[hb]

I want to work on improvising on songs that I have the music to, but they also have long "rests" in them which creates quite a dead spot in the music. Does anyone know of a place, whether it be this site or anywhere else on the net that gives some sort of tutorial on filling in these long blank spaces on songs? When I watch the lessons here, I notice that there's always something going on with the music, even if it's just letting a note ring for a second or two. I'm not very good at coming up with stuff on my own.
thanks,
hb

[Rockerbob]

Don't fill in all the spaces. "Space is Grace"

[zappa]

i guess the only real way to do this is to improvise . i know thats a poor answer but its all a case of suck it and see with impro , just start by arpeggiating the chords , maybe using inversions and see where it goes.

[Hey]

silence is a note.

Also, dont be afraid to "come up with stuff on my own"... just sit down and be creative, and something will come up. music is suppose to be a creative thing... -----:

[zappa]

that reminds me , someone once said "its not the notes , but the spaces in between , that make the music what it is".

[The Ethical]

Think of the spaces as pausing for breath or as punctuation. It's all part of phrasing what you play (unless you're into max BPM shred type playing).

[allthumbs]

If the tunes have been arranged deliberately to leave space for an instrument other than a guitar, you can get dead spots that are overly long. Some bts just do the rhythm part so the place where lead guitar fills are is left open. You have to listen to the original recording to figure out the function of those spaces.

[hb]

Yes, I understand what you're saying. When I have sheet music, it seems like it's just the bare melody and chords. To me, some of the most fun part of a song to play are those little riffs (or whatever you call them) that you hear in a song in between the melody lines, but they're never part of the sheet music. I wonder why.
hb

[BigG]

Here's a few links from YouTube that show some very basic ways to improvise.
I see jazz players using both methods all the time.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pANavyqP1_E
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rlavW8fXI8Y
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ymTUY...elated&search=

[hb]

That's very interesting!! thanks for the link.
Maybe this should be in another forum, but since I've gotten this far, I'll ask....If a song is written in the key of 'C" and you're in a 'G' chord tone in your song and have a long rest, then go to an 'F' chord tone after the rest, do you imrovise through the rest with a 'C' or 'G' or 'F' scale? Hope this makes some sense!
thanks again,
hb

[BigG]

Depends on how you improvise. I remember reading an interview with Earl Klugh. He said you can improvise with any note as long as the last note is in the chord of the moment.

Kirk's system based in Plane Talk teaches exactly that. In fact, he says to play only the chord of the moment's notes.

So follow the chord of the moment. If you listen to some player's like Robert Conti they use chromatic scale approach. Almost any note will work, only practice tells you which will not.

[Hey]

Oh, and a perfect example of a artists that uses "silence" as a note is B.B. King, great improviser, and he doesnet need to shred to be considered one of the best lead guitar players. Hes got the licks and the feel, his singing is a knock out to.

[PsychoRythum]

Space or rests create the "drama". During a pause, you could still be in the emotional feeling of the previous notes, or space could be a sudden change, a feeling opposite from the previous notes, etc, etc, etc. Rests are cool, sometimes its more effective not to fill them.