on the fretboard. I find myself returning to this improv guitar lesson video for it is a treasure trove of ideas. I think it's incredible how well structured and grounded his improvisation is. It doesn't feel like notes are being played for the sake of it, but rather to convey an overarching feeling.
Check out Joel Rivard SHRAPNEL RECORDS ARTIST, cool funk/shred. He also has vids on Shawn's licks broken down into lessons.
"Teach Me Greg, Teach Me." This stuff is golden.
I've often thought he has a really similar talking voice to steve vai! Anyway Howe's an amazing player
I've only recently become more aware of Greg Howe. He really is an incredibly thoughtful and articulate speaker and player.
@maxomilian People are getting less and less intelligent these days, man, I'd say his vocabulary is kind of normal.
@TimeLordGuitar Actualy both you and I are incorrect. Posture should not cause tension and one should feel really comfortable while playing guitar. The most important thing is, to have your right hand in a position that enables you to swithc from technique to technique with minimum position change. I hope some beginers get what were talking about. No tension, comfort, easy switching from sweep position to alternate picking to palm muting to tapping...I had an urge to write this:) Greets from SLO
@cmacinnis That's not true. That would mean that only the harmonic section can change keys. When your playing an A minor you can play A dorian on it, but when you start superimposing A Melodic minor, you as the improviser switched keys. the song is still in A minor, that doesn't change, however you as the improviser do switch keys. That's the whole point, you're playing dissonant notes so technically you as improviser switch keys. No one thinks like that though (thank goodness)
@zappainca An A minor with sharpened 7th is just called A Harmonic Minor. Changing keys refers to whenever you change the tonal centre of an already musically sound scale. Chords can be played in any key and still sound correct (As long as the Root, 3rd and Fifth aren't clashing with an unflattened/sharpened or already flattened/sharpened tone at equal time in the melody). Like playing an AM right on the same beat with the minor in the key of C; which is? :P
@zappainca It's not about whats comfortable, it's about the right way and wrong way. Think of it like typing, you can do it the way thats comfortable for you and get carple tunnel down the road, or not. And yes you are tecnically changing key if you play a melodic minor over and Am. Seeing as how if your playing the entire Am scale no notes are sharpened or flattened so playing a melodic C minor over top of it the Eb would clash with the unflattened E of the A minor scale. So there :P
I like what he's trying to explain... But it's almost like he assumes people watching this don't know a thing about music... Outside inside... He could just say changing key, and polarity is playing to or from minor/major... His picking technique and where he plants his guitar will come to bite him in the end, proper posture and keeping that thumb between the index and middle finger is so key... Don't believe me, just watch a video of Bucket Head or Batio. Secrets!
How about reading and writing ideas on the staff so you don't have to rely on fretboard patterns in the first place? I mean knowing patterns is fine. But I'll be damned if everyone else isn't doing the same thing. Guess what? If everyone keeps doing the same shit then everyone will continue to sound alike! LOL! Write some stuff on paper against chords w/o having the instrument in mind. Then go back and do it on the axe later. Then you'll start to see fresh ideas!
You keep talkin' about "guys"...hey Greg, I'm female and I played the guitar for 30 years before becoming 100% disabled! haha! I kicked major ass...check out my video to Steve Vai (Open Letter to Steve Vai)...I had already lost 1/3 of the use of my left (fretting) hand, and I'm still pretty good...even though I also had third degree burning nerve pain going down my right arm, too. My point? YOU ROCK...but so do I....and many other females. LOL! I know, it's just semantics....xo, bhakti
yea but not all of them are pure improv. u do one improv, maybe u only like a certain bit of it, u keep that bit, change the rest around...etc. the reason im against pure improv is cause im just terrible at it, i can get a sound in my head, over top of a rythmn guitar, but i dont know how to execute it. so i hit random notes hoping it will be the way it sounds in my head. with my eyes closed i wouldnt be able to identify two notes played together, and how far apart they are rom each other.
you seem to assume that every solo is improvised. why? did it ever occur to u that guitarists work on solos, like oli herbert for example, it took him a year to finish the "it dwells in me" lead, and 6 months for "for salvation". and i typically dont like solos, i prefer the rest of the song, solos are usually just fillers for me. lots of them are boring with the exceptions of beautiful ones like: not alone, machine gun majesty, needelfeast...etc.
im getting in on this 2 months later. dude in all metal theres always that section where the guitarist solos. except for maybe black metal, shit metal like Bring me the horizon or somethin. Listen to songs like Tornado of Souls, Seek and Destroy, Black Sabbath, War Pigs, and tell me theres no solo area. In fact Black Sabbath was pretty much the band that created (or discovered) metal. And they have solo sections in almost every song. You like metal, but you dont like solos. that makes sense
yea but i still prefer doing it only in bursts. like bar by bar. like ill fiddle around with one bar then stop and think of where i want to go next. maybe ill like a certain section of my improv that i will take out and forget the rest. i just find you can craft better when u take ur time instead of just going at it. its easier, for me. my problem is i dont rlly know what a note will sound like before i hit it so i hit random notes and just hope itll sound right.
