Jazz Guitar Tips

When learning arpegios, work them in cromatic ii V I progressions in all keys reapeating each key once. Then when you nail it the first time in each key you can reward your self by improvising the second time through the key.
This requires making a backing track for the ii V I in all keys

When you are working on a specific line, learn it in 5 positions on the neck, and then play it in all keys sticking to one position on the neck then move to the next positon

All these tips are very good and important but I searched this whol page and nowhere did I find "warmup". Warming up is NOT playing tunes or chords. Warming is gettting you hand and fingers readjusted to the guitar your are playing even if it is the same . This is done each time before you play your Guitar. This acclimates the hand and fingers to loosen them up to avoid cramping. Extensive time spent a fes hours befrore agn an then a quick review 5 to 10 minutes before your first set will help.

Ther are many types...Here's 1 type.

Warmup 1:
Go up and down the neck chromatically on each string individually fingering each fret and making each note sounding the same as you change positions. Do them with feel but evens 4's then do triplets. Try accenting each 1 , then 2, 3, 4....etc. Start SLOW to make the even them jazz notes. Accuracy is the goal. Speed will come and the improvement and ability of your playing will be obvious.

Open-E, F-1, F#-2, G-3, Ab-4

A-1, Bb-2, B-3, C-4,

C#-1, D-2, Eb-3, E-4

Then reverse....

Tap your foot to a steady tempo regardless of what you are playing. At first start tapping with the rhythm of a metronome but then try without it. If done properly this will make sure you will never be off tempo and you can try some crazy rhythmic changes without getting lost. This is actually not my tip but Al DiMeola's but I tried it and it works! It seems simple but, at least for me, took some time to perfect.

Apparently, the secret magic silver bullet to improving your jazz guitar playing can be summed up in a single word: transcribing. Every great guitar player I've either studied under, jammed with, or spoken to says that the secret answers to all your questions can be learned from doing this alone.

Do Not, increase the bass on your amp to darken your sound. If anything cut the bass entirely .... use the tone controls on your axe to cut the treble, the audience will love you.

It's good lesson ..... You can use Mixcraft it'll help you so much in recording and improvisation Good Luck

Use the mobile phone as an ever-present guitar tuner … storing the notes as my-ring-tone (the procedure will vary … depending on the phone model in question). Why do it? There may be a guitar in your office, at work, in your summer house … and the phone is (nearly) always with you … unlike the guitar tuner.

Beside playing guitar it will help too much to play a percussion to make musical vision wider. I think it is a huge spring to listen to Zakir Hussain, Selva Ganesh, Misirli Ahmet, Trilok Gurtu, Giovanni Hidalgo, David Ortiz...etc, and try to understand what they are doing.

I'll recomend not playing barreé chords but trying to play inversions. This gives you more control about the chords sound and may open new ways of voice leading to you

I just wanted to point out how important help Jazz Guitar gazette is providing to people for several matters regarding music, without spending money,especially during this economic crisis.It is very important.We thank you!

May I ask any good tip to improve my melodic and rythmic dictation?I am about to give exams in one month and I could use a good tip.I use a software for ear traning.

When using a metronome, play tricks with it. Instead of having it count every beat, slow it down and pretend it's playing just 2 and 4, or 1 and 3. Then slow it down some more so it's just playing 1, or move your phrasing so the metronome clicks on 2, or 3 or 4 (or beyond, if you're playing 6/8 or 7/4 or some other non 4-based rhythm. This forces you to count the in-between beats and will really sharpen your time. This was one of the best tricks I learned from my bass teacher.

I'm very happy to read your lessons, and my guitar too!!!

Phraseology....

This is an exercise I love to use with my more creative students... Take a simple phrase that you love to use when soloing and switch out the emphasis notes. So, if you play a 12 note phrase with emphasis on notes 3, 7 and 10, repeat the same phrase with emphasis on notes 2, 6, and 11. Of course, I encourage them to also switch them out to their own liking.

The effect: re-emphasizing the notes of the phrase with the benefit of sounding just a bit different... Try it!

First off, I would just like to say that this website is great. I've been playing guitar for roughly 15 years now, and have always wanted to know just HOW to play jazz but have been scared off because of my limited knowledge of the theory behind it. Now I believe I'm getting it, however slowly. :)

I just have a question which may seem very very silly and may open up a can of worms, but is there any reason why bending strings is not very common in jazz? Or I don't seem to hear much bending going on when I listen to jazz guitar. I myself don't think it sounds right, but just can't figure out why.

