So, during the development of my picking technique I’ve been learning licks. Even a choruses of Django Reinhardt pieces, regardinh to technique I’ve been following the principles learnt in Volcano seminar and the Josho Stephan interview.
When it comes to improvising, I’ve many many licks I can use and I feel comfortable with. Yet I’m struggling to make it sound like they are all part of the same solo.
What should be my next step?
You could try breaking down the licks to much smaller chunks and throwing them in between freer improvisation. If you have a library of memorized smaller chunks I think you can combine them on the fly more easily, with some small modifications if needed, and make it sound more organic.
Do you have a way to place the licks in some kind of framework, e.g. do you know how they fit within pentatonic boxes / scales / CAGED / underlying harmony? And when you are trying to improvise over a piece, can you identify what you could draw from (similarly scales/arpeggios etc) if you were to freely improvise?
Alright, seems as a good thing to do. Like small pieces of vocabulary I can use to create sentences.
Yes, I’m using the CAGED system to organize the vocabulary. This is how I have managed to “improvise” over chord changes so far.
Sometimes I manage to add variations to the licks I’m using, how I play then and in which time of the bar i begin or end it.
Troy shared a while back this video: https://youtu.be/UST4NsW9pKU the instructor there actually talks about linking a lick to one or many chord shapes on the freboard
I think now you should start practicing building your solos formally, so instead of just trying to play right stuff over right chords try setting a parameter like “I’m now going to play a solo two choruses long over x tune” and try to play it so it has a beginning, middle and end. You can do that by implementing contrast like short and long phrases, using single notes or chords, playing a lot vs using a lot of space, etc. I’d say the best solution would be to start taking lessons from a good jazz guitar teacher who pays attention to that kind of stuff, at least in my case it was a tremendous help. In this video Greg Howe talks a lot about this.
Do agree with this idea. Yet, it’s not an option for me right now. So, I’m planning to work on it and get as far as I could with the info I have at sight, until I can find a professor for live feedback
Okay. This sounds like an interesting exercise and I’ll try it soon, thanks a lot!
Alright. Will try this one out as well.
Bookmarked! Thanks for sharing it.
I struggle with this as well. I am not working on improvisation per se but I’m trying to get better at writing riffs and solos.
One “simple” concept I’m finding useful is this: memorable solos tend to be a good compromise between repetition and variation.
Too much repetition and it sounds boring, too much variation and it will sound like a collection of random licks.
A vaguely related concept is “call and response”, which is easier to illustrate with an example.
So you could have something like:
idea 1 (first call) , idea 2 (first response) , variation of idea 1 (second call) , idea 3 (second response)
Of course not all great solos follow these ideas, but this is one possible way to go about it
Do you have the ability to loop a section of whatever audio you’re soloing over? Like, just a few measures so you’re constantly playing over the same chords over and over again? I wouldn’t be surprised if there is free software that does this now, but I have a loop pedal from digitech and of course my DAW (Cubase) has this capability. Soundslice is another option too. This could narrow the focus so you don’t have as much to think about while you stitch ideas together. You could gradually make the loop longer and longer. Also, you could tweak licks and make variations of them. Just a suggestion! Good luck on your journey!
One thing that I do is creating melodies/solo without guitar in my hands. It doesn’t have to be exact, with every note specified. Just a contour with some reference points is enough.
Also it helps to sing before playing.
Do you know WHY a lick is the “right” lick to play over a respective chord?
I’m trying to think of all the various things I’ve learned about improvising over the years, and honestly, the single most useful thing to understand I think is understanding enough harmony to understand why a certain lick sounds “right” over a certain chord, and then to be able to use that knowledge to make variations of that lick, or play lines that aren’t necessarily pre-rehearsed “licks” but know what notes you can resolve to to make them sound “right” or what notes might make them sound “wrong” if you resolved to them, but potentially “cool” if you hit them in passing, etc.
Yes. I do consider I understand why a lick works over certain chord (most of the times). Yet I struggle with isolating and practicing the concepts (trying to give my most sincere answer here), this might be my problem? I’m maybe not decontructin enough the phrases and not doing enough isolated practice
I’ll will try it next time I am practicing. It does require some ear training too, right?
I guess so… I didn’t think about it much, but since I was in musical school I, probably, use the stuff we practiced witout realizing it.
How’s your music theory, and specifically you grasp of harmony? Being able to look at a lick and know what chord tones you’re resolving to, or what the particular note that makes it sound so cool is, relative to the chord in the background, can really help understand how to apply that lick to your own playing, or to come up with licks of your own that function on the same basic principle, but the notes themselves are your own.
For example, this fast lick after the main solo in Satch’s “Surfing With the Alien”:
…is just a classic blues turnaround/intro (think the opening to “Red House”), played in G, but amped WAY up by converting it into a fast pull-off lick. It’s a cool lick, sounds cool, and somehow is even cooler when you can sort of see how Satriani transformed something else to get you there.
Alright, I do understand what you mean. You unconsciously apply what you were learning at school which has happened to me too up to some extent
Mind blowing, just great the way you put it. In the end of the day, one’s musical language doesn’t originate from a vacuum but rather it’s a blend of what we listen to consistently, right?
Maybe that’s where I’m failing the most, on my listening.
I’d say listening, sure, but in the “comprehending” sense as much as the simple hearing. Like, go out and listen to a ton of stuff. If you hear a guitar line that sounds “cool,” learn it. but when you do, make sure you learn WHY it sounds cool, and maybe try to think of a couple different ways to apply it to your own playing. 
If you’ve got this library of licks, theory knowledge, and have decent technique, I’m going to suggest something that may seem strange.
Impose limits on yourself.
Say if you’re sticking with a good ol’ A minor jam, try sticking to only a set number of strings. Maybe impose the limitation that you can only begin another phrase if you end on the root note, or chord tones.
Necessity is the mother of invention. If you impose a limitation on yourself when improvising, and you still have to have the objective of making a musical phrase, those limitations will make you play things you otherwise wouldn’t.
Further, another key thing of improvising is try varying the tempo or time feel of the notes you’re playing. If you have a phrase of straight 16th notes, try changing up the time feel to 16th note triplets right smack dab in the middle of the phrase. Maybe the last important notes that resolve down to the root are done in 8th notes.
And finally, when it comes to phrases, go with what sounds awesome. That’s main factor. If it sounds bitchin’ that’s the right way to do it.
Hope that helps! Cheers!
Honestly, this is really, really, really good advice, and can yield interesting results from a writing/composition standpoint too - it’s a great way to give a solo a sense of cohesion, for example, by focusing on maybe a couple note sequence and spinning variations off that.
Learn sequences.
3rds, 4ths, 5ths etc
Over time you can feel how many steps it takes to reach a chord tone. Just like how you can roughly feel how many steps it takes till you reach a curb when walking.
Sing a solo. Over whatever chord progression you want. If it isn’t working. Choose a more simple progression . It starts in your head.