Hi fam,
I'm happy to share episode #3 of The Improv Loop with you. This time we are going to take a look at the #1 thing to not do when learning how to improvise over chord changes on the guitar. That may sound like a bit of an overstatement, but I made this mistake, and it cost me years of practice that could have been better spent on other things.
Here it is. Don't rely on larger scale shapes to improvise over chord changes. Don't get me wrong, learnings big scale shapes can be useful. They are great for developing technique, learning more about keys, and getting a bigger picture of the fretboard. The problem is that these shapes can be just too much information when you are first starting to learn how to improvise over chord changes. I'm not saying don't learn scales at all. I'm just saying that you shouldn't rely on these big shapes to improvise melodies over chord chagnes when you are first getting into improvising.
Unfortunately, many guitar players start out by learning a big scale shape and then wonder why their playing sounds like a buch of scale exercises. Throughout The Improv Loop we will turn things on their head and start out with single notes. Form there, we will add a note or two to use triads and then add another note or two to add in color via pentatoninc scales. This way, things won't seem overwhelming at all. Anyone can do this, we just have to put in the work.
Now to contradict myself. LOL. Here are the two most common larger major scale shapes used by most guitarists. These are great if you need to build some technique, get a better birds eye view of the fretboard, or learn more about the key of G major. We will be in the key of G major quite often for this series, so that's why we are using G major scales. Take these shapes with a grain of salt and just realize that you don't need to rely on them to improvise over chord changes.
We will break things down into the most basic component of improvisation in the next episode.
Nate
