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Guitar Playing Struggles | IMPROVISATION
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- Опубліковано 18 сер 2024
- Challenging myself to improvise over weird chord changes.
This is something I struggle with a lot, and this particular chord progression isn’t too weird but weird enough that it trips me up, so I figured I’d share it with you!
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00:00 - Intro
04:01 - My New Merch
04:50 - The Chords
07:38 - Attempt 1
10:12 - Finding A Reference Point
15:47 - Attempt 2
19:28 - Attempt 3
21:29 - Breaking It Down
23:05 - Summary
Video edited by John Hollingworth
#rabeaafro #improvisation #musicman
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man this resonates HARD with me. It's refreshing to see someone posting their more vulnerable and uncomfortable moments with playing - we ALL have them and I think a lot of people will feel sort of validated that it's not just them, and even the best of us have things that they struggle with. Thanks Bea!
Right? Makes you feel more comfortable in your own playing skin when the inspirational players in your orbit open up and show that they hit the same roadblocks you do. I'd definitely like to see more videos in this vein, it's very refreshing.
Now we need to see John Petrucci trying to thumblydoodly like Tosin Abasi to feel even better.
To hear you say that you struggle with improvisation gives me just a little more hope for my own playing...just a little. To me, you always sound so fluent in all that you do on the guitar.
Thanks man, although I guess in this video I’m highlighting areas in my improv I’m less comfortable with. I’ve been jamming and playing improv most of my guitar playing life, but whenever it comes to more odd weird progressions or whatever, I struggle so figured I’d share the process
His version of struggling with improv and ours is probably a lot different 😂
couldn't agree more
"I'm not a theory trained musician." That was honestly so freeing to hear... I've long viewed myself as "less than" because i am not "theory trained" and simply don't have the time to dive into deeper theory at this stage of my life.
the more you play, the more theory you accidentally learn. theory just gives names to stuff musicians already know!
Yeah, iv learned things over the 16 years of guitar and later learn what its called...only to forget what its called xD If you ask me to play a solo to a backing track, i can, but I will not explain what I did because I dont know what I did, I know shapes and keys and what iv learned through the years connects with each other through mistakes and realization. @@EpicStuffMan1000
I never had the brain for “thinking music” aka written, to me it’s all inspiration that drives it, if I try to think, that’s when I’ll get lost….and the tunes, over repeated run throughs….sort of seep into me, and after a few months, I know them top to bottom.
But all I do is improvise to pandora stations, about a 2.5 hour cycle, with the same tunes, but always a different order, day to day. I have a knack for soloing….which is good, because my Chord knowledge is poor, so I play jazz, but often, I’ve no clue what key I’m playing in, I mean I can find out, if I play the main chord at the fade out, but I don’t think about key at all when I play…it literally doesn’t matter…..🙂
This is where knowing theory really helps. The reason it’s so hard is because the chord progression has a key change in it. The chords are Eb - Em - C. Those three chords are not in any one key. Over the Eb, you’re playing the Lydian mode, which means you’re in the key of Bb. Em and C are both in the keys of C and G. So you have to figure out which key you’re in over those. You’re favoring Lydian again over the C chord, and E minor/G major pentatonic, which means you’re in the key of G. So while you’re on the Eb chord you’re in the key of Bb, and over the other two you’re in the key of G. So you can play the Bb major scale and the G minor pentatonic over the first chord, and the G major scale and Em pentatonic over the second two.
But there’s more. Because there is also ambiguity. You could just as easily decide to be in the key of Eb (Ionian) or Ab (Mixolydian) over the first chord, and the key of C for the second two.
And you can also focus on arpeggios and chord tones instead of scales.
While that seems complicated, what it means is that you have options. And knowing theory lets you know what your options are. 👍
No matter what, you’re changing keys after the first chord, so the challenge while improvising will be to make that change connect melodically. Making it sound smooth and natural.
Assuming we’re going from the key of Bb to the key of G, there are four common tones - notes that are in both keys. G, A, C and D. Those notes will work over the whole thing.
