Improvising vs. learning the solo examples

[MarkAHolloway]

Question: this may have already been asked somewhere in the forum, but couldn't find any previous posts. .......
After learning box 1 and tying in box 2, does anyone feel they get more mileage out of taking those and starting to improvise over the jam tracks, as opposed to learning the solo examples? For some reason i enjoy improving since it helps me stay fresh, whereas i've always had a tendency to lose interest copying solo examples, or at least have a shorter attention span.  Just curious....thx.

 

[Marv]

The canned solos are great in that they, kind of without you realizing it, put a lot of common blues licks under your fingers.  You can learn 'em, use 'em and never really need another solo.

If you want to improvise, how you mix those licks into your improvising is up to you. So if there's something in an example solo that catches your ear, I encourage you not to ignore it.

I've been at this since last July and haven't memorized a solo yet.  But my playing seems to have improved dramatically and I've gone from never soloing to being able to warble away for as many minutes as you'll let me (or the jam track lasts). The quality of said solos varies from track to track, but I feel like I'm getting better.

I'm also able to go out to local jams and play along or lead the song, so I'm happy.

I am not knocking the solos or the lessons. I do use Griff's lessons for the concepts, and I do my best to apply them.  If I hear a lick or tone I like here in the Virtual Jam room, I might spend a couple of hours attempting to imitate and really work it into something I'll use. 

Same goes for anything I hear on the radio or YouTube.  I'll pull it into Audacity and try to mimic it by recording along with it and playing it back. Haven't read a TAB yet.  Don't plan to.

Most of my solos now just kind of roll out of my head onto my fingers.  I don't plan 'em, I feel 'em.  I think that's where this is all supposed to lead.

All of the notes you need exist in the box 1 pattern (box 2 is an octave higher... it also sits in the middle of box 1 played up an octave and you get the same notes plus some more.)  I have also found box 4 helpful to me because it lies near the chords I use for comping.  Notes in all the box patterns are all the same... tone is a little different depending on where you play them.

It's the blues, man. It's a "to each his own" kind of thing, so chart your own course.  No matter which you choose, if you work at it and feel it, you won't go wrong.
  [smiley=beer.gif]

 

[Justatele]

Just to point out
you rely on what you have learned to improvise
if you do not know something how can you use it?
in order to improvise we need to have a lot of stuff under the belt to be able to use.
Learning these solos does 2 things
gives us licks we can use
makes us understand the lesson, gives us examples of the principles we are studying
good luck

 

[MarkAHolloway]

Thanks guys., those answers are great insight.....i will definitely plan on learning those licks and get 'em under my belt!

 

[LynnLaFrance]

The best of both worlds Mark is to do both.  Most of us have found a lot of value in planning our practice sessions.  Something like.....

10 minutes warm-up
15 minutes lessons (BGU, SWS, SBS, etc.)
15 minutes working on "old" songs - songs you already know.
15 minutes working on "new" songs
15 minutes playing/jamming/improvising to jam tracks

The time you have to practice may vary but the concept would stay the same.  Allot time to do what you NEED to do - formal learning, and then at the very end of your time - Allot time to do FUN stuff, like jamming as you've done.

Hope this helps.   

 

[TonyS]

I would go for the solos in the course then find the licks in the solos you like and use them in other solos of your own.

 

[giayank]

I would go for the solos in the course then find the licks in the solos you like and use them in other solos of your own.

Ya Tonys thats what I like to do now that I have completed the first go round with the course . I take BGU solo's lick by lick now and try to use them in my soloing .I see what tempo I can use them with and what keys I like them in the most .

 

[anthonyp]

I learn a section of one of griffs solos and tear it apart and turn it upside down and use it in a different way, when i play to a jam track I play little snippets of different solos and thats how i improvise, otherwise i'll get bored trying to learn the whole solo at one time.

 

[Chuck]

I learned the solos in BGU and I still practice them. Everything I can do is related to those solos either in their entirety or by cutting and pasting licks and techniques here and there to generate something of my own.

It's not just the solos you'll learn. There's a lot of technique and timing lessons that are in each solo that get more intense as you graduate to the next solo. Each solo builds up to the next one.

Learn the Solos, you won't regret it!

 

[samwell]

a real individual question Mark & so many answers      regardless, working through the lessons in order provided the answers to why? for me, that I feel you can't lose by doing the solos too, not to sound like examples, but to get the move/transition, etc. down to your satisfaction, just a thought.... [smiley=beer.gif]

 

[giayank]

You guys bring up a great point . In that learning the solo's teaches more than a note lead to play . It also teaches music theory {how to blend major and minor } for  example. You learn phrasing, tempo ,muting,counting and correct timing which for me was a huge hill to climb . Yes I do ad lib now but only with the knowledge I learned from working very hard on the solo's .I still don't play them as well as Griff . But I play them way better than I did before I started the course .

 

[Bolar]

As said by others, learning the solos will give you a basic foundation in the many aspects of playing. In addition, as soon as you feel up to it, try learning some licks off records. You'll get not only new phrases in your bag, but also hundreds of dollars worth of eartraining
Choose a simple lick.
Learn to sing it first, then figure out how to play it.