Category Archives: Improvisation
Improvisation (11-12-2019)
Snow day here in Michigan today. I figure that is nature telling me to spend some quality time with my guitar.
Backwards Guitar
For this video, I recorded an improv and then reversed the video. I love the sound of the guitar, backwards. The attack comes at the end and has this strangely beautiful sound.
Here is a video I recorded about the above video…
An Improv
A Little Improvisation
Just messing around. I wrote a piece for a jazz combo that used the chord progression Am-G-F-E. I decided to improvise around that chord progression to see what I could come up with.
-Rob
Improvisation with Wah Pedal
I love the sound of a wah pedal. I have used it for many years while playing electric guitar. I decided to give it a try with my nylon string. I’m using a Crybaby Wah pedal…
Here are a few of my favorite Wah moments….
Sweet Child O’ Mine solo by Slash. This is the solo that got me into playing guitar. The wah pedal begins around the 3:03 mark.
Voodoo Child by Jimi Hendrix. The classic wah opening and he uses the pedal on and off throughout the piece. I couldn’t find the studio version on Youtube but check it out for the beautiful wah wah pedal opening.
Gory Head Stump by Buckethead. Buckethead uses a ton of wah in many of his songs. He begins using the wah around the 2:21 mark.
Improv and Für Elise Theme
Here is a little improvisation I did before playing the opening theme to Für Elise by Ludwig van Beethoven. The arrangement of Für Elise comes from my second volume of easy arrangements.
Improv and Funeral March Theme
I start this video off with an improvisation before playing my arrangement of a theme from Chopin’s second piano sonata. This particular arrangement comes from my second volume of easy arrangements available at my website.
So what do I think about while I improvise? Short answer is…not much. That’s the ideal–just let the music flow. The arrangement is in A minor so I figured I would improvise in A minor before going into the theme. Every now and then I’ll hit an unexpected note and the challenge is to make it fit. For example, around the 2:24ish mark I hit a C-sharp which I wasn’t planning on. The C-sharp would give the feeling of A major which is something I wasn’t looking to do. After I hit the C-sharp I decided to hit it again and then move down chromatically to the E. That’s the decision I made in the second or two after I hit that C-sharp. Little things like this are what I think about while I am improvising.
Misty Waters
This piece is a half composed/half improv piece. The chord progression for the repeating section was composed ahead of time (Am, Em, Gm, Em, E) but the in between sections are improvised–sort of. I wanted to make use of tapping, so, in the score, I wrote, “tapping.” The specific notes weren’t worked out ahead of time. Here is the score I wrote…
What I love about this type of improv is that I am giving it some direction. It’s very easy to improv and kind of meander around without making much sense (which I actually like as well) but in this case I kind of put a frame around the improvisation.
Rob's Guitar Blog 