<p>Hi. I’ve been trying to get better at improvising.
I use the horizontal method, in which i just simply use the notes in the scale. But i find myself playing the same, familiar licks over and over.</p>
<p>How can i overcome this? How can i develop new ideas?
Can someone explain the modal method, in which a player uses different scales for each chord?</p>
<p>Here are types of chords that certain modes sound good over. If you don’t know how to play the mode just google it or i’m sure there are books you could buy. This method work best for jazz or country. You can use it for rock too though.
Ionian: Maj, Maj7, Maj9, Maj11, Maj13
Dorian: min, min7, min9, min11, min13
Phrygian: min, min7, min7(b9), min11(b9), min11(b9b13)
Lydian: Maj, Maj7, Maj9, Maj7(#11), Maj13(#11)
Mixolydian: Maj7, 9, 11, 13
Aeolian: min, min7, min9, min11, min11(b13)
Locrian: dim, min7(b5), min7(b5b9), min11(b5b9), min11(b5b9b13)</p>
<p>Another method that applies more to rock and is a good bit more simple is this:</p>
<p>A song is in the key of C.</p>
<p>So you take the notes of that scale (C) and match them up the the modes(keep the modes in the order i posted above). This is a chord scale.</p>
<p>So for the key of C you could play:</p>
<p>C Ionian (Major Scale)
D Dorian
E Phrygian
F Lydian
G Mixolydian
A Aeolian (Minor Scale or Relative Minor)
B Locrian (Rarely Sounds Good)</p>
<p>All of these should work for the key of C. Some will be better than others and some will have a note or two that sounds a little off. </p>
<p>You can do this with all keys I just did C because i’m felling lazy. Just make sure you watch your sharps and flats. Just google notes in scales if you need to see which keys have which sharps/flat.</p>
<p>Idk if you are in HS or college but if your in college you could probably take jazz guitar lessons through your school. This helped me sooooo much with stuff like this even though i’m not a huge fan of jazz.</p>
<p>Let me know if you have anymore questions. Kind of hard to explain.</p>
<p>Thanks a lot!!
I am aware of the modes to an extent. </p>
<p>So if a chord progression is
Cmaj7 F7 G7 F7
Then i’d play a C ionian, then F mixolydian, then G mixolydian, and then F mixolydian again?</p>
<p>And even when i’m given the scales, i cant really make a good melody out of it.
How can i overcome this?
Can you possibly tell me some things i can do to improve my guitar playing? Like covering songs, learning licks and stuff.</p>
<p>do you have a Mac computer with garageband? or an iphone/ipod touch with the “voice memo’s” app? or even better a loopstation. All of these things will let you record yourself playing the chords of a progression, and then when you play it back, you can practice playing your lead licks over it. Investing in a Boss Loopstation could reallyyy help you, it sure did for me. got mine for about $100 on ebay.</p>
<p>anyway, knowing the scales really helps, but i understand what you’re saying about not making to create good melodies. I would suggest playing around with your tempo, and possibly practicing triplets and that sort of thing. Also, try to avoid playing notes that are directly next to each other too much for a while. It will force you to really know all the notes of the scale, instead of just playing runs. Finally, playing double-stops will also add a lot. If you don’t know what you are, it’s basically playing two notes of a scale at once (usually on the higher strings). it definitely adds a nice touch.</p>
<p>[YouTube</a> - double stops 1/4](<a href=“double stops 1/4 - YouTube”>double stops 1/4 - YouTube)</p>
<p>he plays entire riffs with double stops, but i prefer to use them sparingly. I hope that wasn’t too much information at once, but what would help the most is just recording chord progressions and playing leads over them repeatedly! good luck.</p>
<p>Hmm, okay thank you so much!!!</p>