Any improvising musicians? [Archive]

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jleonardbc

15 Jul 2007, 01:12 AM

chads

15 Jul 2007, 01:16 AM

I so wish I could. I studied jazz guitar for a few years, but I was frustrated because I wanted to get straight to the improv, and my basic technique was really weak. My understanding of the theory was always way ahead of what I could actually do.

nagrom

15 Jul 2007, 01:24 AM

I can jam on the piano for hours.

I took lessons for two years, but I slacked off most of the time...the only thing I got out of it was the ability to play with both hands, and how to hold them.

Though I've taken music theory classes, I haven't incorporated my theory knowledge into my playing very much. I usually play exclusively in Amin/Cmaj in a very distinct, fast, complex way.
Often I drift into creating something that's more texture than tune.

I try to branch out, but I usually fall into the same patterns every time I sit down at the bench. They evolve, but I play for one reason: emotional release (as melancholy), and that's just what I do.

squirrel

15 Jul 2007, 01:34 AM

Improvisation is about all I do. My main instrument is bass guitar, and I've played in various school Jazz bands for about eight years, so I've just about lost the ability to read any music beyond single quarter notes, and even then I'd rather improvise than read.

I have composed things from time to time, usually guitar + vocals, but I find that, beside being terrible at writing lyrics (I hate opening up my feelings to others), I don't like the idea of fixing a song in stone. I could never sit down and write a moderately complex instrumental piece because I'd always be changing bits and pieces to make it more objectively correct. So rather I find myself improvising little melodies on the guitar/keyboard/what-have-you, recording them if I like them, and forgetting about them :stupid:

One thing I do want to try is writing music for someone's lyrics. I've sort-of done this a couple times and liked the outcome in both cases, but I don't know anyone who has lyrics in need of music ATM. At least not anyone whose lyrics match my songwriting style. (PM me if you do though ;))

kmill31415

15 Jul 2007, 08:13 AM

I've had years of classical training for piano and 'cello, which I think has kind of put me in a box, making the possibilities of the instruments seem more limited. I think it is because of the emphasis on virtuosic performance and playing exactly what the composer intended on the score (something from the end of the romantic period, probably), instead of being able to make music on the fly. I've been trying to learn how to improvise recently, and all I can come up with so far are simple minor waltzes...

As for composition, I've been trying to pick that up as well. I've been trying to write things for strings, mainly, because I have a better chance of hearing my works performed that way since I'm a part of a school orchestra. http://kylem.net/pages/projects/music_comp.html has some of my compositions with recordings. My favorite is probably the string quartet.

I really like composing music because of the structure, and because music is such an abstract thing. It's like building with legos or something as I'm putting themes and harmonies together.

nagrom

15 Jul 2007, 08:40 AM

epsilon72

15 Jul 2007, 08:43 AM

When I was in high school I was 1st alto sax in jazz band - not because of any improvisation ability, but because of my technical skill.

I wanted to do improv, but all of the options of what to do and my inability to translate what I could come up with in my head to my fingers sort of paralyzed me. In the end, I just let 2nd alto have all of the solos.

Improvisation would've been fun though, I think, if I could've done it.

SCARYdoor

15 Jul 2007, 08:58 AM

I study jazz music. I've been playing guitar for a few years. I've spent most of this year just trying to improvise well, and it's really hard.

I get really tired having to play the same thing over and over again so that I can play these "ideas" instantly whenever I think of them. I think you have to become some sort of T/S duality so that you can grasp all the theoretical parts of it, and also have the practicality to pull them off. It can be a little frustrating... but also enjoyable...

Sierim

15 Jul 2007, 09:58 AM

I used to improvise quite a bit on the piano (though I wasn't very good at it and always played a drumbeat for the bass), but more recently I seem to have lost any ability to do so. I have some recordings, but they're really awful quality (think "computer microphone and a piano on the other side of the room" quality).

cjs55

15 Jul 2007, 10:56 AM

I've been a composer. I like to think I still am. When I was in high school I wrote midi's. They were kinda rock/classical/metal/video game music weirdness.

http://home.utah.edu/~u0297683/midi/Awaken/

kuranes

15 Jul 2007, 05:33 PM

Has anyone heard much by this group - which is known for strictly adhering to improvisation. ??

