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Hi Jalskffl,
I get asked about improvisation ALL THE TIME.
“How do I get better at improvising?”
“How do I turn scales into solos?”
“How do I take all these licks I’ve learned and actually use them?”
And when intermediate flatpickers ask me those questions, I’m finding myself giving the same answer more and more often:
You might be trying to improvise too soon.
Now, don’t get me wrong. I LOVE improvisation.
Being able to hear a song, recognize what’s happening and spontaneously create something musical is one of the coolest parts of becoming a great flatpicker.
But there’s a step that has to come first.
You have to learn the language.
And that means spending a LOT of time learning actual bluegrass music.
Tunes.
Solos.
Arrangements.
Melodies.
Phrases.
Every great arrangement you learn adds new vocabulary to your playing and teaches you how that vocabulary works inside real music.
Eventually, something starts to happen.
You recognize chord progressions you’ve seen before.
You hear familiar phrases.
You realize that something you learned in one tune might work perfectly in another.
And little by little, you stop having to force yourself to improvise.
You actually have something to say.
That’s exactly what I’m talking about in this week’s YouTube lesson: |