The easy start is to just go from G minor pentatonic to Em pentatonic.
"knowing theory lets you know what your options are" - Not really. You can play any note over any chord. Some may sound better to you and, if that's what you want, then you have to play those notes to get that sound. Theory doesn't tell you what options you have or which notes to play. It's more like the reverse : you can use it to describe what notes you're playing and why someone else's notes sound the way they do. It's a tool for communication - otherwise you'd have to talk in sounds rather than saying Bb or whatever. But your ears tell you what to play. If you don't know what, say, a Bb played over Eb, Em or C sounds like then theory won't help you. At best you can use theory to get around an underdeveloped ear by letting it limit your choices from "any note over any chord" to some specifics. Like, yes, you can say "I'm only going to play notes from this scale" which reduces the number of notes from 12 to 7. Similarly you can say "I'm only going to play chord tones over this chord" which will reduce the number from 12 to 3 or 4 - and you might decide that you're playing the "right" notes now, but you're not because there's no such thing as the right notes to play. I'd suggest that you ignore these false limitations and go straight to developing your ear. Since most people can imagine a melody or notes, then do that, imagine or hum what you want to hear and then play it on the guitar. It might take a while to find the melody you're hearing at first.The other alternative is to loop one of the chords and experiment, play notes and hear what they sound like over the chord. Don't noodle away playing any random crap - otherwise that's all you'll be able to do - sure that works for jamming over a blues progression in Am using Am pentatonic but if you want to get to the point where you can play over whatever you're hearing then you need to develop imagining what you want to play and playing that.
You can consider the names of the notes in the chord or the name of the chord and the names of the notes you're playing whilst you're doing that, but what actually matters is the sound they make. If you practise doing that you'll get better and better at playing over changes. Sitting there thinking "Phrygian dominant #5 lydian diminished" BS won't make you a better musician at all. That might be handy if someone asks you what you're playing.
Had similar struggles with improvisation back about 10 years ago. Still don't feel like an amazing improviser but studying jazz helped me a ton. Danish Pete understands too. Best thing, imo, would be to go dig into old school trumpet and sax players on the old jazz albums and to learn the songs- harmony, melody, solo by ear.
"Let's Crack On" Crackon. Krackon. Kraken.
This must be English humor
😝 I commented "letz victory ... 4:50" and nobody cared 😂
FUCK YEAH !!!!!! All my respects to you,!!!!! Not a lot of Guitarrists would try to put words on how they try to figure out progressions, fret space, Improv...Being Vulnerable ... If you Stumble, You Learn... I FEEL LESS SHITTY AT GUITAR.. Today is a good day.. Thanks BEA
@11:41 “It’s really bloody hard!” Hahaha story of my life as a guitarist man. Especially improving over non-diatonic chord progressions.
Dissonance can be melodic in itself (just listen to a lot of classical) so embrace those moments and see where you can take them.
We need more videos like this!!! It's simply awesome to see how you constructing your own path for the chord progression. Congrats mate!
Refreshingly honest and relatable video
To anyone struggling with improv-
I struggled with improvisation when I was younger, so I took gigs playing lead guitar with country bands, jam bands, etc that really let me stretch out. I learned so much by doing it live in front of an audience constantly. Studying jazz, classical music, and theory for years helped too, but nothing helped as much as actually improvising constantly.
I also found that listening to a broad palette of music and instruments opens up more ideas and inspiration to draw from. Singing along with your playing and transcribing will also engage your ear rather than letting your fingers noodle.
Anyway, hope this helped someone else. This stuff is a lifelong pursuit and I relate so much to this video - I think a lot of us do. Best we can do is keep playing and try to help eachother along the way.
Thats the exploratory process that jazz musicians go through every time. Thanks for sharing this Rabea. It is great to see you doing that!
One, I love you and your playing Rabea! Most of all, bless you for sharing this. Most guitarists and UA-cam channels do a poor attempt at sharing how they think of music, but this video is proof it can be done and at the same time not be drenched in music theory word salad.