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AMM_(group)

Jennywocky

15 Jul 2007, 08:12 PM

It occurs to me that improvising music might be something that appeals to INTPs much more than general musical performance and practice would: it's a chance to be creative with complex logical structures, especially in jazz, but without a lot of prerequisite rudimentary practicing and emphasis on technical virtuosity...so, who here likes to make music on the fly? What instruments do you use, in what context (style, group)? How long have you been doing it?

I use piano, although I can play rudimentary things on most instruments just by fiddling. I have been playing the piano for over 30 years now.

Most of my experience at the moment is on a worship team, which has been a blast in terms of playing in a group. It was really nice to have other flexible people "throw things into the music," which I could then respond to and play off of. I really enjoying the improvisational aspect to things and prefer to follow and play, rather than have to lead and set the framework. I am good at hearing what's going, seeing what's missing, and filling it in to make everything "work" better.

But I've done personal improvisation. One night I just let the recorder run and started with some various "concepts," then let my hands take over and my imagination, to see where it went. I've realized over time I have a better skill in the improv real-time playing than I do in perfecting a piece by repeated practicing. If I try to conform to the "ideal" in my head, I do worse; I need to just relax and let the song tell me what to do and not worry about the outcome.

I just did this at my sister's wedding, I was the pianist for that, didn't practice, walked in and heard what other music was going to be going on, then changed how I played things so that it all meshed together. And afterwards, the band that was doing the recessional (a hand-drum and a few acoustic guitars) saw that the crowd wasn't out, so they kept playing... so I listened to what they were doing and added some things to what THEY were doing. It was very very cool, and a lot of fun, I just love the act of creation and seeing things unfold, not quite knowing what is going to happen next... and not being afraid of it either.

Also, any composers/songwriters here? I think composition in particular could appeal to INTPs, since it can be a very conceptual and structural way to understand music while being creative. I'm an undergraduate Music Composition major, which is why I ask...

From what I've read, composers (of any type) if they started at kids will usually veer into NOT playing what is on the written page (i.e., they start changing the notes) around age 11-12. This sounds about right. For an adult, it depends on the speed at which the musical skill is being developed, I guess... but the first step a composer takes is modifying the written page because it's either imperfect or not as good as it could be. Then they move into full-blow composition.

I think one fatal weakness of INTPs is trying to compose like a J -- i.e., working to craft this immaculate, perfect piece, and never finishing it because they just don't have the J temperament in place to reach the endpoint. INTPs I think do better trusting their Ne here, going with what they sense, and not worrying about overpolishing things. INTPs usually also would do best setting a few parameters to use -- picking an arbitrary theme and style and anchoring THAT aspect, then using that to generate the rest of the song. Otherwise the INTP has nothing to play off of, and I think the Ne is a very reactive sense, compared to all the introverted perceiving oriented functions.

Just my ideas off the top of my head, maybe I would refine them if I thought about it more...

kmill31415

15 Jul 2007, 09:38 PM

rawr

15 Jul 2007, 09:48 PM

here. you guys think to much about music, just play and it will come.

jleonardbc

16 Jul 2007, 12:34 AM

I think one fatal weakness of INTPs is trying to compose like a J -- i.e., working to craft this immaculate, perfect piece, and never finishing it because they just don't have the J temperament in place to reach the endpoint. INTPs I think do better trusting their Ne here, going with what they sense, and not worrying about overpolishing things. INTPs usually also would do best setting a few parameters to use -- picking an arbitrary theme and style and anchoring THAT aspect, then using that to generate the rest of the song. Otherwise the INTP has nothing to play off of, and I think the Ne is a very reactive sense, compared to all the introverted perceiving oriented functions.