Cheers guys. Keep up the good work!

Jack.

Music exists in the abstract. You don't need your guitar to become a better musician, so don't allow yourself to have idle hands- if you're ever in a situation where you're just sitting with nothing to do (bus rides, train trips, road trip, etc.) there's nothing stopping you from pulling out your manuscript paper and a pencil and cooking up some ideas. Mozart did it, Coltrane did it, Joe Diorio did it, and I bet you there are a lot more of that ilk, too. Doesn't matter what kind of ideas they are, either: you could be COMPOSING (dum dum dum), writing out scales and finding common tones, exploring improv ideas, or saving some money on sight reading fodder, it all counts. Don't relax! Music is a lifelong pursuit, even during the boring moments.

Life is a song.
A song is a journey.

For me its all about the movement. Initiate. Step forward. Turnaround. Return. Build and resolve. Gather momentum. Tension and release. Where am I going and how am I going to get there.

I don't just play a chord or add a note. IColours in hand want to feel how it creates and/or resolves movement (natural cycles, tritones, leading notes, suspensions, augmentation). It helps me to be conscious that whatever notes I play, they all relate to the tonic/melodic centers and feed into a movement that is for certain taking me somewhere. Where am I going? Who is going with me? How hard and how fast do I want to go? Is the gentle soul still apparent? Where is the divine?

How's that for nebulous first thing in the morning. All for now. Cheers. A

Hi! Did anyone have a tip to handle mistakes? I try to play what I hear in my mind. I have always the melody or the chord changes in my mind. My problem is often, when I do a mistake, I lost completely the “inner” Sound. So I get totally lost and have to wait until I can come back into the tune. So – can I practice to handle mistakes? Thanks for any tip!

Animo!! a estudiar durisimo, gracias por los consejos :)

Gracias por los consejos, a mi me han sido de gran utilidad y han contribuido a mejorar increìblemente.

Gracias.

Practice strumming different styles of playing by muting the strings with your palm of your left hand holding the fretboard in a relaxed manner. This works really well when you want to try out something different while composing or trying to work out a cover. Its one of the very few exercises available for developing the right hand.

One cool way to put some interest into your comping is to use quartal harmony subs for dominant chords.

To begin, consider a simple G7 chord (G-B-D-F). To find the most inside quartal harmony subs, just use the cycle of keys going clockwise. The first sub would be D11 (D-G-C-F), the next sub would be A11(A-D-G-C), then E11(E-A-D-G) and lastly B11(B-E-A-D).

This same principle can be extended to any seventh chord simply by considering four keys clockwise in the cycle of of keys. As an example, for D7, the quartal subs would be A11, E11, B11, F#11).

The fingerings are quite easy to grab since the guitar is already laid out (mostly) in fourths. The nice part about adding these to your comping is how immediately "hip" your comping sounds compared to just hanging on a seventh chord. Mike Stern, for example, uses these to great effect in his playing.

I've been into jazz for a few month only, but have been playing for 19 years. The tips I can give to beginners so far are:

- buy a looper. There's nothing wrong with using Band in A Box or the Aebersold playbacks, but laying down a rhythm track with a looper before soloing or practicing a scale or arpeggio requiers to replicate the underlying chord shapes and forces to concentrate on rhythmic variety

- read an easy to understand book about theory, that contains a lot of examples, both written and on CD (I have a German one called "Neue Jazzharmonielehre" by Frank Sikora)

- get a good jazz method for guitar and make it through with a teacher. The advantage of following a method is, that you don't rely on one teacher

- first, concentrate on one method an work it through! Getting x-methods and just doing one or two chapters of each leads to confusion and lacks of basics. You can still work through other methods later (get the books of Ted Greene an pratice his phrases according to the chapters of your method, they're great!).

- find a jamsession for beginners. If there is none in your area, start one. There are pubs or bars, some of those also having a cellar for events, which are happy about guests on working day evenings. But there should be an experienced session leader

Cheers, Chris

I might run the risk of sounding amature, but this is a neat trick I picked watching Jimmy Herring play. He created an artificial scale by using the major triad of the root, and the major triad of the tritone of that root (E triad+Bb triad for example). Just by using the chord tones, you can create a very exotic scale. Try this with other scale degrees, it's pretty neat. Sometimes you wind up playing an already existing scale minus a couple of notes, but it gives you a creative base from which to improvise.

