Being Creative

[RGMachine]

I am in the middle of going through Session 11 Pentatonic Scales and when I get to the jam along tracks in Am Pentatonic, Gm Pentatonic and Around the Pentatonic World, I get stuck in the same licks over and over again. I am struggling to find new licks and being creative with it. It just sounds like the same thing over and over again. I have gotten away from just playing the scales and patterns over it, but then it just sounds sloppy and uncreative. Please help if anyone has had this problem.

[NeilES335]

@RGMachine  It is easy to "get stuck" on playing the same penta scales/licks over and over. Rather than playing the scales up and down, try starting in the middle of the scale, focusing on the chord tones, like the 3rd, the 5th and the 7th and in a blues context the "blue notes" .  You can play around with different patterns, mix up the major and minor pentatonic scales, and come up with your own phrases and licks. Or just copy someone elses...everyone does it.  Steve did a Live Lesson on "Chord Tone Soloing" a while back which you could find on the YouTube page that could help. 

BTW; From S11 on, you'll be more "on your own" to utiliize what you've learned so far, and discover more. It's ok to seek outside "resources" too, if that helps you. 

and another thing; You've learned enought to be playing some songs now, so don't forget to fit those into your practice routine. The Song Hit's Course is a good one that more or less follows along with LMG.  A famous jazz guitarist Bucky Pizzelli once said "Everything you need to know is in the song". 

Happy Tunes; Neil

[Wim VD1]

@RGMachine, Session 19 is dedicated to soloing. It includes these guidelines:

 1)  Look  at  the  key  signature. 2)  Let  the  chord  tones  guide  you. 3)  Adjust  to  the  style  of  the  song. 4)  Use  finger  patterns  as  a  simple starting  point. 5)  Creativity  involves  lots  of  trial and  error.

Creative soloing takes a lot of time to develop. You need to know your scales and also learn licks by heart. Licks are like words that you use to make phrases. There are plenty of resources on blues licks.

it's also fun and rewarding to learn some entire solos from your favorite blues players.

Wim.

[matonanjin]

On 3/10/2020 at 1:21 PM, NeilES335 said:

BTW; From S11 on, you'll be more "on your own" to utiliize what you've learned so far, and discover more. It's ok to seek outside "resources" too, if that helps you. 

Happy Tunes; Neil

 

16 hours ago, Wim VD1 said:

Creative soloing takes a lot of time to develop. You need to know your scales and also learn licks by heart. Licks are like words that you use to make phrases. There are plenty of resources on blues licks.

it's also fun and rewarding to learn some entire solos from your favorite blues players.

@RGMachine, great advice both Neil and Wim suggested.   I found myself in exactly your situation when I was in session 11.  And, I hate to be the bearer of bad news but, I found myself doing the same thing in the blues session (13) also!  😡   I forget what old blues guy it was but someone said,  "There is nothing original.  We all steal each others' licks."  That wasn't an exact quote but you get the idea.

There are a lot of resources available to study licks.  I bought this from Steve some time ago:  Ultimate Blues Learning Bundle.  The lessons part was very good but the dvd of the 200 blues licks is really fun.  If I recall correctly there are 5 different instructors showing all styles of licks you can play along with.

I also went through a TrueFire course a while back.  You are are also in the beginning stages of soloing and 30 Beginner Blues Licks You Must Know was perfect for where I was at the time.  It is taught by Corey Congilio.  Steve had Corey at his guitar Gathering a couple years ago.

These both cost extra, of course.  There are a lot of free sources out there as well, of varying quality unfortunately, such as on Youtube.  But I think what Neil is saying is you are at the point to start bringing additional materials into your studies.  And I think most of us have done that.  And Wim is saying licks are the answer.  And I agree with both of these.

 

[RGMachine]

Thank you all for the great advice. I will definitely start to bring outside resources into my guitar practice time now as it will teach me as well as inspire me to be more creative. Thanks for the suggested resources, as I will start there. I will post in the discussion board next week and let ya'll know how it is going.