Good points. Last semester I had my first Composition class...it was really freeing to have the prof assign very constrained assignments (like, write a one-page melody using only three notes; write chords for an ascending major scale; write a melody for a piece of text; etc.) because something is already fixed and I can focus on building around that. It's kind of like the idea that, to pay attention to anything, a fixed point of attention is required--I think it was monks who used to wear hats that touched a point on the back of their head to take advantage of this fact (namely, that if your attention is fixed on one thing, then the rest of your conscious attention is free to focus elsewhere--also used in meditation). Rather than just saying, "Write something," it gives you a smaller chunk to deal with--focusing on a few aspects at a time.

And yes, I figured both improvising and composing would appeal to the INTP's intuitive tendencies, but overpolishing is the bane of the INTP composer (read: me), often making the above assignments take hours. I need to figure out how to speed up the process or rely on intuition if I'm going to make it through the rest of my classes. I'll post more about my musical experiences later.

Just my ideas off the top of my head, maybe I would refine them if I thought about it more...,

The universal title of an INTP's compositions.

The Concertinist

16 Jul 2007, 01:44 AM

My axe is the english concertina, and I can't improvise much at all outside of adding a fifth here and there, or throwing in a descending arpegio at the end, or other basic stuff like that.

HOWEVER, on drums (mostly bodhran, but standard rock sets also) improv. is pretty much all I do. I love throwing out random, different rhythms, all tied together by a consistent tempo (without tempo, you have nothing).

So yes, and no.

The Concertinist

16 Jul 2007, 01:47 AM

it was really freeing to have the prof assign very constrained assignments (like, write a one-page melody using only three notes; write chords for an ascending major scale; write a melody for a piece of text; etc.) because something is already fixed and I can focus on building around that.

I've always thought that true creativity is born from strict limitations. Assuming I'm right, that might also explain why you think it's freeing.

Faust06

16 Jul 2007, 02:30 AM

I love jamming about every now and then... I find myself doing that more than composing sometimes. I'm trying to draw from Allan Holdsworth's approach to improv, with different stylistics though.

I do try to make "perfect" songs, even if I never get there. I'll listen to something over in my head and work it out that way.

azurwarrior

16 Jul 2007, 04:14 AM

I tried improvising on trumpet, but got nowhere that I was happy with. (Of course what I would have been happy with would be to be the Yardbird Parker equivalent of the trumpet). LOL.
But when I learned the blues scales, I could come up with something that other people liked...
On drums, I like to play a wall of sound with our without other musicians.
Bending time, going "out"-it's fun.
How to have that flexibility AND a steady hi hat ala Elvin Jones-I'm not there yet. Probably never will be. I'm just not that disciplined. Not enough "J," if you will.
But it's fun to create and just let the music go where it wants to.

xNTP

16 Jul 2007, 04:18 AM

Drums / Rock, Metal, Funk/Soul, or some combination thereof.

The thing that sucks you in about improv, and I imagine that sucks everyone in, regardless of type (with modest correlation, at best) is that it requires attention, feedback, and skill. It's a lot like meditation or flow (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flow_(psychology)) which most people can enjoy once they develop the requisite skill to put them in the zone.

rhinosaur

16 Jul 2007, 04:20 AM

Yes, I play guitar pretty well and can fake it on about six other instruments. I like to improvise with other people, especially a good drummer. I've only written two or three decent songs, though. Improvisation becomes much cooler once you start to understand how chords work and what sounds good with what.

My mom kinda taught me to read music when I was little, but I can't sight-read. If you give me a sheet I'd have to pick my way through it note for note.

LtDistracted

16 Jul 2007, 05:07 AM

I'm learning guitar, but since I'm only six months in, I don't know nearly enough to start doing improv. I do, however, mess around with strumming patterns.

Improv is one of my ultimate goals, but for now I'm going to focus on becoming a passable guitarist.

jleonardbc

16 Jul 2007, 04:19 PM

The thing that sucks you in about improv, and I imagine that sucks everyone in, regardless of type (with modest correlation, at best) is that it requires attention, feedback, and skill. It's a lot like meditation or flow (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flow_(psychology)) which most people can enjoy once they develop the requisite skill to put them in the zone.

