Improvisation | Fretterverse.com: Guitar Blog | guitar news & reviews, amps, effects, guitars, music theory, guitar lessons

Jam Track Friday

Friday, July 2, 2010

In lieu of a traditional blog post where I wax philosophical on the musings of being a guitarist, I decided to spend my time today adding a bunch of jam tracks to the site that I’ve been meaning to do for a while. They are all on the Downloads page, and include ii-V-I progressions in [...]

Rhythm Changes Jam Tracks Added

Thursday, July 1, 2010

0 Comments

As promised in my Rhythm Changes article, I have added jam tracks with the chord changes for a typical Rhythm Changes tune. There are four tracks: two basic tracks and two advanced tracks. The basic tracks are the normal, standard chord progression. No surprises, with one at 110 beats-per-minute and the other at 200. The [...]

Only 10 Minutes to Practice? No Problem!

Thursday, July 1, 2010

0 Comments

So there you are, all decked out in your Sunday finest, ready to take your main squeeze for a night out on the town. You sit patiently (for a minute) as you wait for your significant other to finally make it down the stairs and out the front door. The problem is, you and I [...]

Learn the Modes, or One Big Scale?

Tuesday, June 29, 2010

2 Comments

There are two primary schools of thought when it comes to scales and improvisation. The first is to treat each chord as a separate entity and improvise using certain scales/modes over each one individually. I like to think of this as “vertical improvisation” as the player deals with each chord individually. The second is to [...]

What Are “Coltrane Changes”?

Monday, June 28, 2010

8 Comments

Welcome to what is, perhaps, the hardest aspect of jazz improvisation; what has made many a musician cower in the corner while others step up to the plate, knock back massive grand slams, and take home the hottest girl in the club (hopefully not the girl that came in with the guy now cowering in [...]

Upper Structure Triad Soloing

Monday, June 21, 2010

4 Comments

Triads are cool. Without them, Bach probably would have been a hay baler or something to that effect. Without triads, I would probably be writing about air guitar or something mundane like the proper way to stuff your spandex before playing that 80′s high school reunion you got tapped to do. A triad, as you [...]

Rhythm Changes for Dummies

Wednesday, June 16, 2010

0 Comments

Now before you get your panties in a bunch, the picture on the left is just for fun. There is no “Rhythm Changes for Dummies” book, though I’m sure someone has thought about writing it. If you’ve ever wondered where the “Rhythm” in “Rhythm and Blues” comes from, now you know. “Rhythm Changes” is a [...]

Jazz Blues Lines

Tuesday, June 15, 2010

0 Comments

Sorry there was no post yesterday, everyone. I was quite under the weather yesterday due to a bad allergy attack from spending time in a house with three cats. Needless to say I’m not their biggest fan. Anyway, I wanted to start off the week by giving you some actual material you can practice with. [...]

Improvising Pentatonics

Tuesday, June 8, 2010

2 Comments

I’ve been digging into pentatonics since starting my new practice regimen for my Six-Month Challenge. I’ve mostly been starting with Jerry Bergonzi’s “Pentatonics” book, which is very good. There are a lot of very cool pentatonic applications over certain chords that will give some very interesting sounds. I’m going to show you a few, but [...]

Embrace the Suck

Wednesday, June 2, 2010

4 Comments

This is Andreas Varady. Andreas is 12-years old. Andreas plays guitar. Andreas plays guitar well. Actually, Andreas plays guitar very well. No, I don’t mean he plays very well for a 12-year-old kid. I mean he plays very well, period. In fact, he plays better than 99% of every guitarist in the world, including me [...]