Rhythm Improvisation...Any tips?

Fong · #1 February 11th, 2008

I don't want to blow my own trumpet, becuase I am not that good a guitar player, but I don't seem to have many problems creating on the guitar, most of the time.

I been playing every sunday for the past 6 months in a band situation and I would routinely write 6 or 7 different guitar "riffs" or Rhythm pieces for each session.

My 'technique' is to sit down with the guitar, and basically just randomly play s**t til I heard something that I liked, that piqued my interest. Then I would work on and expand, usualyl while the drummer was playing along, using the bass drums to fill a bit of the space of the guitar rhythm.

Thing is, went down their Sunday, I was late getting there, had been up for about 20 minutes when I arrived, and it was damn cold in there, with a horrible wind blowing on my back.

For the first 3 hours, I couldn't find a thing on the neck of the guitar, nothing I played sounded nice, it all felt old and tired. Fortunately I had a few rifffs from previous sessions I could use to muddle along with, but it wasn't a good session.

I will say that after about 3 hours, when I put me coat on and got a bit warmer, I did start to find some nice stuff again. But it was a waste of about 3 hours, and after I finally got to grips with it, the Bass and Drummer feel apart and started having the same mental block I had had at the start.

So has anyone got any tips for when you get stuck? I would like to be able to snap out of it in less then 3 hours to be quite honest.

billywhitebread · #2 February 11th, 2008

yup....my best advice is walk away when its not working...don't force it because that just leads to frustration....take a deep breath, walk away or just take a break for a while...it really is that simple

Fong · #3 February 11th, 2008

Quote:

Originally Posted by billywhitebread

yup....my best advice is walk away when its not working...don't force it because that just leads to frustration....take a deep breath, walk away or just take a break for a while...it really is that simple

Yeah thats hard to do when you arranged to be in a studio for 6 hours with a bass player and a drummer though.

I don't want to let people down, and although it isn't a lot, there is some money involved. Only like 60 dollars but still its the principle of it

knight46 · #4 February 11th, 2008

What you might try is doing some sort of cover work, do something familiar. If you have the time alloted and you can't walk away like billy suggested, play something you know and then let the juices take over.

Noodler · #5 March 4th, 2008

Do you have to be the creator every time?

If your bass player and drummer are good, why not let them play faster/ more complex stuff and you just comp for them? A rule of thumb is that the more fast and complex the bass and drums, the simpler your guitar part can be. It can be repetitive litle lines like a horn would play, with lots of repetition. It'd depend on the style of course. Hell man, you could vamp on an E9 chord for quite a while in the right context. Muted strums, sliding the chord, etc. Let the bass player slap and pop. They love that stuff.

Or even litlle 3 note melodies with muted notes.

Just some ideas if that helps. I'm most creative playing alone, and take grooves along to play with others, but sometimes playing with good people just brings out ideas, you know? When I get creative while nervous (which I have a habit of doing), it often doesn't come off for me. Best to experiment (make my mistakes) at home...or at least have a fall-back like Knight 46 says.

It just sounds like your expectations are really high, and you were cold.

Oops, sorry, just you and a drummer? Yeah, that's harder. Less to "bounce off."

Fong · #6 March 12th, 2008

Thanks For advice, I like that idea. We kinda of do it naturally sometimes, when I will mute down a riff to give the bass player space, I could work more on that.

Apologies for not replying sooner, had some internet problems.

lizdarocker · #7 April 11th, 2008

frustration is a killer in a band. take the advice above. relax take a walk/break an come back later

Liz

felixdcat · #8 April 27th, 2008

Just tell them: 'The vibes aren't good. Sorry.'

Because they really arent. Some other time.

Down · #9 4 Days Ago

When I can't come up with a riff, I usually ask drummer to play something and then I just start to play along. After all, he is the metronome of the band. Usually I have some kind of beat in my head and I just build it from there.

Or maybe you just need some inspiration, just search for new music. Or download drum machine software, and play along or look up drum videos on youtube and play along. That might give you new rhythmic ideas.

Magnolia1006 · #10 4 Days Ago

I've been playing in a jazz band for about 6 years and when I am put in a situation where I will need to improvise, I go home and listen to jazz and blues music. Blues is a great place to look because the majority of music is based off of the blues and blues scales.

Oh, speaking og scales. I know everyone hates them, but they really do help. Even if you can just get all of 12 major, minor, and blues scales down, you'd be ina a very very good place.