Yes, I definitely think flow has something to do with the appeal...I've read Csikszentmihalyi's 'Creativity', which I'd highly recommend to any of you--he discusses the concept at length. Intuitives in general would be more prone to achieving a flow state, I think, which might be why INTPs are so adept at concentration.

Improv is one of my ultimate goals, but for now I'm going to focus on becoming a passable guitarist.

There's nothing wrong with achieving a 'certain level' before thinking about improvising, but that can go on forever...as soon as you can play a note, you can play a note that isn't written. Technique enables you to bring the musical lines that happen in your head into reality, but you should seek to do that with simple lines as soon as possible...even just playing a melody over one or two chords, for example, or just using the notes in a major scale. I think it's an integral skill to developing a feel for music--not saying you shouldn't focus on becoming a passable guitarist before really focusing on improvising, just that you shouldn't rule out the possibility of playing around and toying with the things you're learning to make them your own.

ajblaise

16 Jul 2007, 05:36 PM

I improvise with e-drums and synth.

If any of you are ever in the upstate NY area(way upstate) give me a PM if you want to jam. I live in an apartment with 2 other musicians.

Jennywocky

16 Jul 2007, 05:40 PM

There's nothing wrong with achieving a 'certain level' before thinking about improvising, but that can go on forever...as soon as you can play a note, you can play a note that isn't written. ...I think it's an integral skill to developing a feel for music--not saying you shouldn't focus on becoming a passable guitarist before really focusing on improvising, just that you shouldn't rule out the possibility of playing around and toying with the things you're learning to make them your own.

Yes, I think it's a "both simultaneous" thing. Practicing technique/skill enables one to play better and try more challenging improv (just as building up one's vocabulary enables one to become a better writer, because a variety of options exist and more nuances can be explored). But one also can also develop the intuitive grasp of music at the same time.

It's one of those things that really is not learned easily except by getting one's "hands dirty." Said another way, you gain a lot more in trying to improv with a group for five minutes than you could gain sitting around THINKING about improv and what you COULD do for an hour.

I would recommend a regiment including things like:
1. practicing technique (scales, intervals, etc. -- the technical practice to learn the instrument).
2. some time screwing around by oneself, trying to play songs from memory.
3. time playing along with recordings of songs -- first playing what you hear, then trying to play things that aren't in the recording but still fit with it.
4. Listening to recordings (SERIOUS listening -- how the song fits together, how particular people "resolved" different problems when they were improvising, and so forth).
5. Getting together once every week or two (if not more) to play with a group of like-minded people.

Be prepared to sound like crap and feel clumsy and god-awful at the beginning. But it gets better. I have people come up and tell me how wonderfully I play... and now I think to myself, "Hey, this is what thirty years of playing the piano does. This stuff doesn't happen overnight." But many people find it easier to put it beyond them and credit it to just raw talent. (Yes, I might have had a talent for it, but I had to work at it too.)

Since I'm awful at practicing and perseverance, I'm glad my parents stuck my nose to the grindstone until I got enough positive vibes off things to continue on my desire.

if it helps, when I started worship band around year 2000 at our church, there was a 15-year-old kid trying to learn the guitar. He wasn't too great at first, he barely knew chords. But he wanted to learn, and he sat around playing along with 70's rock albums and classical music, lots of different styles. Within a few years, he was very solid. And now he's an excellent guitarist, I'm jealous of the things he can do on that guitar (mostly electric now, he's switched over from acoustic, but STILL). Believe it or not, lots of adlibs actually come from listening to what OTHER people have done, copying them, THEN branching out.

(I know of another pianist a generation older than me, who knew 10,000 songs from memory. All the stuff you hear in bars, the old classic tunes, the ragtime stuff, etc. He learned them all by listening to old records and memorizing them... then he could take them and mix up the pieces and borrow things from here or there to create his own sound. Much of "creativity" is actually just taking what you've already heard and twisting it or modifying it a bit or assembling it in a NEW way. It's not all raw "new" stuff.)

