For this second attempt I stretched myself almost to the point of giving up. The backing track used a drum track shuffle I pulled from the internet. The file name of the original drum track is “looperman-l-2054129-0107250-laurentwirz-fast-half-time-shuffle-109-bpm.” I recorded an original rhythm guitar composition over that track and used that as backing for this motif development exercise.
C major shuffle with improv
I don’t like much of the resulting recording. For one thing, filling 5 minutes with interesting improv is beyond my skill level. I tried improvising in the C major scale for the parts of the backing track that used the opening riff. Some of it sounded OK to me but it followed the backing track too closely, IMHO. Please offer suggestions on how to find a more interesting variation. There is a bridge section in the backing track where I pick strings in an ascending chord progression from C to F that leads to an extended set of arpeggio chords. That occurs twice, and in those sections and at the very end I did improvisation using Am pentatonic. I’m much happier with those sections, but toward the end I ran out of good ideas. I introduced a fade-out at the end of the recording, which was part of the plan from the get-go, but honestly I ended up using it because it was clear I was already running out of steam. If you have any suggestions on how to end the composition with a bang rather than a whimper I’d appreciate it greatly!
A nice attempt, Jim. Whatever the result, trying to solo over a completely new chord progression is always something we learn a lot from. I recorded my own BT with more or less the same chords (or at least of a similar character). For the first part, with the rhythmic, chopping chords, the D Dorian scale works just fine for me. Actually it consists of the same notes as the C major scale; it’s just a matter of phrasing and finding all the good target notes. For the part with the arpeggiated comping, the Am (or C major) pentatonic does the job. I’ll try to record my own full version later today, although I cannot guarantee it will be the exact same song chord for chord, note for note.
Just my 2c, YMMV, of course.
Oh, and thank you for suggesting something interesting to work on. I’ve run out of fresh ideas recently.
Why don’t you start a Learning Log and put you videos there. It would make it a lot easier to compare your videos and give better feed back on where you’re improving and where you need more work.
Thanks for the suggestions, Tomasz! I’ve never really understood, much less knowginly tried using, any of the other major modes. But sure enough, when I ran over the notes for D Dorian, they matched pretty much the subsection of the C major I ended up playing. It makes sense, given that G and Dm/Dm7 played almost as big a role in the chord progressions as C, F, and Am, I just didn’t realize what my ear was telling me. I checked out some of the compositions you posted on Soundcloud. Very jazzy! I’ll keep an eye out for your next post to AVOYP.
Jim - in your original post you precisely described the issues you had while playing along that specific BT, and you illustrated it with a recording of what you actually played. That makes providing a meaningful reply a lot easier. I’m happy I was able to suggest something useful.
Good luck and have fun; after all that’s what it’s all about
Just go to the Learning Log section and start a new thread under your name or what ever you want to call it. It’s an easy way to keep track of video like this and keep a record for your progress. Take a look at some of the other members Learning Logs, some use it lie a blog, some like a Guitar Diary. It help others to help you because they can also keep track of your progress.
AVOYP can get a lot of videos posted and move yours down the list very quickly making them hard to find so you won’t get as much help.
