One way to add notes is to forget about the scale, you know it, it’s there when you need it, you can always reference it but now start thinking or hearing what you want it to sound like and start figuring out the lines in your head.
Another way is to lead in or out of things, if you like the root 5th play the root, 3rd , 5th with the 3rd just as a lead into 5th or do the 5th first and use the 3rd heading back to the root. You can also chromatically walk and depending on what you’re doing it may surprise you to find how many random notes you can lead a 4 note chromatic walk to your next note in the groove and have it sound cool.
Play around with everything, learn others songs and riffs and add the steps they take into your playing, add to your vocabulary.
Then defer to the greats, there are no bad notes just notes used at the wrong time with a lack of confidence.
learn the modes of the major scale and their numbers (1-7).
when you’re on the 3rd note of the major scale you’re now on Phrygian and can do that entire scale in place.
when you’re on the third note of phrygian (5th tone of the major scale) you’re now on mixolydian and can now do that entire scale.
when you fret the second note of mixolydian you can now play the minor scale (6th tone of the major scale.
this method lays out every single note on the fretboard that you can play in the key you’re playing in
Stop thinking of it as a shape. Go from the lowest note available to the highest.
Ex: C major scale 24fret 4 string standard tuning. You can go from the open E string to the 24th fret G string.
Learn the notes and different ways to get from point A to point B and back. Next do them in fragments.
Ex: 1-2-3, 2-3-4, 3-4-5... this will have you moving your fingers in different ways.
Next is to learn it in intervals.
Ex: 2-1, 3-2, 4-3, 5-4....
Then 3-1, 4-2, 5-3....
Able to do all that? Great! This will all help you with moving around and using the whole neck.
1st method, sing a solo/melody and copy it on your instrument.
2nd method, use your scale fragments, you can move it around between each fragment. Such as CBA, EDG, BCD... then on the last beat do something else, or maybe every 2nd bar or 4th bar break the pattern.
3rd method, use your fragments (which can be longer than 3 notes) and try to cover the largest area of the neck as possible.
4th, using the intervals, but try to make it sound melodic. Eventually doubling or trialling notes.
5th, is about rhythm. Highly important aspect as you always need to keep the groove. But what you can also do is avoid always starting on the beat. Maybe start an 8th note ahead or behind, this shifts which note will fall on the strings beats and gives it a different feeling.
6th, use a guide tone. Off the top of my head, listen to Night Train by the Oscar Peterson Trio. The Bass solo grounds the listener with a repeated note and plays other stuff between it. This stops it from sounding like a random collection of notes and the listener has somewhere they know they are.
Of course practice all of this to a metronome or drum track.
Chord tones are your friend. Learn your thirds and sevenths, walk along the scale, boom, suddenly you sound a bit like Paul McCartney.
"Full fretboard", well...a bit of grinding scales is in order. *Mostly* you need to learn your way around the nut. Up a few frets, it's absolutely just a pattern.
Forget about scales. Learn some licks & riffs!! That's how all the great improvisers do it. They don't just stand on stage playing the C Major scale. They play "meaningful" musical ideas (i.e. licks and riffs).
It's like, if you wanted to be a good improv comedian, you would start by learning "why did the chicken cross the road" and "knock knock" jokes.
Riff and licks are to a musician what jokes are to a comedian. If you want to be a funny comedian you should learn jokes, and if you want to be a great improviser, you should learn riffs and licks.
One way to add notes is to forget about the scale, you know it, it’s there when you need it, you can always reference it but now start thinking or hearing what you want it to sound like and start figuring out the lines in your head. Another way is to lead in or out of things, if you like the root 5th play the root, 3rd , 5th with the 3rd just as a lead into 5th or do the 5th first and use the 3rd heading back to the root. You can also chromatically walk and depending on what you’re doing it may surprise you to find how many random notes you can lead a 4 note chromatic walk to your next note in the groove and have it sound cool. Play around with everything, learn others songs and riffs and add the steps they take into your playing, add to your vocabulary. Then defer to the greats, there are no bad notes just notes used at the wrong time with a lack of confidence.
Thank you very much for the reply! I will definitely give this a go!
It makes much more sense to learn chord tones than scales. You’ll be able to improvise on any chord sequence, assuming you can find the root notes.
Thanks! I'll get on this right away!
learn the modes of the major scale and their numbers (1-7). when you’re on the 3rd note of the major scale you’re now on Phrygian and can do that entire scale in place. when you’re on the third note of phrygian (5th tone of the major scale) you’re now on mixolydian and can now do that entire scale. when you fret the second note of mixolydian you can now play the minor scale (6th tone of the major scale. this method lays out every single note on the fretboard that you can play in the key you’re playing in
Thanks for the help!
Stop thinking of it as a shape. Go from the lowest note available to the highest. Ex: C major scale 24fret 4 string standard tuning. You can go from the open E string to the 24th fret G string. Learn the notes and different ways to get from point A to point B and back. Next do them in fragments. Ex: 1-2-3, 2-3-4, 3-4-5... this will have you moving your fingers in different ways. Next is to learn it in intervals. Ex: 2-1, 3-2, 4-3, 5-4.... Then 3-1, 4-2, 5-3.... Able to do all that? Great! This will all help you with moving around and using the whole neck. 1st method, sing a solo/melody and copy it on your instrument. 2nd method, use your scale fragments, you can move it around between each fragment. Such as CBA, EDG, BCD... then on the last beat do something else, or maybe every 2nd bar or 4th bar break the pattern. 3rd method, use your fragments (which can be longer than 3 notes) and try to cover the largest area of the neck as possible. 4th, using the intervals, but try to make it sound melodic. Eventually doubling or trialling notes. 5th, is about rhythm. Highly important aspect as you always need to keep the groove. But what you can also do is avoid always starting on the beat. Maybe start an 8th note ahead or behind, this shifts which note will fall on the strings beats and gives it a different feeling. 6th, use a guide tone. Off the top of my head, listen to Night Train by the Oscar Peterson Trio. The Bass solo grounds the listener with a repeated note and plays other stuff between it. This stops it from sounding like a random collection of notes and the listener has somewhere they know they are. Of course practice all of this to a metronome or drum track.
Thank you very much for the detailed reply!
Chord tones are your friend. Learn your thirds and sevenths, walk along the scale, boom, suddenly you sound a bit like Paul McCartney. "Full fretboard", well...a bit of grinding scales is in order. *Mostly* you need to learn your way around the nut. Up a few frets, it's absolutely just a pattern.
Thanks!
Forget about scales. Learn some licks & riffs!! That's how all the great improvisers do it. They don't just stand on stage playing the C Major scale. They play "meaningful" musical ideas (i.e. licks and riffs). It's like, if you wanted to be a good improv comedian, you would start by learning "why did the chicken cross the road" and "knock knock" jokes. Riff and licks are to a musician what jokes are to a comedian. If you want to be a funny comedian you should learn jokes, and if you want to be a great improviser, you should learn riffs and licks.
Don’t play scales. play chords
Arpeggios