If you have the desire and an average level of skill, you can learn these things even if you never become the "genius" you might want to be.

int

16 Jul 2007, 06:12 PM

One thing I do want to try is writing music for someone's lyrics. I've sort-of done this a couple times and liked the outcome in both cases, but I don't know anyone who has lyrics in need of music ATM. At least not anyone whose lyrics match my songwriting style. (PM me if you do though ;))

I'm currently looking for a singer that can help me turn my music into something worthwhile as well. Ideally, I'll finid someone who can put lyrics and a vocal line down to the myriad of songs I'm recording at home and we can hire some other musicians when we want to play out. The time not spent playing out will be spent shopping the songs for commercial use.

As far as the OP goes, every gig usually leaves some room for improvisiation. I play bass guitar (primarily). I'm definitely more of the songwriting type, but rarely do I ever play the same fill twice in the same song, and I'm always coming up with something new to fill the end of a phrase - or to work off the fills and dynamics of whatever drummer we've hired. In one band I play with, the singer writes all the songs and leaves plenty of open space for solos and improvisation - although holding back can sometimes be what's needed too.

I played in school jazz bands, but didn't like the attitudes of most of the other musicians I played with, especially once I got to college (and why I didn't major in music).

Some songs though, come from improv alone. 1 track I recently recorded wasn't put together past the 1st chorus, so we let the singer go with his gut as the drummer & I listened for changes while recording. I had planned on re-tracking the bass line later, but the one written on the fly did the job - and went on the album.

Faust06

17 Jul 2007, 03:05 AM

I played in school jazz bands, but didn't like the attitudes of most of the other musicians I played with, especially once I got to college (and why I didn't major in music).

Jazz snobs are the WORST. They're just elitists.

The way I see it, if I can play what I hear in my mind, I'm proficient enough. Haven't quite gotten to that level yet.

On the OTHER hand, I've heard things that I'm sure you couldn't just imagine in your mind (the conception of it I mean). That's also part of being progressive. That aspect is much more limited however.

jleonardbc

17 Jul 2007, 03:55 AM

Jazz snobs are the WORST. They're just elitists.

The way I see it, if I can play what I hear in my mind, I'm proficient enough. Haven't quite gotten to that level yet.

On the OTHER hand, I've heard things that I'm sure you couldn't just imagine in your mind (the conception of it I mean). That's also part of being progressive. That aspect is much more limited however.

I think the ideal for any musical performance situation--improvised or recited--would be to play what you hear in your mind: no more, no less. You'll often hear people wank away during a solo throwing out memorized riffs or strangling good simple ideas with thoughtless flourishes...elegance is key.

Also, this is where things like learning music theory, listening to and analyzing lots of music, ear training, etc. come into play: broadening your ability to hear things in your mind, expanding what kinds of things you can hear, being able to hear more complex things...the 'intuitive' aspect, which goes hand in hand with the ability to bring those ideas into reality.

squirrel

17 Jul 2007, 04:28 AM

I played in school jazz bands, but didn't like the attitudes of most of the other musicians I played with, especially once I got to college (and why I didn't major in music).

Same experience here. For all the stereotypes of jazzers being "laid-back" a lot of them take themselves and their music way too seriously (not all, I've known some truly "laid-back" and easy-to-get-along-with hardcore jazzers). Myself and a couple friends who were also in the school jazz band were effectively ostracized from the jazzers' clique for also being in the school marching band (apparently that's not "real" music). My senior year I dropped jazz band entirely (boy were they upset at me for not being "loyal") and just did marching band... the culture was much better suited to my personality.

The Concertinist

17 Jul 2007, 04:37 PM

Same experience here. For all the stereotypes of jazzers being "laid-back" a lot of them take themselves and their music way too seriously

Yeah, I've noticed that too. Music is what's important, not how you get to it, but many musicians are too concerned with being cool to allow people to find their own way to music. I've often wondered if the "cool" musicians really even like music at all, or are they there simply for the fringe benefits associated with being a musician.

