Here are some tips to avoid the common pitfalls for those new to creating solos over backing tracks or your favourite songs.
Tip 1 - Check you are in the right key
Every lick or scale we have looked at in this course is in the key of A. The backing tracks included are in different keys other than A, but the title of each track will tell you what key it is in. All you have to do is move the same scale shape or lick to where it would be in this key.
Tip 2 - Cycling licks and repetition
Most of the licks we have learned sound great when we ‘cycle’ them, which is a lead guitar phrase that means repeat over and over. It doesn’t even have to be in time, just repeating a lick over and over can work really well!
Tip 3 - If in doubt, pause
After you are comfortable playing for the entire duration of a backing track, it is important to add time to think about what you actually want to play. Pausing is your friend. You don’t have to fill every second of improvisation with a not. Either leave silence or staying on the last note of a lick for a bar or two is totally fine!
Tips 4 - Make your improvisation fit the song or backing track
The better you get at improvisation, the less you will ‘make it up on the spot’ and the more you will actually plan what licks or scales will fit best over any given backing track or song. This is a contradiction to the more basic concepts we cover when first learning improvisation.
Tips 5 - What you play may not always sound good - this is fine!
When improvising, hitting some ‘bum’ notes is inevitable early on. Even the pros play the 'wrong notes' from time to time. The real secret is that they carry on playing and 'right the ship' as quickly as possible so nobody notices. This is why learning to keep going when you are unsure is so important.
However, there is another reason that we play some notes that don't work when improvising. The idea that any notes work so long as they are from the right scale is great in the beginning. However, more professional improvisation always takes into account trying to match the chord that is being played over and the musical feel of what is being improvised over.
Tips 6 - Listen to the track while you play and react to what you hear
Any hit points, musical phrases or stops in the song or backing track should be matched by what you improvise. Should you play more or stop during a silence in a track? This is not only tough, but always comes down to taste, experience and musicianship, all of which are only learned, trained and acquired by months and years or improvising.