Go to this site to see my friend Bob Miles interview Les Paul and other guitar greats on his cable TV show.
Hear their story and hear them play.
www.milesofmusic.tv
Click on guest videos.
You are going to love this.
Sojo

Thanks for the post, I am a guitar teacher and recording studio owner and its good to hear from you.
Check me out on
www.eventstudiosnottingham.co.uk

As a young man I played a gig with an older musician who was a very good pianist and could modulate mid-phrase almost imperceptibly. He really put me through the ringer during the first set. When I said something to him about it on the break he told me "You walk in here with your horn, you get paid the same as everybody else, you better know your axe!!!" He lightened up for the rest of the gig, but the lesson stuck with me the rest of my life - any tune, any key.

While in college(Cal State Northridge) the marching band was doing the halftime for a Rams game at the Coliseum in LA. Rosie Grier was going to sing with the band doing the Basie arrangement of "I Can't Stop Loving You". The only rehearsal was prior to the game on the field. Nobody had bothered to check with Rosie about the key. He has a high voice and the arrangement was too low. The entire marching band had to transpose up a third on the spot. Just goes to show you never know when you are going to have to pull out all the stops so BE PREPARED!!!!!!!

i use your lessen it is importante for me becauose there is no jazz school in our cuntre(Ethiopia) i wante to play wes tune in guitar but you have not the scoore of this tune so pleas send me if you have this scoor.

Your job is not to play all the licks and phrases you have learned. It´s to create organic enviroment. Like this:

Start your solo with one or two notes. Then don´t play. Band members will respond to your notes. Answer their sounds and invite them to comment. Communication have been established.
Jazz is like conversation: your fellow musicians cant answer you if you keep talking all the time. Your ears are your instrument in jazz. Not your guitar.

Most useful: Practice a phrase in a tempo where you can play it relaxed and with no flaws and keep on doing for 30-45 seconds. Don´t press speed! Just do it, and both muscles and mind will start relaxing. The result is that you can play the same phrase much faster afterwards. Remember: 30-45 seconds!

I can never keep up with guitar picks. Fortunately, however, the local drug stores and grocery stores always ask me if I have a savings card with them. So I always say no because they hand me this cute little plastic rectangle made for a key ring, but perfect as a guitar pick!!!!!!!!

I really only know like the mixolydian, dorian, pentatonic and blues pentatonic scales...I am also working on my circle of fifths...i am kind lost on all the other scales I need to know..and how to incorporate them and make them sound like a sexy improv...what should I do next? HELP!

Another good thing to do is play-a-long with a TV show are cartoons one of
my favorite is ... Little bill cartoons by bill cosby and Mr rogers show another
great one the musician are A-1....

I have just watched and listened to 2 of Dirk Laukens' jazz guitar lessons on Youtube. I suggest that they should be watched by all subscribers and readers of the Jazz Guitar, whether they are beginners or guitarists who have been playing for decades.
I rate them from 4 to 5 Star.
John ZAMMITPACE
(jazz-guitarist, avant-garde composer)

To handle feedback-problems I put a gaffa-tape to close the f-holes. Works.

As a beginner, is there any advicxe on instructional books, videos, etc
Thanks to all for comments!

Stan Getz once told me"listen"..and i've learned that is 1/2 the trick. Cause if you really do, harmonically, tonally, timberly, tenderly, the response will play out if you are on autopilot, which you should be if u r performing..
the other 1/2 the trick is to relax....
the above applies if you have chops and know the song. otherwise, do the above practice hints/ those that fit your mode of playing, and even those that are a stretch...
the real key for me is to know what it is i hear, know meaning "what is that friggin chord anyway". once you have that, use passing tones to add color. if relaxed, they will autoplay..

