Yes, interesting to read through these posts.
There is a big difference of course between improvising and playing learned lines and there's a place for each. I spent many many years as a studio musician, usually taking part in recording sessions for TV commercials ... that was always the bulk of the work. They were quick, straight to the point sessions where time is money and where guitarists were usually left to their devices to come up with a part. In fact, it was those players who could do that who were hired, because the writers and producers of the jingles rarely had anything written out. So after the rhythm section went down and some fills and melodic themes were asked for, we guitarists and keyboard players had to come up with something that worked. We'd have to invent something that fit the music (followed the rules) that was catchy, appropriate, right ... and then commit it to tape. Quickly. That's one form of improvisation.*
The other form: when I was a player in Sydney working live in bands, I'd often be asked to 'sit in' with other bands. You do need to feel totally confident to do that because invariably you'd be asked to play a solo in a tune you've never hear before. That's real improvisation. That's when you really do need to be thinking of something other than scales. The only way to be able to do that without making a complete fool of yourself is to be able to hear the changes, to know exactly what's going on musically at all times and to then create a part that's appropriate. As impossible as that may sound to some, the fact is that it's a lot easier than it sounds. There really aren't all that many underlying 'patterns' to pieces of music, whatever genre they may be. The I-IV-V structure underlies just about every piece ever written, and you get to hear it, to recognize it just as you recognize blue-red and green. Deviations form the primary chords are also recognizable (by ear). So, when I was in that situation, I'd play pretty well nothing the first time through the verse/chorus. I'd just listen and make a mental sketch of the structure that was unfolding. Next time through, I'd add a small, sparse part, maybe little compact triads and the odd line that would flow from those chords. By the time the singer pointed at me for a solo, I'd know exactly what the structure I was going to play over was and create a melodic part from the chords ... remembering that 'less is more'.
So that, to me, is what 'improvising' is. To get there, you need to do a whole lot of playing, a whole lot of remembering, and most importantly, a whole lot of compressing all that you learn into small packets of information, distilling it all down so that in the end you're thinking of almost nothing. You obviously can't create something as intangible and fleeting as music on the fly if your brain is swimming in information.
*When I met one particular jingle producer, I did a simple rhythm part for him on the first job. He then asked me stay back and pulled out a tape with a sort of rocky countryish track on it and asked me to play some lines over it. He said don't worry, it's a paid job, just play what you feel would be appropriate, it's for a movie soundtrack. I later realized that he was simply testing me, finding out whether I was worth calling back, whether I was going to be able to add value to his compositions without him having to coach me through every time and waste time. I did wind up doing a heap of work for him.
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