Your progression is very nice and I’m loving your improvisation over it. Keep up the good work!!!
You're fine bruv, killing it!
That piece reminded me of Satch's "Clouds Race Across The Sky". Man, that purple hue in your studio is something else too.
Sounds fantastic - giving me some Radiohead Kid A/Amnesiac+ period vibes
What I love about this chord progression and lead work is that it reminds me of the newer Nick Johnson stuff (which has those chord progressions with that major/minor shift), and it's absolutely fantastic. Keep it up!
This is very cool of you. Mistakes and all. I tend to find a lick that works and then play that over and over again at different places on the board. Then try and stretch out to other places
It feels like its new in this world. Its born and exhilerated to be alive but finds the forest floor soft and unsure of its footing. It will find its way. You have created a beautiful life form and set it in a quiet place. Now it can realize its alive and can breath and see and feel. It will grow and explore new ventures but will keep its calm beginning throughout as a reference point.
Dude you play with so much feeling. Thanks for sharing your process.
Rabea is one of my favorite players of all time. IMO he doesn't need to apoligize for anything.
this was a great wake up grab my coffee and finish a bea video after a long week at work. just wanna say ive been working at my improve playing and watching your videos has been helping me a bunch. love it!
I haven't been coming back here for a very long time yet, but it didn't take long to get the sense that those of us who do, have a natural appetite for 'the road less traveled.' - CaliPsych ...a.k.a. Mr Dave
This is inspiring. I’m pretty solid figuring things out with the aid of theory but I loved the talk through and the progression is gorgeous. My very first thought was that it sounded like a Steve Wilson track and then I was hearing something that would build up like GGs solo on Drive Home. You were clearly hitting the most characterful chord tones at various points as the progression shifted chords, which I think is really the fundamental lesson for anyone trying to deal with an unfamiliar tune.
Thanks Rabea! It's so great that you are showing a vulnerable side, most people wouldn't do that. It's all about chord tones and the connective tissue between them.
I enjoy the shadow in the top left background the consistently looks like IF
Love this video so much. Thank you, Rabea for sharing your thought process, it's Invaluable. Please do more of this.
Your sense of melody is really good Rabea, thats why you don't need to rely on theory. For me the quickest "hack" to navigating weird changes is - you need to figure out how the given chord functions (i.e is the major chord functioning as a 1 4 or 5, and is the minor functioning as a 6 2 or 3)
Using the example you've given:
The quickest way to find out is - on a major chord play the root and then play the 4 vs #4 (just play the note directly under the root on the string below and then one semi tone up). If the #4 sounds more normal to you, then its functioning as a 4 chord - and so instead being in the key of Eb for example, you are actually in Bb.
For a minor most of the time it's functioning as a 6 or a 2. You just play the root and compare it to the 6 and the b6. If the b6 sounds more normal to you then its functioning as a 6 chord (so you can just play your minor pentatonic off the root - which is the case in this example)
Bear in mind you can hear it however you want and so the example I've given above is based on the way youre hearing it here. But if you wanted to outline some different flavours you can experiment with treating the chord as if its functioning differently.
I think its also important to be aware of inversions - often what sounds like a minor chord, is actually just a major in first inversion. So for the example you've given I would just hear this as 2 chord changes, because the second chord is really just the 3rd chord in first inversion.
This video is a timely one since I'm currently in the process of writing vocal melodies for my demos and I was having difficulty with one passage, in particular, yesterday. So I appreciated this incredibly relevant topic!
Just play what you hear, the chord progression sounds like a dark cave where cavediver do explore , you play the the nice 1st interesting parts of the divers go deep into the cave and are thrilled what to find - manybe picking or drones , they find beautiful spots on the journey the sound change here single notes bright and cute , then they get deeper into the dark and feeling scared - the sound get more tention and building up , then an accident happen, they are in big trouble and starting to die , they need to hurry to get out of the cave or they will be out of oxygen, finally they made it and see the sun in open ocean and are happy to breath air again and feeling so free - end of the song.