I would like to say a few basic things to beginners and even to guitarists who have been playing the jazz guitar for decades. At least once a year make a complete revision of what you already know and for a few hours forget the Cm13aug9, Fmaj7-5,Bb7-5/C, etc,etc, and rediscover the guitar from scratch.
1 Sitting down is the best way to play a jazz guitar, but unlike its classical relative, the jazz guitar is mostly held on the right lap. Plectrum or fingerpicking, I suggest you learn both methods, even a combination of both.
2 The fretboard should be grasped/gripped with the thumb held at the back of the fingerboard, not on top of it. This is for better movement of the left hand and for the fingerings.
3 See what you can do with open strings, rediscover their freshness, and see in how many ways you can play a single note. Vibrato(check in how many ways one can play a vibrato), non-vibrato, dry, in artificial or natural harmonics? With a plectrum, without, with a fingernail, with the light skin of the thumb? Muted, sliding the plectrum upwards or downwards on the chosen string, whether fretted or not?
3 Scales: Major, melodic minor, harmonic minor, Lydian, Mixoloydian, Phrygian, Dorian, Diminished, Pentatonic major and minor. Locrian and superlocrian ? What about modes? What about the Balkans Gypsy scale (Django Rheinhardt was a gypsy...so?) How about a Chinese mode (c,d,e,g,a,c) also used in folk music of Ireland, Scotland, and England. Do you know there is such a thing as Scala Enigmatica (used by Verdi), or another used by the spanish composer Osca Espla? What about a chromatic scale, and then see how many chords one can form by using notes chromatically on a 6 string guitar!
The Napolitan scale (mode), and the indian Ragas....Jazz originated in the US when people from different cultures started to fuse, even their music.
Then start on your chords, and explore one note's relation with the other(s).
Jazz music, and in our case Jazz guitar playing, is not some 'head banger gimmick', it is a work of art. Study it, and evolve by listen to many other guitarist and instrumentalists in many other styles.
John ZAMMITPACE (jazz-guitarist, avant-garde composer)

One tip from experienced guitar teacher:

When learning new stuff, take your time to make a double analysis:

1) Analyze the chord progression using roman numerals like I bIII IV etc...
2) Analyze the chord progression measuring the distance in half steps from one chord to the next one (limit +/- 3 steps) Most of the so called 'approach chords' resolve +2.5 step to the next chord. The substitute dominant resolves -0.5 steps to the next chord...
3) Analyze the melody in relation to the chord of the moment using arabic numbers like 1, b3, #5 etc...
4) Also make sure to analyze the distance between adjacent melody notes . Think in terms of +0.5 steps (chromatic up) or -4.5 steps (M6 down...)
5) If you practice a standard tune, make sure you can also play it in C major (if necessary, write it down) Playing in C will show you the tune in its simplest form.

Tips:

When Starting to learn to improvise always start with a basic 3 note motive, then develop them (the motives), NEVER ABANDONE the inicial ideia/phase/motive

Exemple:

II V I progression you can start by using 1 3 5 notes of each chord ( arpegios), always

try to finish in the 3rd 5th ou 7th of the next chord in the progression

Try to make up a list os phrases (motivs) for II V I progressions then transpose them into other tonalities

Try to listen to Jim hall or Bill evans to Get the ideia of what i'm talking about

sorry for the bad english...Hope I made myself clear

Greetz from Portugal and thanks for the great forum:)

I haven't been playing long, but I have picked up some helpful tips...here they are:

1. use either a jazz III pick or break your smaller picks in half (like joe pass did). this allows you to have more accuracy and speed when playing.

2. experiment with different ways to eliminate the feedback - some have said to insert foam in the f-hole, but you can also tape a penny to the bass poles on your pickup - this reduces the bass frequencies, thereby reducing much of the feedback. another alternative is to stand behind your amp.

3. play with others. it is much more enjoyable to play with other people than with yourself. also try to mimick other instruments besides the guitar, like trombone, saxophone, or trumpet.

4. experiment with amps/effects. try many different amps to dial in your sound - music should be an expression of YOU not your imitation of a jazz great. i personally like tube amps much better than solid state amps. use effects sparingly - they should help to bring out your sound, not distract from it. try using an overdrive pedal (not distortion), to give your playing a little grit.

This is a tuff one.

Never play any faster than you can play mistake free. My teacher tells me this all the time. It is hard to do and very frustrating, since you do not know you are going to make a mistake until you make it.

At first, look at the sheet music. If you think you can play it at 120 bpm, then try your first time at 60 or better 40. If necessary, set the metro on 40 and count two beats for each quarter effectively making the metro at 20. You cannot go too slow. You can find out very quickly if you can play it faster and you can speed up.

The idea is that you do not want to allow your fingers (and you ear) to hear a mistake. Every time you play anything you build "muscle memory".

If you play something 5 times with 5 different mistakes, your brain is confused.

When you practice and you do make a mistake, stop immediately. When preforming, of course, you want to do the opposite. You should keep going. This is a big difference between practice and preforming.

