Want To Improve My Improvisation/Phrasing Skills

[Solo Hero]

I want really improve my improvisation, I already know all the modes really well, in all position and every key. All these years, I've been focusing on my technique and learning scale box shapes, and I finally realised my phrasing is really bad, well not terrible, but I feel like my improvisation is boring and have no style, I seem to always play the same notes/similar style licks over and over again. I know, it takes a long time to improve phrasing and develop your own style, but can you guys suggest any advice?

thanks

[vette6600]

study some nice and slow blues tunes and listen for all the space.

also, find a jazz tune you like and memorize the melody in your head. then, take a familiar scale run (or anything else) and apply that timing to it

[Andelusion]

Start taking your time soloing and playing things you wouldn't normally play; start thinking about melodies, on and off your guitar. When you're not at your guitar try and hear a solo you'd like to play in your head, if you isolate a particular part of it and try to play it later the it's likely you'll be playing shapes and fingerings you wouldn't have thought of originally. This will also improve your phrasing for the same reason; as your fingers will instantly be trying to find new ways of phrasing things.

Start listening to some different music for inspiration?

Also, do you only improvise using scale shapes? I always agree with the: "Learn all the scale shapes and then forget them" quote, it's good to just be able to go anywhere on the neck without sticking to any shapes, to do this you'll obviously need to know the notes of your neck inside out.

Maybe concentrate on playing over a single chord, then variations of the chords with additions eg dominant 7ths, minor 9ths etc and concentrate on invidiual notes to investigate how each note of the chord complements the chord itself.

Good luck, we all go through down patches in our playing where we think we suck I'm there now! lol

[Solo Hero]

ok, I will try them, thanks for the advice guys !

[vette6600]

Originally Posted by Andelusion

I always agree with the: "Learn all the scale shapes and then forget them" quote

yea, thats something i wish i had done earlier. playing through scales over and over sounds cool when you first learn them because its like "hey, i know stuff," but then you get sick of hearing yourself play

[Chris From Singapore.]

Perhaps you should try listening to other instruments. As guitarists we tend to get stuck in shape playing land. Break of out that box and take a listen to other instruments, even the drums can be really inspiring. For example you could take a cool rhythm pattern you heard somewhere and apply it to other notes.

At the same time when you look at blues type of phrasing, pay attention to the fact that it does not really differ that much when you listen to music in a rock context. Most contemporary music today is based on pentatonics. But notice that blues type solos sound like a story, how one line follows another.

On this point, my advice is this, come up with one lick, paying close attention to the theme and the general feel of the lick. And try to come up with other licks that follow the first in its same sort of fashion.

I think it just all boils down to coming out of your personal comfort zone, break free and experiment.