Improvising over scales

[sgr42o]

I'm actually starting to impress myself when it comes to playing other peoples music such as tabs but I seem to have a big problem when it comes to making my own stuff. I'm really interested in blues but all my improvising seems boring and nothing but the same old licks and such. I know the minor pentatonic scales perfectly on the guitar along with where each and every note such as the roots are. First of all, are there other scales that would fit in with say an a minor pentatonic? If there is, how do I find this out which works with which? My improvising really lacks everything and is beginning to really piss me off. What else can I do to add flavor to improvising? What other ways can I improvise other then using scales? They seem really limited. Any help whatsoever would be great :(

Playing other peoples music is really getting anonying now :mad:

[Merletto]

Are you trying to play the blues in minor pentatonic? Try the blues scales instead (just the same play those 3rd notes or something)

Or start playing BB King and SRV and Clapton and get used to their licks and that should help with improvising too.

[wild_axeman]

try and play notes from the chord of the moment on the beat when that chord sounds and use notes from the scale on either side of a chord note to add interest before or after the chord tone to be sounded (with or "within" the chord)..also the highest note in a chord is often times the melody note

you don't play scales over scales

notes that are in harmony with the chord of the moment or "in the harmony" (meaning they belong to the chord of the moment) tend to sound pleasing to the ear.....use them to interact with the other notes in the scale (non chord tones) found right next to them on either side of them and try to get some melody happening with them.....it doesn't take much just a couple of chords that sound like a nice change....find two chords (they can even be adjacent chords to make this easy) and start messing around with this.

Once you have an idea of how you want to paint the melody and have a sense of the rhythm you'll need in order 'to get the right feel' then put the chords on tape.Next play to the chords and flesh out your melody.Once you've got that far record it....then when you go to improvise your solo it'll be alot easier to improvise stuff that sounds better than the typical boring old up and down scales crap.

Follow your ears and your heart and put some feeling into it,play it like you mean it.Play confidently and with authority as people listening tend to pick up on that and take notice.You've got to grab the listener,get their attention.Say "hey hear I am".It's like talking to someone.You say "hey" and they're supposed to go "what"?Get into it...if you're into it then somebody else might be into it as well.If you are feeling it then somebody else might feel that....

[Bluesin My Mind]

Try throwing in some notes from the major scale, a la Freddie King. Or use a lot of double stops, Chuck Barry-style. There are tons of ways to vary your playing.

[pguitarp]

While learning to play the guitar, you progress upwards through certain stages. Getting from one step to the next might take a week, or it might take a year. This depends on practice that is goal oriented.
To get out of a rut, I would suggest exploring different genres, or styles of music. If you are interested in blues, I would suggest listening to, and trying to transcribe licks or solos from the early blues and jazz artists.
You might start by listening to some Louis Armstrong, Charlie Christian.
When soloing, come up with a simple diatonic chord progression, that you can use as a stable foundation for playing scale ideas over.
Since you seem to have a grasp of the minor pentatonic scale, I would suggest adding a Blues scale to the mix. Also, you could investigate the idea of modal mixture. When you play blues, you can play in Major, or in minor, or a combination of the two.
Spice up your lead lines by using chord tones, as well as non-chord tones. These can be diatonic to the key you are playing in. Although, by incorporating chromatic passing tones, you can also increase your vocabulary.
Also, try to incorporate new rhythms into your lead lines. If you are stuck in the blues rut of either constant triplets, or eights, investigate new rhythms that provide syncopation, more space, and blazing 16th or 32nd notes.:cool:

[satch]

Steal ideas from riffs/solos you already know how to play.
Then transfer them to 1 scale.
example
with any scale in fret diagram form in front of you play everything you can think of and transfer the concept to the scale in front of you.This will let others ideas flow into the scale.
What i do is well.......I start playing the intro to midnight maniac
and see that its played on the first 3 strings with 3 notes per and has a 4 fret span so now im going to apply this same technique to my
D harmonic minor scale but im going to change up the rythm of it so it doesnt remind others of where it came from.Then i would play the intro to killer of giants and incorporate that concept into the D harmonic minor and well you get the picture.
This allows you to see the scale played in many different ideas and intervals and rythms.
Throw in some chromatic passing tones to flavor up your faster runs.
Not every idea will fit but it will keep you from repeating the same patterns over and over.

[Nightwish]

Look at the lead solo and see how creativity is formed. Usually to get creativity you should write a good lick down. Plus you need an idea of how things sound in your head and transfer to your fretboard. SO study your techniques also. Anyways look at the lead to give you an idea of creativity.


Riff: Main Riff Finger pick both strings from beging
E:-----------------------------------------------------------------
B:---0------------------10--10--7----------------------------------
G:-------12-14-12--------9---9--8----------------------------------
D:---14-----------14-----0---0--0----------------------------------
A:-----------------------------------------------------------------
E:-----------------------------------------------------------------

Lil Solo: (pick up knob up) (noodle sound)
Rhythm Plays this Played out through the Lead Solo
[H] [H]
E:-----------------------------------------------------------------
B:------12b-14-12~~~~------12b-14-12~~~~---------------------------
G:--14-------------------14----------------------------------------
D:-----------------------------------------------------------------
A:-----------------------------------------------------------------
E:-----------------------------------------------------------------

Lead Solo:
Lead Guitarists Still using the neck pickup (Pick up knob up)
(Hold 17b for 2 seconds)
E:-------15-17h-15p-17h-15p----------------------------12-15h------
B:--17b---------------------17~~~--15b-15b-------------------------
G:---------------------------------15b-15b----------12-------------
D:------------------------------------------17--14--12-------------
A:-----------------------------------------------------------------
E:-----------------------------------------------------------------
(Slight Bend 17b)
E:-12p-15h-12p-15h-17b~~~--15-17h-15p------------------------------
B:------------------------------------17-15p-17h-15p---------------
G:-----------------------------------------------------16p-14p-12~~
A:-----------------------------------------------------------------
D:-----------------------------------------------------------------
E:-----------------------------------------------------------------

E:-----------------------------------------------------------------
B:-----------------------------------------------------------------
G:-12-14-12~~------------------------------------------------------
D:-------------14s--17--14-----------------------------------------
A:-------------------------17--14-------14-------------------------
E:--------------------------------17-15----15-12~~-----------------

(Pentatonic Climb) Then this....
E:--15-17-15---------17^B--15-17-15-17-15-17--19~~--21~---24~~-----
B:------------17~~~------------------------------------------------
G:-----------------------------------------------------------------
D:-----------------------------------------------------------------
A:-----------------------------------------------------------------
E:-----------------------------------------------------------------

E:--24-22----------------------------------------------------------
B:--------24-22----------------------------------------------------
G:--------------24-21----------------------------------------------
D:--------------------24-21----------------------------------------
A:---------------------------24-22---------------------------------
E:----------------------------------24~~~~-------------------------

Key: ^ = Bend Up ~ = Vibrato [H] = Harmonic B = Bend H = Hammer ON P = Pull Off