@zappainca A dorian with a sharp 7 is melodic minor ;) You do need to get out of key when playing outside Harmonically. It depends on the progression, G min 7b5 actually IS outside in A dorian. They don't share the same notes. You're playing one semitone higher which is about as outside as it gets! F# minor 7b5 is the "inside" arp.
Makes some great points in this video, think "outside the box", literally outside those box shapes that we use, i.e. basic pentatonic shapes in triplets. Nice technique but way overused. Still works, but when I hear a guy do that two or three times, he might as well be wearing a sign that says "out of ideas".
im terrible at improv, how do you get to be able to know how to achieve what sound you want? like knowing what a note will sound like before you hit it? when i play its just random notes that sound like shit. im keeping it simple by just using a pentatonic scale, but it sounds so fucking repetitive after a while. also, should u count out loud when playing or just feel the time?
when he is playing outside , he is playing chromatic stuff or 8 note symetrical stuff or a mode with the same root?? for example let say that the tune its on C minor when he is playing outside is he playing in a common scale like c dorian or is purely atonal? ive played chromatic random stuff over a jam track and sometimes works .
Pretty awesome.. I've been focusing on getting out of my "autopilot" so this helps put a lot into perspective. What's that music at the end remind you guys of? Castlevania maybe?
Only discovered him recently. He is such a great teacher and obviously has monster technique. Extremely eloquent, the man seems to be a true genious, by that i mean very very high IQ.
My best all-time guitar legend is Steve Vai, but all I want to be is playing like Mr. Howe. Greg if this is really your channel, the only purpose of my practicing all jazz/ fusion theories is to make my playing sound like 'Five' album.
Yeah but once you get good at improv and know the intervals and secales and everything than you get to a point where you know how to play all the notes without thinking about it and you can even play the exact notes you hear in your head.
never really took the time to listen to him and i dont really like fusion........... but that song that plays second...... just before the lesson starts, sounds great........ i would listen to that......... if i knew wat it was called. lol
Amazing how much time people waste with negative comments when they probably should be PRACTICING!
@dennoow Yes you can play that over it. But as soon as you add a sharp or flat to the A Minor Scale you've changed keys. Which you would if you played an A Dorian over it as the F is now sharpened; making it in the key of G.
I really hope that you read this comment greg.
You might want to include a link to jamstudio)(com for creating your own baking tracks it's a really great website.
Also can you tell me what guitar you're using?
I think its pretty cool that oyu speak alot like Steve Vai, not only your voice, but also you mannarisms and vocal phrasing. ironiccaly though if you put the two of you together we get jeff beck lol. ROCK ON!!!!!!
yea but my problem is that ill play a note and hear what the next note should be in my head, but i dunno what note that is so i will guess and usually end up playing the wrong note. then it just gets frustrating.
@TimeLordGuitar Anyone can hold the guitar the way they want to. Its the sound and the notes that matter, not how you hold an instrument. To simplify, hold it how the TUCK you want to hold it.
ej dude are you experienced in playing guitar...beacause I think same shit as u...I am making my own licks and trying diferent scales..is that better than just copying other guitar player's licks???
@snowfosho2 there are e's all over the fretboard as there are every other note, As long as you know where your root note is and your pattern, you can play it anywhere on the neck....
wat kind of pickups for an hss guitar wud get me a sound like greg howe i no that dimarzio makes gh pickups but those are only in his sig. laguna model any help would be great thanx
@analduct you can also start exploring lol venture around the neck theres endless things you can do and about counting out loud get a metreonome or keep the tempo with your foot
Hey what kind of guitar is Greg using in this video? I know it's an ESP, I just need some kind of reference model such that I can look it up on line. Thanks.
Howe am I just finding this guy now!?!?! Amazing technique man! We have so much in common! We need to get together and jam!
@TheDisturbed11 absolutely. You can never have enough knowledge about a subject. Not to mention that your goal should be to become a good "musician", not just someone who can play the guitar. Music theory will transfer to any instrument or vocalization.
@maxomilian Funnily enough Guthrie Govan studied English at Oxford... One of the best Universities in the world and he became a guitar player!
yea well jazz. im more into metal. improv is good to a certain extent for jamming but i think its a waste of time to fuss over it and perfect it.
I know this video is very old I still get something new from watching this
It just helps to mute the strings when they're playing lots of legato or tapping kind of things..stops the strings from ringing out.