Jacque

18 Jul 2007, 12:49 AM

I play alto sax and keyboard. My mind isn't sophisticated enough for jazz improvisation. I'm somewhere, taste-wise, between bebop and smooth (commercial) jazz, but I do have a thing for folksy tunes, especially the gypsy scales, which I only do on the keyboard. Of course, I love Ravel and Dvor?k and how they incorporated folk tunes in their pieces. Currently, Balkan Beat Box does what I absolutely love about music, cultural fusion.

LowEnd

24 Aug 2007, 12:34 PM

I've been studying/practicing music for a bout 10 years and I could never learn 'music theory' because i found it so boring. So that whole 10 years has been spent improvising, and improving at it. My main instrument is bass guitar but im also pretty nifty with an acoustic guitar.
I write music as well, but even that is in an 'improv' kinda way, playing along and just 'feeling' what should come next, then record it.

I recently finished a 13 minute instrumental piece called 'Thought Cant Be Caught', it ranges from calm melodic 'fluttery' guitar parts, to brutal death metal parts, with a lots of transition and variation. Feel free to have a listen..

---took the link off cos the tune ain't on there anymore---

any response would be very appreciated.

Autumn

24 Aug 2007, 07:19 PM

I recently finished a 13 minute instrumental piece called 'Thought Cant Be Caught', it ranges from calm melodic 'fluttery' guitar parts, to brutal death metal parts, with a lots of transition and variation. Feel free to have a listen..

myspace.com/glenvokes

Man, this is cool! I really like it. Maybe I'm just in the good mood for it, but it's :thumbup:

Iconoclasm Conquest

24 Aug 2007, 07:33 PM

To answer the OP's question:

I'm extremely musically inclined. I've written a small amount of music as well as done some improvisation. I find that writing music and improvisation require an extraversion that I do not possess; such things make me very uncomfortable.

EDIT: I write and improvise stuff in my head all the time. In there, it's FUN. Externally, it's like pulling teeth.

Autumn

24 Aug 2007, 07:41 PM

I play the piano. Well... used to.
I like writing little melodys. That's a kind of improvision but it's "offline". I tryed jazz for a littlebit but "realtime" improvision is killing me. I'm too slow for that.

LowEnd

25 Aug 2007, 06:35 PM

Man, this is cool! I really like it.

cheers mate.
I'm glad you do.

Mahavidya

3 Oct 2007, 09:36 PM

Improvising is about all I do, especially within the context of noise.

Tayshaun

3 Oct 2007, 11:18 PM

Yes, jazz pianist.

I made a small living out of it in Sweden last year.

I'm regularly called by various bands for one-gig replacement arrangements because they feel safe using me when the material is discovered live and there is no time for me to rehearse. However, my technique is sound but not dazzling at all (I'm very lazy and am not a 'natural' technician). I can play whatever I hear on cue which is popular in parties where I spontaneously play whatever people have in mind.

ajblaise

4 Oct 2007, 04:26 AM

I try to write, but end up only spending probably 2 hours max on the project until i start a new one usually.

Now i just improv mainly with recordings. I'm self taught 95% (elementary school drummer in "band"), i don't know anything about notes or chords or anything...so whatever comes out of me sounds much more original than the norm (at least that's my goal), i'm not using any pre-existing system or theory..and i think it's working, but it probably does take me longer to write this way.

Nocapszy

4 Oct 2007, 09:33 AM

Improv guitar and drums. A lot of my drum stuff it's heavy Niel Peart influenced and the guitar's got everything from Stevie Ray Vaughan to John Petrucci. Admittedly, Lifeson is in there too. I like Rush. Also, my riffing improv riffing sounds like old metallica combined with tool.

I try to write, but end up only spending probably 2 hours max on the project until i start a new one usually.

Goddamn. I do the same thing. I even try to record some stuff in hopes that I'll perfect it later. It never happens. A lot of the time it's because once I record something, I've got a billion ideas for something I could dub over it whether it be a harmony or a counter melody, maybe a solo or something. Then I save it on my computer so I don't lose it while I go making up some other crap.