So without going too deep into theory, the struggle here is that the first chord, Eb, is a borrowed chord from Gminor. The second is a C/E and the third one is Cmajor. So our tonic center is Eminor. So in the first chord just play anything Gminor(pentatonic or aeolian) and all the rest Eminor(pentatonic , aeolian) or you go on the relative major witch is Gmajor scale or Gmajor pentatonic. Essentially the same thing with a different tonic center. So the "key" here is that you think Gminor on the first chord and Eminor on the rest of it. Hope anyone finds this useful.
Pro tip: try to find the common tones(notes) between Gminor and Eminor to connect phrases.
You can also see the second and third chords as Cmajor tonic as well but i think that the g on the second chord witch is a flat 3 gives the E minor vibe more but whatever works for you. There are many ways this can be seen. Just be creative!
Nailed it. I was scrolling through the comments to see who else was thinking this.
Learning is a life-long endeavor. I was theory-trained. I say "was" because I've long since stopped thinking of the names of things when I play, and I haven't needed to write notation in 30 years. I think in "shapes" now as well, and try to relate my improvs to chords or chord sections (triads, etc.) as opposed to scales. Also like to use "transitional" tonalities between chord tones, like whole-tone/augmented, chromatic, diminished, etc. Probably seems obvious to jazz experts...
What a great honest video, and I can see that everybody has a comfort zone, but the thing is, how shows the out of the zone portion, it learns about it, and makes the comfort larger, bigger, thanks, now I better stop watching UA-cam and start playing my changes.
Very helpful, thanks for putting yourself out there Rabea!
I'd suggest
1. Eb lydian
2. E aeolian
3. C lydian dominant
but since it isn't a functional chord progression it's up to taste which spicy notes you like.
Pro tip: To develope your solo start simple by using pentatonics for example (😂 suggest a guitarist to play the pentatonic ... what was i thinking)
E locrian sounds better to my ears. I really feel a flat five on that E. But the lydians and bang on.
@@Zarett35Locrian has never sounded good to anybody's ears...😂
"There are 3 major modes, 3 minor modes, and one terrible mode..." - Guthrie Govan
Theory is just words for the sounds you already know. Knowing the words might have helped you make those connections quicker but the end result would be the same: cool music.
Great video and learned a lot! I ditto previous comments on being vulnerable. More like these please.
thanks for sharing Bea. i think it’s important to show those moments where we are all still students to some degree. hearing you waffle a note or two has given me some comfort to crack on with my practicing. keep it up mate.
Showing the growing pains so to speak is still inspiring and let’s players know it’s ok to work on weak spots to grow instead of always playing in your comfort zones
There is nothing as equally fun & frustrating as improvisation. When you find that feel & you can just hit it it's so rewarding but when you can't it's debilitating. Which is why it's the thing I focus on the most. Taking my limited knowledge & skill & forcing it to shit or get off the pot. When you can't get it that's when you bust out what little theory you have to find a reference. This riff for instance I'm like "oh that half tone shift makes things harmonically complicated. But that G drone is consistent, so G'll work, which means C'll work. Then I just gotta listen hard & cheat it by playing less."
i think regardless if youve played for one year or 40 years, just believe and trust what sounds good to you. dont let others tell you otherwise.
Really awesome video! Loved seeing you talk through these things and how you worked it out. Can DEFINITELY relate to this topic 🤘🏻
Cool, unassuming approach and delivery. The ability to take something I create (progression) and figure out what to do next is maybe the #1 challenge, so I love this.
Love it. This is exactly why I got a looper, and eventually a drum machine.... Favorite part of my day is when I get locked into that groove/freeform. Especially after I saw a few jam bands that seem to be able to do this for days.
I've always found that I "follow" those tension notes offstet to complete the shape... Great vid and really appreciate you opening up your process to us.
Simply beautiful!
Wow my brother. So you are human after all! We only get to see edited content in music, so my favorite players (you’re #1 to me btw) always seem like a perfect player, and I’m doomed to being a mere mortal guitarist. It’s so great that my favorite player can share his difficulties, and I’m not doomed to struggle with the exact same problems you face as well during improvisation. Stay blessed Bea! ❤
Just remember most of us can't play 1/100th as good as you can Rebea. The struggle is real.