As I said, this tip will be hard to do, but it is worthwhile.

By all means, learn your craft, but, don't let that get in the way of your art. Remember that technique without soul can be very boring to your audience. Also, understand musical styles. For example, if you are playing funk, repetition can be used to build tension and cliches may even suit your purpose (although, such would be might out of place in other styles).

Be modest- Don't be afraid to acknowledge your limitaions (we all have them) and play well within them. Don't become fossilized in the past, but, also don't discard older styles just because they are old.

A good way to play dominant 7th chords is to put the 3rd and the 7th in the low voices, as a tritone. Starting from this figure you can use the other strings to add some tensions, what on one hand gives you the possibility to create more colourful voicings and on the other hand you'll increase your knowledge of voicings.
A good way to practice this method is to play a cycle of dominants, because the guide tones will move down the fretboard chromatically. Of course use different voicings.

A good "play what you hear"-exercise is a three-step program.
Take a basic chord progression maybe 4-bars long, e.g. II-V-I or I-VI-II-V.
The first step is to improvise over these changes and to sing simultaneously what you are playing (you won't need a backing track).
The second step is to improvise over these changes and then to sing what you have played afterwards.
The third step is to comp yourself, while singing over these changes (start with simple melodies). Then try to play what you have sung.
Take your time with this exercise, it's a funny and very effective way to practice.
Start with simple phrases.

A basic, well-known tip is:
Experimentate with your material, it's the only way to create your own style

Practice session routines:

1. Warm up.

2. While you're fresh - play something new or something you're learning. Don't fall into playing something you already know. Remember, it's a practice session!

3. Dig into music theory and harmony. Challenge yourself to understand why progressions 'work.'

4. Write something. Writing sharpens the mind.

5. When working on something very new, compose a piece with those new mechanisms. Write it down.

6. Rome wasn't built in a day. Learning is a process of geometric accrual. Through times of high and low inspiration, know that knowledge is growing and will blossom in its own time.

May the road rise to meet you!

As a budding new guitarist I just want to say you guys are great! this forum is a wonderful idea. I read every thing granted some of it's over my head, but it still gives me Idea's. if nothing more than the names you drop of guys to listen to. any way keep us newbies inspired. some simple things to learn. tabs wise would be greatly helpful. I am still learning theory
which I am picking up on a little at a time. the tips are very helpful thanks to everyone. I really enjoy learning scales is that weird? cheers!

Read Jazz Improvisation for Guitar: A Melodic Approach
by Garrison Fewell. I highly recommend it. (Im not getting a commision or affilated in any way - Its simply brilliant).

Take the time to memorize the root and inversion fingerings for the Major 7th, Dominent 7th, minor 7th and minor 7th flat 5 chords early on. Do this for string sets 1234, 1235, 2346, and 2345. It's a lot of memory work, but, once accomplished you will learn the unique voicing sound of each inversion and will be well on your way to playing chord/melody off the top of your head.

I wasted years before realizing this.

If you need to warm up quickly before a gig, run your hands under some hot water to loosen up. Then go throught some chromatic runs, starting on the 6th string 1st fret to the 4th fret, then move up one string. When you get to the 1st string, slide your pinkie up to the 5th fret and do a descending chromatic run back down from 1st to 6th string. Slide up one more fret and repeat this up the neck to the 12th fret. As you move up the neck, slowly increase your speed until you are playing as fast as you can, cleanly.

A jazz guitarisst should not be heard(very loud) but felt!!

Listen, listen and listen. Not to just jazz which mainly features guitar, listening to other instruments can improve your phrasing and give you ideas. Also try transcribing solo's

Get out and play somewhere - whether its a bar, coffee shoppe, hotel, shopping plaza, charity ... anyplace. Either by yourself or with some other musicians... the best experience is simply playing in front of people.
Get 20 to 25 tunes together and go out an market yourself.

Does anybody use a solidbody guitar, especially of the Fender type, for jazz? Especially a vintage style Stratocaster? It may be just my ears but I seem to prefer the leaner sound of the single coil pickups. The best way I can think of describing why they appeal to me is that the tone seems to fit in better in an ensemble setting than thick humbucking tone. Tone leanness equals clarity?

