What improv concept do you rely on the most, me, it's Frankenstein pents

[Clifford-D]

I do enjoy pents alot these days

They are a great springboard into the musical landscapes I explore.

I have a good handle on most popular concepts involving pents.

But I would dig being surprised with some cool, odd, demented
eastern, western, modern, forgotten, justly intuned alchemacal hybrid
applications of pents.

Any pents, any pent ideas.

[jspax7]

Lately it's been triad substitutons for me. Depends on the situation though.

[KRosser]

The "Hail Mary" pass....

[ohw05]

Chromatics and intertwining major and minor scales. This is an attempt to fake jazz, but to my ears it works. But then again, what is jazz? oooo.....

[Echoes]

I rely on knowing harmony and theory behind the chords I'm soloing over...if I don't have time at all I stick to the basic 'key' scale...if I can't figure that in time I'll stick to root/second/fives and simple octave licks...

[Clifford-D]

Semi-regular vertical synthetic diatonic interval jumping.

Great way to put some pepper in your lines.
Ahh, Directional objectivity.

[Clifford-D]

I rely on knowing harmony and theory behind the chords I'm soloing over...if I don't have time at all I stick to the basic 'key' scale...if I can't figure that in time I'll stick to root/second/fives and simple octave licks...
Isn't part of having "tricks" is so you don't need to "think" so much
and you can focus on the creative thing???

Good plectrum picking skills can be thought of as "tricks" sort of,
You learn all the different ways to pick, and then you don't think about it.

That's the way I use improv concepts.

:)

[gennation]

I try to play something new everyday. Chord tones, Melody, Pentatonic-ised scales, and variations of each are the day to day norm. Always trying to play in a "forward" direction too.

But, trying to go some place new each day keep me hearing more stuff as well as keeps an edge on the "usual" stuff.

[Bryan T]

I'm not sure if this is a concept, per se, but I'm just trying to get the melodies in my head into the air without screwing them up too much on the guitar. I've never been one to think of things like "just play a major pentatonic a minor 3rd above the root." Probably due to my own shortcomings, but I end up stuck in position playing when I think that way.

Bryan

[Clifford-D]

interesting.
i suspect that my "concepts" for improvising
may not be suitable for the specifics of this discussion.....

but, for mentioning's sake (as regards "improv"-tools), and a somewhat
different perspective, only:

the thrust behind
the bulk of my improvisational directions
doesn't lean much on pre-formations of
scale, harmony, rhythm, sonics, etc,
but does depend largely upon communication between
the musicians involved.
it's just a different thing, i guess:
performances & recordings of
music whose primary compositional qualities, arrangements & forms
occur during the performance & recording thereof.....

probably not too helpful in this context, i guess.....

dt / spltrcl
Point well taken David.

[Leucadian]

...Coltrane's, A Love Supreme, man...lots of pentatonic stuff there to keep a person inspired!

[Strung Up]

...Coltrane's, A Love Supreme, man...lots of pentatonic stuff there to keep a person inspired!

Lot's of everything there.

Me, I take inspiration from the National Lampoon's Mr. Roberts interview with the bass player . . . . ' I try and think about the space, and how many notes I'm putting in the space, and how much money I'm getting per note . . . '

Lately, having discovered that a well placed tied whole note often seems to sonically obscure my preceding 8 (or whatever) bars of clams, I'm playing with mixing up lines' rhythms more.

[Clifford-D]

cool;
not trying to make much of a "point", there,
nor change the subject:
just pointing a finger at my experiences.
music is a special mode of travel.
dt / spltrcl
pointing well taken David.

Special mode of travel, I probobly can't buy that at Guitar Center eh?

You have a homemade spaceship for your travels.
And you seem to be gravity free.

That's a wonderful thing.

[rockinrob]

The concept I use the most is chord tones.

As far as "frankenstien pentatonics" go I don't think them out- when I do it usually sounds bad. I just pick a group of 4 or 5 notes and play with them. I don't worry about the intervals between or anything like that.

The notes usually come from a chord voicing- I like to think of them as a "cluster". Basically what I'm thinking is if I took the notes from the right hand of a MCoy voicing and then made lines with them. Often these are played in sort of systematic ways- 3rds, 4ths- lots of patterns. But as I said, they're not thought out. The phrasing is the most important thing and that has to come off the cuff otherwise it sounds dishonest (at least for me).

What can be really effective is to get a cluster where you're just changing 1 or 2 notes for each changing chord and repeating a pattern over and over, or if you can get a cluster that you can move up or down in half steps, 3rds, 4ths or any symmetrical pattern.

There's a lot of classic Joe Henderson lines in this sort of thing, as well as Wayne Shorter, Woody Shaw, etc.

[Mike T]

Half step or minor third approaches. I mean a whole phrase a half step above or below. The half-diminished sound works well over minor or altered dominant when you move a whole minor phrase up a minor third. start with minor pentatonic and throw in chromatic tones. Half step approaches, either above or below within your normal lines are nice. Leading tones are cool. Approach a minor with the major 7.
Also alternate thirds or sixths ascending or descending chromatically. like 1-3-b1-b3-bb1-bb3 etc. Also time things, like 7 over 4. When you're in 4 do a scalewise line of 7 notes starting on the root then go back and do another 7 note scalewise line starting on the 2nd. Obviously you can do that with arpeggios too. And then combine the minor third thing with the time thing. Then backwards. And triads. upper structure triads. Built from the scale above an octave. Like 9, 11, and 13. or b9,#9, #11, or b13. Arpeggiate them and move them around. I love to arpeggiate triads. Within the key, regular intervals like major seconds or chromatically. You know the drill.....:munch

[FretDance]

Above all, note value alteration, and then superimposition of scales. (even did a lesson the first for Shredacademy not too long ago http://shredacademy.com/lessons/r_lundmark1.htm ) For me, timing is the key to ANY good improvisation.

[2leod]

Q: Why do guitarists wear suspenders when practicing?

A: To keep their pents up!

[JamonGrande]

concept 1: balance. seriously

I have to play less and listen more, and play more to hopefully inspire others...

get ahead of the beat, sit behind it...

do the thing that makes the most sense, do the thing that makes the least sense...

concept 2: do it all 100%, go the distance , push the envelope, and so forth (harness the awesome power of apples...d'oh!). Anthony Davis (pianist/composer) once told me I had to sweat more. hmmm... sweat apples....

seriously though, balance and sweat

joe