Rabea, I recently had that moment where the theory stuff clicked💡 for me.
It made me realize how nonefficient and boxed in I am when composing.
It also put in perspective how much better your innate ability is than mine....I mean, it REALLY put that in perspective.
U r so good at composing songs, but u could cut your time down ridiculously by learning theory (u definitely have the cognitive ability if I finally got it).
It would also solve your improv issue.
The jazz guys u speak know this stuff; that's why they're able to play over several chord changes and key modulations.
I did a lot of research and ended up watching a ton of Rick Beato content and talking with my cousin who knows theory and has an "engineering" mindset (2 very different perspectives)
I think it's important to understand "how" u learn.
I seem to need to understand the overarching concept and then work backwards; Whereas, someone with an engineering mindset can just read Guitar Grimoire and fully understand theory.
There's no wrong way; there's just finding a path to lead u to the goal.
For me, it was a combination of things....
Beato videos on theory, attempting to write songs that adhere to a key and mode......and the 💡 moment was understanding the intervals (how they fall on the fretboard); then, cross-referencing the interval with the key and mode....if u look at a visual of how notes of a specific key and mode fall on the fretboard; you'll notice a pattern (that's the interval!!!) [Note: start on that key note when referencing the pattern].....
For example: Bb Major (WWHWWWH)
W=whole step
H=half step
👆That pattern is going to tell u all the notes u can play in that key and mode.
Anyway, I'm excited about having a breakthrough and wanted to share since I absolutely feel your frustration
You're already an amazing musician and could run circles around me in pretty much every aspect of playing, but I'd love to see u go on that Music Theory journey.
You're a breath of fresh air Rabea. Kudos for sharing so openly the things you find hardest in your playing - it definitely resonated with me. So great to hear a practical perspective on it instead of the theory (both are good to hear of course). It's what I love so much about guitar.
We’re all in the same boat. Thanks. It is inspiring
i feel like improvising over stuff like this is very valuable excercise in many ways. it really forces you to not just be in the very moment but also think ahead. play towards certain key notes instead of laying in a bed of good notes you can just freely play around with like in a jam that doesn't ever change keys. it can make your ideas in those one key improvs way better too.
that's why it's called playing the changes as opposed to playing over chords. you emphasis the moment of tension where the chord/key changes and not the resting period on one chord.
This is genuinely tricky at first (and people who have studied theory may not agree with each other). My take is this... The chords here at first *appear* to be Eb major, E minor, and C major. BUT 1) when we move up to the E bass note it sounds so unsettled compared to the previous Eb chord it's not a root note. And our first choice if a bass note is not a root note is a major or minor third of a different chord. And we do hear a C note in there too with the E, so it's a C major chord but disguised with a E bass note, which then settles to C major with a C bass. Eb major is the relative major chord of C minor. So we can switch between Eb mjor or C minor pentatonic for the Eb major chord and then C major for the other two. Of course note choice works best reflecting the chords being played too; just going blindly up and down scales will sound like, well, just going blindly up and down scales. YMMV.
Haven’t got the time to write earlier... but now. Great video! I’m really with you in regards of this approach. Very inspiring - I immediately tried it by myself. Btw- “correct” looping is a great rhythm exercise - isn’t it. And the video reminded me of my “earlier” years as a guitar learner and player. I just spent time with my instrument, “finding” chords and harmonies where only much later a certain kind of knowledge was added. About theory: it’s interesting and useful. But not every great car driver is a good mechanic too. Thanks for the inspiring content on your channel!👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽 greetings, Phil
I struggle with this as well. One thing that works for me (sometimes...) is to think of a shape/run that targets the 13th fret note as the 1st chord kicks in. Good post Rabea
Thanks, Beah for the open discussion. I want to use a looper to set the background so then I can play a lot freer over that loop. Push it and just stop and try again and get to where the improv is fun and pays back. Cheers.