I would like to pass some basic comment to Jerzy.
1 Yes scales make melodies.
2 'Let your guitar speak?' 'you mean let it play by itself?'
3 Wrong again..Jerzy...'Noise is not Music' if you do not know the meaning of one word from another...than I am sorry for you. Noise is a disturbed sound. Music is the artistic creative form of sound.
4 If you think that Beethoven's late Sonatas are noise...Then once more I am sorry for you.
John ZAMMITPACE (jazz-guitarist, classical avant-garde composer)

A problem I had was that I got stuck in some kind of chords and notes - rut.
I always started playing with the same notes and chords when I picked up my guitar.
Now take the neck of my guitar in my hands on a random spot I start playing and try new stuff.
It helps.

Start everthing on an acoustic guitar first. An acoustic instrument does not hide mistakes. Start with the so called simple scales of Major, minor melodic, and minor harmonic. When you feel you have mastered those, work your way up to harmonies (chords), from a simple
C major chord, up to chords of 7ths, 9ths, 11ths and 13ths, etc. Unfold the notes in those chords, learn what they are, and try out their inversions, on many different positions on the fretboard. It is after months of study that one should move on to an electric guitar. Start the exercises all over again, this way you will realize that your playing is cleaner and more precise. When you think you have mastered that, then move on to using 'boxes' of any sort, but occasionally return to an acoustic guitar and see if you can do that all over again without any amplified help.
Remeber that gadgets, boxes, amps, and what have you, are there as additions to enhance the sound of your instrument, the guitar, they are not there to hide mistakes.
John ZAMMITPACE

Hi everyone, I'm not that much into Jazz, but I do appreciate listening to Jazz guitar when it's time to enrish my style. My best discovery was how to improvise on a Blues form, I mean going further than a typical Blues Scale (T / 3b / 4 / 4# / 5 / 7)...That scale's OK, but sounds kind of limited sometimes. So I learned (from George Benson's records, for instance) how to use 7 notes scales on Blues, I'm talking about mixolydian scales. That's easy on guitar : as an ex. playing on a A7 blues (A7 / D7 / E7) means using three mixolydian modes (A mixolydian, D mixolydian and E...mixolydian too). So I keep my neck hand on the 5th fret and play : - on A7 the 5th major scale fingering pattern (mixolydian fingering) - on D7 the 2nd major scale fingering pattern (dorian fingering) - on E7 the 1st major scale fingering pattern (ionian fingering). Remaining on the 5th fret is important because it reveals the changing notes from one mode to another. It's something I personaly like to play even on my own, it obliges me to choose the right notes to make the chord progression sound.
Some may find this is an easy trick, but that's my contribution.
P.S. Sorry for my poor english, I'm French

Actually im not even an amateur but what i see is sometimes really confusing.but u guys do a great job. dont worry i will work on it.

try different ideas, not just follow the typical ones.

for example try to shift chords, tensions, and break some music rules like progresions.
for different sounds just create your own ones for example.

Dmaj7 C#dim Em7 Gmaj7#11 C#dim G#maj7 Amaj7

it's aweir chord progression but it's very nice not jut to stay in 1 key, but to change it and follow the chords.

I use a Herco thumb pick when I'm gigging finger style jazz., To keep my pick from slipping and having to re-adjust it in the middle of a riff, I use double stick Scotch tape. Try this and You will pick with confidence. This works when applied to any pick you might have trouble holding on to.

As a dealer in Archtop guitars I am amazed on one hand how picky some guitarists are with a guitar and yet on the other hand I am amazed how some very good guitarist I have worked with can just pick up a resonable guitar and play a great concert.
I think whilst you should be selective with what you are buying perhaps a few guitars to play on might make you a more flexable and less dependable player on one guitar to perform. After all a crutch is only necessary when necessary. You don't want to spend the rest of your life on crutches.
Richard from Archtop Guitars and Books.

Learn things starting with each finger. Segova said "its all about fingering". Sometimes the fingering you first choose to learn something is not the easiest. By learning a lick starting with each finger, you will quickly find the best way to play it.

Learning scales and arpeggios starting with the first and fourth finger will expand your mastery of the guitar neck and fretboard logic.

make sure all your gear is working before you get to the gig!

