One of the most common things I tell students who want to start improvising on their guitar, is to not be afraid to let your fingers dance on the fretboard. Let your approach be like the dancer who has learned all the right steps and moves, and has worked on her technique, developed skill and precision, and now takes all that and expresses her emotion in a free form dance. And this dance from the heart touches you more than any previous interpretation performed.
   
      If that example doesn't work for you try this... think of how much you've enjoyed taking care of your car. You tinker with it. Buy it nice accessories. Learn enough about it to repair and maintain it yourself. You change the brakes. Add dual exhaust. Buy more cars. Trade. Rebuild engines. Maybe even race. Now you decide to design and build one on the spot. From the ground up.

That's improvising...     and it better not suck.        Ha ha! I'm sorry.           I don't mean to be too harsh.

     But that is how it feels sometimes. The pressure can be intense. Whether it's in front of friends and family or other band mates, or your music teacher, improvising can be a daunting proposition. But once you understand it enough to realize you can't ever truly understand it all, and you just do it anyway, that's when you see how it feels and you just can't quit. You just can't quit! It's like getting drunk and dancing until you pass out (except safer and more fun!). You play it until you can't take it and pass the lick to the next guy and when you finally come to... it's back in your hands again!

     Anyone can improvise in the same way that anyone can do their own dance. Of course there are different levels and different styles. But this is why we can all bounce together at a music festival or concert. The key is to start with what you know and naturally feel. If you know a couple guitar chords all you need to do is take those notes and play them by themselves individually, one at a time and mix them up in any order that pleases you  in place of the rhythm strokes. Change the selection of notes when the chord changes. If you play a note that sounds "wrong" let it act as a bridge to slide into or bend into a note that sounds "right" or to what your ear is looking for anyway. Much the same way a dancer would turn a slight slip or unforeseen circumstance into a new move or expression of emotion you can turn a bad note into a way of getting to the good one. The only mistake that can really be made is the mistake of not believing in ones self. If you know where you are starting from you can find your way back.
     There is more than one way to get across the park. You might not choose to take the walking trail or the bicycle path but you will get there. You might hike over some rough terrain but you will see some scenery and wildlife that not everyone else will see who take the common routes. Welcome to improvising and the occasional jam.

     If you can stand up on your own two feet and bob your head up and down while you shuffle across the floor you have basic skills and are on your way to dancing. If you happen to know some chords, a couple scale patterns and can tap your foot, you've got the raw ingredients of an improvising monster on the guitar. If you're lacking in one of these areas there are countless avenues to obtaining the needed secret, sacred knowledge it takes to jam on the guitar in no time flat.

This is the mission of Riffing On Riffing. 

      Thanks for reading! Be sure to subscribe so you don't miss any articles or podcasts! 

Jerry O