The progression really reminds me of Nick Johnston 🙌
So much respect to you for this video. It's so refreshing to see the real thing in regards to how it can be difficult even for experienced guitar players. So cool man. You are an inspiration to all of us up and coming musicians.
this progression brings to mind Nick Johnstons work,love it bro
Finding a reference point like this is a great tip. To me the best lines that you played were the ones that came right after you did a blues run or something that you were comfortable with, then your brain sort of relaxed and some really great flow and some beautiful lines would happen. The other times when you talk about 'figuring it out', especially in the early takes, to me it sounds like you're chasing the chords, instead of riding with them. Almost like the chord change resets your idea every time, rather than your lines continuing through the progression. Singing my lines in my head helps me get through that when I get into some changes that I'm unfamiliar with, although I know that doesn't work for everybody.
Learning how to have an intelligent conversation within the language. Not just throwing words for the sake of throwing.
Evoking emotions.
Great vid as always Bea!
Im sitting here at work in the lunchroom and the timer goes off on the microwave while bea plays the loop for the chord progression...
Sounds like bea and the microwave are jamming... in relative pitch anyway.
"Sometimes i go home and throw pennies in the oven, everyvere there is music." - bjork
This was an awesome share. Loved being able to understand how you are thinking as you play and made me feel inspired to know you have similar struggles at times like the rest of us. I could really relate to how you dissected a difficult progression. Sometimes the progression just does not work well with our comfortable patterns and we have to deal with chord and key changes to make it work - and that is super hard for mere mortals!
First of all I enjoyed your improvisation, beautiful sound, nice phrasing and nice note choices. I will share some ideas but above anything I write I would encourage to delve further and perhaps even get some lessons from a good jazz player because it will certainly unlock resources that will make a lot easier to handle. It takes a bit of time to learn but is not as hard as most people think it is, if anything it makes everything easier.
As for getting better at improvisation there is the issue of music literacy and more specifically what it pertains to scales, arpeggios and their inversions, and chord voicings including triads, open triads, drop 2s, drop 3s and their tonal resolutions in tonal progressions plus modal voicings (fourths, fifths and pitch sets). All of this is furthered informed by modal systems and symmetric scales. This takes time but it is the backdrop for any player regardless of their given genre. At our university I get students that lean either to classical guitar, jazz or rock and regardless this part of the training is common to all of them.
Now this is where it all usually falls apart. The scales, arpeggios and voicings are building block. We are told to study but rarely taught how to use them in a musical manner that is informed by both musical composition and what we have learned so far from the great improvisers. We are talking about building phrases, establishing motifs and developing them. Some of the resources one would need to understand is how to use diatonic and chromatic approach notes.
For example if I am in C major and I wish to target the E note which is the third I could play the pitch that precedes it in the scale which would be D or from the one after it which is F. In other words playing D to E or F to E. You can also combine a note before and a note after forging an enclosure such as D to F and resolving to E or F to D to E. This can also be done chromatically in half steps, combining scale and chromatic motions as well as intervallically by preceding your target note by a other scale intervals and or using those to form enclosures. In simpler words you can only approach a target note diatonically, chromatically or intervallically.
I've got even more respect for you posting struggles with learning. I think it's equally inspiring to hear the struggles of a player as good as you as it is to hear a great solo where you hit every note perfectly. Well done Rabea!
Thank you for sharing your process of finding your reference point. As funny as it may sound, I go through the same process in the moment. Pretty much went down the same line of trying to understand internal links between different chords and how to play over these changes in interesting melodic lines, that don't sound like I am trying too hard. Now the task is to integrate it into my musical vocabulary. It's getting better day by day. Looping is the key for me.
Keep up the good work, I enjoy every single part of your content.🤘🏻
Great video. I'm mostly an improviser with incorporation of theory (not jazz level 5 key changes a song type of thing, like you mentioned) and I always sound choppy trying to follow chord tones, but like anything else gets better with practice. Often progressive music with quick time changes can provide the same difficulty.