Back Cycling. Go around the cycle of fifths (fourths) on same quality chord. For example, you can use 5th and 6th string rooted dominant 7th chords moving down the fret boards. When you run out of frets, jump back up high. Same can be done with MAJ 7ths, 1/2 dim, etc. With MAJ 7th you can start on 6th string rooted chord and then move to the 5th string rooted MAJ 7th chord on the same fret. Then move down 2 frets and do it again. You also get "guide tones" out of it. I have a video demonstrating this technique with dominant 7th chords on YouTube: www.youtube.com

1. Learn to play the major scale using 3 notes per string on all 6 strings. There are 7 fingering patterns. I find that it makes it easier to play longer flowing legato lines, and prolong motivic development.
2. Similarly, learn the Lydian flat seven/Altered scale using 3 notes per string. (Also 7 fingerings).
3. Try substituting the diminished arpeggio in place of the Altered scale: b9, 3, 5, b7. Even though the altered scale has no 5th, this sounds good, and diminished arpeggios are easy to sweep pick on the guitar to sound like Michael Breckerish sax lines.
4.Substitute the Dominant Pentatonic scale and Dominant arpeggios in place of the Altered scale: When resolving to C, instead of using the G Altered scale, play the D flat dominant scale and Db 7 arpeggios (based on the D flat Lydian flat 7 scale). Also use the B flat dominant scale and Bb7 argpeggios, for more M. Breckerish lines. With less notes than the seven note altered scale, the dominant pentatonic scale can sound refreshingly open and aggressive at the same time. Dominant Pentatonic Scale: R,9,3,5, b7. Steve Khan's book on pentatonics is great, and goes into more depth.
5. Seek out Gibson archtops from the 1950's and early 60's. They are often far superior to recent Gibsons. Duh. I have a '53 L7C, and '55 ES 175 that are inspiring to play, and have that "mojo" that my recent Gibsons can't match. The earlier Gibsons are built much lighter, so they are more resonant and can feedback more easily, so I use a Tech 21 parametric EQ to cut the lows and boost lower mids.
6. When bending strings, use the wrist just as the blues greats do, and develop slow, medium, fast and hyper wide vibratos for creating emotional color.

One of the most crucial things I struggle with as a more beggining Jazz guitarist is to learn by ear. At first it sounds pretty hard but once you start to focus on what sounds like what you can start to feel your music out more than just playing the notes. It also helps with expression and style. That way, you can put your "say" into things without jeapordizing the flow or the song itself. Just add your hue to the jazz crayon box of your band.

Learn to comp the song; Even just strumming the chords while you sing it, you don't have to use exotic changes for this purpose.
I play in a duet with a sax/clarinetist. Most of my nights are spent 98% comping, 1% tuning the guitar.
What wonders this has done for my soloing! I can solo over songs where the only study I have done is learning to comp them.
I have studied scales & arpeggios, pulled apart the Omnibook, but am now finding I can follow the ebb and flow of a chord progression. It is a difficult concept to explain, but it is something like; this sound leads to that sound leads to that sound.
Hope you understand what I am trying to express.
Cheers
Harry

Learn or relearn, like me, Freddie Green. Now that I'm older, it amazes me what I missed or
just plain ignored. A stupid, that shouldn't be dismissed, if you're really serious. I'm finding many NEW great things. Still, just wish composers and arrangers write correct and
valid guitar charts. Trust me, we, guitar players, have to be astounding.
Thanks,

Once you've chosen a scale to solo over a chord progression try to improvise your solo using only three or four chosen notes . Try to use different rhythmic phrasing to get as many variations of these notes as you can . This will improve the creativity in your solos and avoid them sounding too scale - like.

Hey, just two tips I find very useful;
1) Richard Blackmore said to practise soloing, liten to the great saxophone players, as they're all single note, so they can be emulated on guitar, plus the average saxophonist is better than the average guitarist.
2) rather than worry about your chords, scales, etc., sing what you play. sing the melody you want, and soon enough your fingers will know those notes on the fret board. if you feel embarrassed to sing out loud, do it in your head:-)

Soak your hand in warm water to warm up quicker before a gig.

Mi tip is that as a process of creation is good to listen to the lick or riff first in your mind and then play it on your guitar. There are no boundaries.

This is Lacho from Monterrey Mexico.....In lak ech !!!

I always enjoy your site , thanks

Wynton Marsalis’ 12 Rules for a Successful Practice Regimen

1) Seek help. Get a teacher!

2) Make a schedule. Organize yourself.

3) Give yourself a set of instructions.

4) Set goals to chart your development.

5) Be realistic about how long it will take you to accomplish something.

6) Concentrate when you practice.

a) Focus.
b) Stop and come back to something, if needed.
c) Get all of yourself into it (i.e. deep breath, use all of your body).