Rincon

4 Oct 2007, 10:53 AM

Goddamn. I do the same thing. I even try to record some stuff in hopes that I'll perfect it later. It never happens. A lot of the time it's because once I record something, I've got a billion ideas for something I could dub over it whether it be a harmony or a counter melody, maybe a solo or something. Then I save it on my computer so I don't lose it while I go making up some other crap.

Which is why P musicians and J producers can often work magic together.

Nocapszy

5 Oct 2007, 02:23 AM

Which is why P musicians and J producers can often work magic together.

Damn yeah. Or the other way around. P producers giving a lot of ideas to the J musicians. Then you know you've got some really tight musicianship too, because the J will likely have rehearsed and practiced their instrument enough to keep it locked and solid.

It's no good for stage shows though 'cause they'll wanna play it the same because that's the way they practiced it. I like them to play something different when there's a stage show so it's like there's something new. Justification for not just going to the bowling alley and listening to the record.

Birdsnest

8 Oct 2007, 02:41 PM

Yes, this is the only way I play piano, I kind of just play, and whatever comes out, comes out, it ranges from boogie woogie, to creative arpegios, to my own written songs. I have a full sized 88 key Yamaha Clavinova, but I prefer a real piano. I write songs or poems, and then play them on the piano sort of. But I do it only when the mood strikes me to, which is rare, so I really don't do it more than a few times a year. Its a little like tapping into a 'mood' and it just flows. I'm not professional, just play for an outlet of repressed feeling and mood. Neighbors say they like to hear it though, so sometimes I really can tap in to something good.

OnAnIsland

20 Oct 2007, 12:59 PM

I'm an improvising musician because I have no idea what I am doing!

Ariel

21 Oct 2007, 09:56 AM

I improv. some neat quasi-flamenco peices on my acoustic guitar. I want to do more on my electric, an epiphone sg special, but I'm still saving up for an adequate amp; I don't know what to get. Anyone have reccomendations for a decent guitarist with no real "plugged" experience?

Also, while I know the pentatonic scales pretty well, I want some advice on doing lead solos. Learning things like Classical Gass, Under the Bridge, and the Spanish Ballad are easy for me, but I have nobody to jam with at home. Advice, fellow INTPs?

Meliora

21 Oct 2007, 10:31 AM

I can improv pretty well on drums, and do it decently on guitar/bass. I think it's all about having a solid knowledge of the basics of music theory and getting to where you don't even have to think about them in relation to whatever your playing. You just know what will work, rhythmically and melodically. I've grown very fond lately of playing a little "outside the lines" when I can, especially on drums. Making music is a beautiful thing, to be sure.

ECT

22 Oct 2007, 08:11 AM

Musical improvisation is my #1 passion in life. I play every instrument I can possibly get my hands on.

By the way, this is my very first post. Cool site.

I would put up a link to my music, but there's some rule which says I can't. If anyone has any particular inclination to hear it I can show you the link.

OnAnIsland

22 Oct 2007, 08:18 AM

I would put up a link to my music, but there's some rule which says I can't. If anyone has any particular inclination to hear it I can show you the link.
What rule? Where? Since when did musicians follow rules? Go on. Put your link!

ECT

22 Oct 2007, 08:31 AM

OnAnIsland

22 Oct 2007, 08:36 AM

Sorry, I should have been more specific. Apparently users with fewer than 15 posts can't post links. Maybe if I do it like this?

h t t p : / / w w w . m y s p a c e . c o m / freeimprovfromriverfalls
Cool! I am going now to check it out. Get posting fast then! Just post anything randomly all around the site! :devil:

OnAnIsland

22 Oct 2007, 11:57 AM

Sorry, I should have been more specific. Apparently users with fewer than 15 posts can't post links. Maybe if I do it like this?

h t t p : / / w w w . m y s p a c e . c o m / freeimprovfromriverfalls

Wow man! That's wicked. Everyone go listen! :headphone:

Technical

12 Nov 2007, 10:42 AM

Songwriter/Singer/Guitarist, but not professionally.