For me, improvising is one of the greatest musical joys. It's all about finding the flow, capturing the moment, and expressing yourself. In the video above, I was really enjoying myself - while hosting one of my regular live masterclass sessions (on my free Facebook group Learn Slide Guitar - join us, btw!)
But how do you start improvising, and how do you improvise with a slide guitar?
It's a complicated one to explain. It's not easy to find guitar lessons or a guitar mentor who specialises in improvisation (but luckily, here I am 😉😂). There are two elements to learning to improvise, I think, and I'll describe them below:
- Stockpile music knowledge
This might sound silly, but the more you know, the easier improvising should be. People often wonder why they need to learn scales - well here is your answer. If you've got a load of scales and arpeggios under your belt, your fingers will naturally start falling in the right places. What is more, you can be given a key (your mate shouts, “this one's in A minor!” from across the jam session) and you can then use your knowledge of the relevant scale to play along. The more you know, the more helpful - the structure of chord sequences, how chords relate to each other in different keys, different types of scale and mode etc.
However, some people do find that a little knowledge goes a long way, and before they can get in the flow, they are tripping over their academic ideas. They get so busy remembering scales that they lose the music and can't seem to just “go with it”. Which brings me to my second element of improvisation:
2. Let it all go
One of the strangely hardest things about good improvisation is entering the flow state required. Our culture rarely allows us to simply exist in the moment, but the need to exist in the moment is why improvising feels so good. However, if you've never done it before, you might well be tripped up by a little voice in your head overthinking what you are doing, “don't put your fingers there! Oh what key are you even trying to play in? What are you going to play next?"
The truth is, when improvising, you simply can't think about it too much. You have to let it go, be in the moment, and allow whatever comes out to come out. Try not to pre-judge yourself because that's when things start sounding hesitant and stumbly.
However, a balance is necessary, and that's where a programme like Five Steps to Slide Success can really help. If you've established strong playing foundations, with confident tuning and a good position that allows you to move freely, your improvisations are going to sound better from the start. What's more, I will ingrain knowledge of open tunings, scales, and my favourite “riff builder” position, which will give you a super useful framework to begin improvising from. I'll demystify all the technical stuff, and get you comfortable with playing, so that you can let your creativity shine through.
Sound good? If you're interesting in joining my Slide Success programme, and making the guitar sound the way you've always dreamed, have a browse of the programme HERE - and download your FREE Get Going With Slide Guide to get you started!
Happy sliding,
Phil