Im started to get out and play with some different people lately, they dont play the normal stuff Ive played before, so every night we play, get to do 10-15 songs that Ive never played before, most is just standard rock and then we get some that have a lot of changes.
The rock stuff is automatic for me playing wise, I may not know the song that well but somewhere along the way I have heard the solo, so when its my time to play, I just go into that auto mode, or maybe its like phonics, just emulating what I remember from hearing a song. Ussually on these simpler songs I can comp chords, or whatever is necessary to make it sound right.
On the other hand we have started playing some things that are a bit more complicaated, we have bass, acoustic guitar, drums, and keys, so when we hit songs that Im not that familiar with, I find myself sort of noodling to get a feel for the melody and approach it this way, instead of hitting a big chunky chord and being out of key.
I agree with what someone said, to play a solo or improvise I try to let the music breath, kinda of like when you talk. I think of tension and release and occasionally I will throw in a bit of shred or tapping or harmonics just to mix it up.
Ive been doing this deal the last couple of weeks and am having a blast.
In this situation, I know Im just there to compliment things, we have a couple of fantastic vocalist which makes it really fun.
We dont have a song list yet, I have tryed to recall all the songs we do when we play, but forget a bunch of them, and part of the fun for me has just been put on the spot and remembering things.
But on improve in general make sure you compliment what the other guys are doing, dont play too loud. Its really funny cause thru the years I would say I was one of those extremely loud obnoxious guitarist, but these days more times than not the people I play with have to tell me to turn up.
Theres a younger guy that hangs around that is a pretty damn good guitarist in my opinion, but hes not humble, he is cocky about his abilitys, and when he doesnt know a song he tends to walk all over everyone else. He was suprised that some guys I met at an open mic, wanted me to play with them instead of him. I just said man you have to be a team player and stop showboating, I think sometimes the things you dont play are just as important as the things you play.
An example was this jazzy thing these guys do, which is slightly outside of my comfort zone so I just keys in on 4 notes that harmonically fit and I play them in three different octaves and emphasized a theme to it. Last night this dude who is a monster jazz player was there and afterwards he was very complimentary on what I did on the song, in fact said we should play some together. That was a trip cause this guys can play more chords than anyone Ive ever seen, and I just did this little 4 note thing that blew him away. The guy that plays keys told me after he walked away that he had never seen this guy say anything nice or ask someone to play with him before, so I took that as a huge compliment that I was doing something right.
I know Im rambling, but Im kinda stoked at all the playing Im doing all of the sudden, and just enjoying playing and hopefully improving my abilitys.
The rock stuff is automatic for me playing wise, I may not know the song that well but somewhere along the way I have heard the solo, so when its my time to play, I just go into that auto mode, or maybe its like phonics, just emulating what I remember from hearing a song. Ussually on these simpler songs I can comp chords, or whatever is necessary to make it sound right.
On the other hand we have started playing some things that are a bit more complicaated, we have bass, acoustic guitar, drums, and keys, so when we hit songs that Im not that familiar with, I find myself sort of noodling to get a feel for the melody and approach it this way, instead of hitting a big chunky chord and being out of key.
I agree with what someone said, to play a solo or improvise I try to let the music breath, kinda of like when you talk. I think of tension and release and occasionally I will throw in a bit of shred or tapping or harmonics just to mix it up.
Ive been doing this deal the last couple of weeks and am having a blast.
In this situation, I know Im just there to compliment things, we have a couple of fantastic vocalist which makes it really fun.
We dont have a song list yet, I have tryed to recall all the songs we do when we play, but forget a bunch of them, and part of the fun for me has just been put on the spot and remembering things.
But on improve in general make sure you compliment what the other guys are doing, dont play too loud. Its really funny cause thru the years I would say I was one of those extremely loud obnoxious guitarist, but these days more times than not the people I play with have to tell me to turn up.
Theres a younger guy that hangs around that is a pretty damn good guitarist in my opinion, but hes not humble, he is cocky about his abilitys, and when he doesnt know a song he tends to walk all over everyone else. He was suprised that some guys I met at an open mic, wanted me to play with them instead of him. I just said man you have to be a team player and stop showboating, I think sometimes the things you dont play are just as important as the things you play.
An example was this jazzy thing these guys do, which is slightly outside of my comfort zone so I just keys in on 4 notes that harmonically fit and I play them in three different octaves and emphasized a theme to it. Last night this dude who is a monster jazz player was there and afterwards he was very complimentary on what I did on the song, in fact said we should play some together. That was a trip cause this guys can play more chords than anyone Ive ever seen, and I just did this little 4 note thing that blew him away. The guy that plays keys told me after he walked away that he had never seen this guy say anything nice or ask someone to play with him before, so I took that as a huge compliment that I was doing something right.
I know Im rambling, but Im kinda stoked at all the playing Im doing all of the sudden, and just enjoying playing and hopefully improving my abilitys.
"A winks as good as nod to a blind man"