This is really insightful! I only started learning how to play the guitar 6 weeks ago & I'm documenting my entire learning journey on here so this was super motivational!
This really helped me mentally visualize the concept. It helped me understand how I can use my personally poor knowledge of major and minor scales in the same scenario and in practicing different scales along the fretboard. Mini epiphany that takes away the overthinking, or unlocked a mental puzzle piece for me. Cheers Bea!
The best advice I ever received for improv was to just stop trying to reinvent the wheel.
If playing over a chord, play to the triad. When the new chord hits, land on the new chord with its root or third for a strong melody. Play with a strong rhythmic confidence and think about phrasing more than harmony.
When you watch the greatest improvisers, take Guthrie for example, it's all just strong fundamental techniques. He plays to the chord, if he deviates from the chord he deviates very deliberately (usually with chromatics, but not always), and he plays simple melody lines and tends to repeat them for more mileage, just like everyone else does. Not every phrase has to be a brand new idea.
I recommend studying a 12 bar blues to practice improve fundamentals. The blues advanced my playing tremendously.
Rabea, this is how I practice. I play a lot of notes that my ear doesn't like until I find the ones that sound good to me. Music theory is just a tool, your ear is your guide.
Love that guitar, you must be really happy with it.
I would try a few things based on what you did in this video: (1) Ascending phrase, one compass includes notes from one scale, then when modulation arrives you continue it using notes of the new scale. (2) Similarly, create a phrase in the the firs scale before the modulation then "alter it" in the modulation comes in. My personal goal is to keep it fluid during the key change and I am struggling with that too. Let me use analogy: Making a pause is fine, it is a way to do it, it is like watching a triangle, screen goes black for a second and a circle appears. But also continuity could be interesting, like watching the triangle morphing into a circle without any pause in between.
awesome video dude. very inspirational.
As a vocalist I appreciate this. Thanks mate
Rabea you're obviously doing perfectly fine without knowing theory that well, so just speaking for myself, but i've played for 15 years and finally learning theory properly is probably the best thing i've ever done for myself and it has made me love playing music more than ever. It's such a confidence boost and it opens up so many possibilities to be creative. One of the reasons i always neglected theory was because i worried it could limit me creatively, but i've found it's the exact opposite. The main reason though was that it was intimidating and overwhelming - but now i know it really doesn't have to be if you know what to focus on. I realized all you ever need to practice is what you learn from the CAGED system (mapping together the diatonic scale and chord shapes/triads across the whole neck) - literally everything else is based on that so there is no need to worry about it until it eventually becomes relevant as you naturally progress there.
This is great stuff. We need "heros" that aren't afraid of being/showing their vulnerability. None of us are really 100% happy with our playing, that's how we got where we are in the first place, pushing and pushing. For me, I feel like i struggle most when they underlying progression is conpletely diatonic, but its so "easy" to just play all your stock phrases and people seem imoressed, but inside I'm dying because I feel like I'm playing checkers with chess pieces. I'm sure I'll figure out some keys to unlock some options, but yeah, we all struggle somewhere.
Bro, go on the theory journey. It gets better incrementally. Every thing you learn is useful right away. You have all the best guys to teach you. Do a series. The theory journeyman.
That chord progression/jam had real Opeth vibes 👍
Your music is so ..unvelievable....as it is for me to see that you have some struggle while composing..or improvising..!!
Thanks a lot Rabea, for all you are sharing to us..Love your music, it's really a different and fresh approach !
I wanna chime in with my desire to see a lot more of this kind of improv/ambient stuff. You've touched on an area of music that is near & dear to my heart, which is improvisation. Before there was music notation, before there was theory, there were musicians who reached for the sounds they heard in their heads. How they did this was, they _jammed._ They straight _made shit up;_ theory and notation arrived when people started trying to figure out what musicians who improvised were doing.
