Improvising Methodology

Rode exercise bike for 1/2 hour. Lost 4.2 pounds this week!

Now, with regards to guitar practice today....it went really well. Want to make some notes to myself with regards to improvising. Sorry if it doesn't make sense to you:

1) To improvise, you need to make sure you are playing the appropriate pattern that goes with the key of the chord.

2) To find the key of the chord, use the diatonic scale: I ii iii IV V7 vi vi dim7.

A great hint with regard to what key you are in is finding the key of the V7 in a progression.

3) When you find the right key for a chord, play a pattern that uses the root of the major scale as that key.

 

I'm using 5 patterns: each one has the major scale embedded in there. 

So practicing today was quite fruitful. Not only did I start applying this method to improvising over "Misty," but I also learned the value of:

LEARNING THE PATTERNS INSIDE AND OUT. 

That is crucial!!! So today I really worked on the fifth pattern; even making up little riffs based on the pattern. Very pleasing.

Now for the bad news, though. Looks like in order to play the melody line of a song, I will possibly need to learn how to read music better. I can't rely on my ear, because it's really not that accurate. And I can't really rely on one major scale because the melody can be all over the place. I can continue to read the melody on the first position on the guitar; however, it would be great to learn how to read on different areas of the guitar neck. Not looking forward to that!

But a really good guitar day! Learning that patience, again, is key.