Okay, so this morning, I saw @jak post a backing track, and I had free time and an empty house.
So… What does that mean? “Huh. Why don’t I improv over it and record it? Like, without even listening to it first? What could possibly go wrong?”
First, I’m kinda lucky the guitar was actually pretty much in-tune. I literally picked up, plugged in, and fired up the recording. This is kamikaze shit, and sometimes it certainly sounds like it. I’m definitely not a blues guy, and I’m not a theory guy, either, though I am working on that part at syngates.com. This was early morning, no practice, no warmup, first take, experimental nonsense. Call it a baseline. I want to see over time if my improv gets better as I get more theory under my fingers. Bad notes, bad phrases, bad timing – it’s all in there. Twelve plus minutes of nonsense for maybe 35 seconds of good stuff. I also have a really dumb-looking guitar face. Oh well. Can’t do anything about that.
So, if you’ve been playing for two years and think your improv sounds like shit, this is over 30 years of playing, and while there’s some pretty good stuff in there, there’s also a shit-ton of awfulness in there, too. And I was still brave/stupid enough to internet it.
So have fun, be brave, expose yourself (but, you know, not in THAT way), and get used to the genuine reactions. Appreciate them.
OK, everyone who makes it through to the end, point out your favorite bad part.
So… What does that mean? “Huh. Why don’t I improv over it and record it? Like, without even listening to it first? What could possibly go wrong?”
First, I’m kinda lucky the guitar was actually pretty much in-tune. I literally picked up, plugged in, and fired up the recording. This is kamikaze shit, and sometimes it certainly sounds like it. I’m definitely not a blues guy, and I’m not a theory guy, either, though I am working on that part at syngates.com. This was early morning, no practice, no warmup, first take, experimental nonsense. Call it a baseline. I want to see over time if my improv gets better as I get more theory under my fingers. Bad notes, bad phrases, bad timing – it’s all in there. Twelve plus minutes of nonsense for maybe 35 seconds of good stuff. I also have a really dumb-looking guitar face. Oh well. Can’t do anything about that.
So, if you’ve been playing for two years and think your improv sounds like shit, this is over 30 years of playing, and while there’s some pretty good stuff in there, there’s also a shit-ton of awfulness in there, too. And I was still brave/stupid enough to internet it.
So have fun, be brave, expose yourself (but, you know, not in THAT way), and get used to the genuine reactions. Appreciate them.
OK, everyone who makes it through to the end, point out your favorite bad part.