I'm basically a metal/hard rock shred guy.....who also loves melody and spontaneity. To me the coolest shit is when i can mix fast shredd with melodic, slow & soulful playing. I'm interested in this kind of inner dive into how you approach improvisation, because you are one of those guitarists whose improvisational stuff strikes a deep resonance with my own approach, which is literally every solo I've ever recorded that i liked, was improvised. Only when i have specific passages and/or harmonies in mind do I work out solos in advance. For me theres no comparison; when i try to pre-script solos, they just come out all stiff sounding. I think strong improv skills lead to greater fluidity on the guitar.
So i sometimes jam with a friend of mine, who has no idea of what chords sound good together or how to arrange a chord progression. In these situations i trip over the same issues as you. Some chords in the progression are odd and you can't really find the right note in time. So what i do is incorporating the odd note whenever the odd chords is playd or (and i can't believe that it works, but it does) go full jazz and don't think about it. Hitting the notes with confidence and a steady rythm kinda helps. It won't sound harmonicly right, but it will sound intendet and that helps.
Very refreshing watch good video man
Nice to see you, a player who is a reference for me, having some struggles, which is completely normal. Inspiring.
Wow, you just gave me conformation that my every being as a guitar player is correct, and that I'm not doing it wrong. Improvisational guitar playing is what I do, and I figure it out as I go. Just me and my looper pedal entertaining myself and finding a path. Thanks
Well done you are a talented young man
Inspirational post! I can relate to every bit of this. Fantastic to see you, a great guitar player, working on getting something together. Makes me feel more optimistic about my own constant struggle 😊 especially with theory!
Love this
This was a great video! Thanks Bea!
Playing over complex chord/tone changes may be helped by adding vibrato or tremolo to the signal chain, and playing far away from the chords on the fretboard. Take advantage of the frequency spacing and wobble to give the listener the impression that you are hitting most of the notes most of the time -on purpose- and in a musical or at least rhythmic way and it should feel right. No music theory needed!
This sort of thing is quite difficult for me as well. The best way I've found to deal with it is trusting familiar shapes. I rarely use the caged system, but it can definitely provide safe ground to start with. If you can embellish chords, then you can use that familiarity in ways that can lead to beautiful surprises or, at the very least, you can arpeggiate your way through various chord positions.
Improv is simple if you do it a lot. Typically you're doing things that are common or traditional types of music like blues. You can improvise over anything if you know your major/minor pentatonics, the major scale, and your modes. I start noodling usually in C major or G major over E or A or in a relative key over whatever. I look for modes with my ear rather than using theory. Mostly I'm doing heavy blues and that's the easist. Improvising to backing tracks is the way to go. Practice makes perfect!
I liked the Paul David’s videos where he asks 10 guitarists to play over a chord sequence you were on the second one from memory. It was great to listen to the approaches of different guitarist styles building up their solos and the accent of their notes flow over the chords.
I suppose I like dissident notes so look for them for stress and also look to experiment with triplets, quadruplets etc over different to provide stress, sometimes it’s by accident I get that phrase that hits the spot and then that’s my hook etc.
Great video!! I really like your approach. Reminds me a little bit of Nick Johnston. Well done Sir 🙂✌️
I was a little worried about giving learners the wrong message about music theory but it was nice to explain to musicians about how you didn’t just want one scale sound and wanted to accent chords etc. a lot of musicians need to hear that too.
Getting some reminders of the "who bit the moon" album by David Maxim Micic
Nice sounds B!
I'm new to playing a sound pretty boring but love the ideas to improve this video is great the thought process helps
I had a band in ft worth back in the day just me another guitarist and a drummer. We used to improv all the time neither one of us had any training other than by ear but crazy thing is the other guy would play jazz progressions all the time and had no jazz training. Came up with some cool stuff though might not have been the best playing at the time but man was it fun!!!
amazing to see your thought and feel process when improvising, thanks Bea!
Awesome Bea! I thought you knew theory you're an amazing musician! One of my favourites! Take it easy man and keep rocking out! 🤘🏻😝🤘🏻
Well, improvising across key changes requires a capacity for predictive mental melody as well as familiarity and fluidity with the fretboard!
Very honest video, we all do this. Respect 😎