Noodling, how to?

[ndjordjevic]

I know that there is no a right answer on this question but anyway I have a problem with a noodling, even just with those 4+1 notes. I think I'm doing pretty much good job with a copying Griff's licks and phrases but when I have to make up something on my own it just really suck. How do you guys working on this? Try to make a lick or two without a backing and then put a backing on and incorporate those ideas or just play along with a backing and what ever comes at that moment?
Also I saw somewhere that good players know a tons of licks and just use them at a different key and tempo.

Mike did a great noodling on the SWS solo #2.

 

[stratogeezer]

My thoughts are noodling is like anything else guitar related..it requires practice.
Specifically trial and error practice.
For me practicing with the track is better than without because the track provides a rhythmic foundation or groove that sometimes inspires.
That being said my 4 note noodling is far worse than my anything goes noodling.
Both are bad though.

 

[kgarkie]

I don't know what Mike or anyone else does but I just play.  I cut and paste stuff from the lessons and stuff I've picked up from other songs over the years and make stuff up as I go.  I may rearrange licks from the lessons.  It may work and it may not and I really don't care if anyone likes it or not since I only play for my own enjoyment.  Any of the noodling heard on my recordings was recorded live with no practice or forethought and will never sound the same again. 

Just try playing the licks you've learned in a different order or just parts of them.  You can play the licks very well.  You get the timing and phrasing down extremely well.  Just try mixing it around some.  That's the reasoning behind the lessons and why the backtracks are so long--to experiment.   And most importantly--have fun.   

 

[MikeS]

I put on a jam track and start playing. What I find is that if I start with a 4 note pattern, I'll play that up and down the neck for a while, but eventually some BGU lessons creep in and out. I don't think I could do it with out the backing track.

 

[Lame_Pinkey]

Ist thing ,&most important part, in improv. (to be honest haven't heard it called noodling here) is knowing where it comes from.To be able to play anything it has to come from the brain 1st, in other words you have to be able to think of the notes you want to hear & therefore play.This is I guess "the feel " if you were to continue ' noodling ' with SWS solo 1 in G in my way of thinking it would be to continue the pattern (basically) that has already been laid out previously by ' Lefty ' Hamlin.You can still work out many diff. licks but staying close to the pattern & overall feel.It is probably a good one to start with too.

LP

 

[luckylarry]

LP, I think we may all look at this differently. For me "noodling" is just playing around heh guitar without a track. See what I can find on my own. Soloing is playing with the sound track and fitting in what you know and can do. At least that is the way I look at it.

 

[Lame_Pinkey]

Still gotta come from ya head 1st no matter what you call it.

LP

 

[560sdl]

I really like the original question because I find I do the same thing.  I will be following along on a SWS solo and because the backing tracks are extended I continue to "just play".  Pretty soon I realize that it sounds like crap and I am just playing 4 notes over and over again in different orders with some ill placed bends.

What I then try to do is go back to the solo and work through it a few times but I have REAL trouble listening through the backing track and HEARING the progression to the point where I can pick it up and start on time.  So I give up and play through trying to get the timing down even though the chords might be incorrect.

 

[Lame_Pinkey]

Well you say " playing over & over again " alan but if there is one constant in music, particularly popular music, is that its repetitive.Once the foundations have been laid , as in this case by " Lefty " " then its only natural to follow in a similar vein.that still leaves plenty of room though for you to experiment with & come up with some added extra's.
Keeping with the solo itself until you are comfortable to move out is probably a good thing too, it will get the brain thinking of " perhaps this , maybe that " type of thing & you can throw that in when you feel you can. If it works , great ! If not we move on, its that simple.

LP

 

[Cyberthrasher_706]

It's all got to start somewhere and those tracks are great because they give you just that, a starting point. I like to play around with backing tracks, but it usually sucks. Everynow and then I'll stumble on one that just has something inspiring about it. Like that last one I did in F. That came to me almost instantly. I'll just play the track while I'm turning the amp on and let it go so it gets into my head. Then my brain will start thinking of the stuff it thinks should go with it. Then all I have to do is figure out the best selection of notes. Granted, it takes work to not just keep playing the same licks all the time (even between different songs), but that's what happens when you get something engrained. Oh yeah, and to me, noodling is just a nice way of saying screwing around to see what works with no real solo in mind. I think solos are born out of noodling.

 

[MikeS]

Guys, it seems to me that you kind of have to have the music playing or you will get lost and not know where the chord changes are. Sure, if you stay in key, the notes wills sound ok wherever the chord change is, but to feel where you should be going up the neck and where you should be going down, I need to be playing with the backing tracks.

 

[Griff]

I don't know if there's an answer to this question in the grand scheme of things. But really one of the main points of the 4 note solo idea is to limit yourself to one small area and work that are until what comes out sounds musical to you.

And that's the key point. If you like what you hear, then it's good. If you don't like it, then you need to keep playing.

To sound better at improvising, I think the track is a necessity because a solo is just a bunch of notes until you put them over something. On the other hand, if you're working out a certain lick or working on a certain area of the fretboard to get used to some new fingering or something, then it can be easier to do that without the track.

So it all depends. One thing to try, if you're really not happy with what is coming out, is to try and hum a line before you play it. It may be that your fingers are not really translating the melodies you are trying to get out. And humming them first might help.

Griff

 

[RichC]

I find I get the most natural sounding noodleing when I just let it happen. Sometimes I end up playing something I have under my fingers sometimes not. I will pay attention to changing strings or positions or even if a particular thought about what to play pops in my head Ill go for it. But for me to plan and execute a full improvised solo on the fly ends up sounding stiff and contrived. I just dont feel it when I do it that way. Perhaps in the future this will change.

Rich C