7) Relax, practice slowly. Tempo and speed will come.

8) Practice longer on things you can't play.

9) Play everything with the maximum expression. Play as if you are singing it.

10) Don't be too hard on yourself. It's not the end of the world if you make a mistake.

11) Don't show off. If you play for applause, that's all you'll ever get.

12) Think for yourself -- find your own way. If your teacher explains something that doesn't make sense to you, find a way that does.

13) Be optimistic. Nobody wants to be around somebody who complains all the time.
There is nothing worse than pessimism coming out of an instrument.

14) Always look for connections to other things. Try to find concepts or ideas that connect with each other.

Take the online courses Berklee school of music
Jazz guitar 101,201 or guitar chords 101 201!

If berklee was slick they'd advertise with Derk!

I would like to share my version of chords - and the little tiny notes in between - the way I interpret "Pennies from heaven". If it is possible do do this on this site, showing either the guitar chords or tablature, please tell me. If it is ALSO possible to smack it it into sound on/in a tiny inbuilt soundcard - please advice.

Well, showing is better than playing - right now. I like the very old versions of the cool songs, with the smooth talking intros. This is from the soundtrack the original series with the English crooner who sang in Pennies from Heaven - the lyrics are a guide (if anyone are at all interested, I will even mail the mellow stuff to you). Well, arf-arf, here it goes: (I love to start a song in parenthesis...arf-arf, anyone out there would know Frank Zappa). And I'll do it with both chords and tablature -especially with my dimwittgenstein:

G D Em

Long time ago

C D G
a million years BC

G D Em

the best things in life

C D G

where absolutely free

H7 (x212xxx)-(D)4 Em

But no one ap priciated

x0101x x101*3*x 0012

the sky that was allways blue

and no one congratulated

(I'll have to stop here, because I want do to something else).

Greetings from - and to - guitarists - woman, children or men (and other animals i have met) who just want to make the ultimate life.

Bobby, I did look at my material again. There are some slight numerical errors on the chord diagrams. But I think that you are looking at the basic pentatonic scales and trying to view them as chords. These are scales laid out NEXT to corresponding chord forms. Let me know if this answers your question. It will take a little while to correct the little number errors on the chord fingerings because this was a lot of work. The Shapes ARE correct though.

Here's a tip for going for more "tension" in soloing over minor or dominant chords. One recommended altered scale has root, flat 2nd, minor 3rd, diminished(flat) 5th, minor 6th, dominant(flat) 7th. Rather than looking at the neck remembering all the altered tones one can look at playing a Major scale a half step up from the minor or dominant chord. So play in Bb Maj. over an Am or A7. One would play a Bb mode from 7th to 7th(Locrian) and the only note differing from the altered scale would be the 3rd of the Bb, D, which would be the major 4th from A, so it really doesn't create a problem for playing over A. To me its' easier to remember the familiar pattern of the Bb major scale vs. the every thing but the A altered in the A scale view. Try it.

This is an open correspondence to Keith Martin.
Hi Keith, sorry about being too hard on you, but I have studied serious music for 40 years, and composition, and I felt that your comment had nothing to do with the subject Music, and in this case jazz guitar music, but merely under the belt 'bogling'. You simply were having fun with insults. Just concentrate on music and the jazz guitar, and if you do not agree with what somebody states, be constructive in your criticism.
Alright? Practice the guitar more...go on. Cheers!
John ZAMMITPACE jazz-guitarist, avant-garde composer

hey dirk...i stumbled upon your site by accident one day. i looked at a few entries for one month,and tried some of the exercises there. i use guitar pro so it helped even more. i have taken a series of guitar lessons and have been able to knock down many of the barriers i had,thanks to a great instructor. its gratifying to learn something on your own,with a little help of course. the one thing i can say...i'm by far no expert on the guitar.. is to try new things...dont try and sound perfectly like the artist...try alternative tunings and it will help you understand/learn the fretboard...and try to create you own style of music. i "borrow" chords/finger patterns from many artists...and i can now tranfer the little voices in my head to my martin guitars....i keep one tuned to a standard tuning..and the other to an open "d" or open "c"...thanks for all the great info...it keeps the door open for me to try new things....rick

Try and 'feel' the mood of an audience...and respond accordingly.

Contrast! Use contrast in everything you do. Outside vs. inside playing (harmonically and rhythmically), High vs. Low notes, Fast vs. Slow, Hard vs. Soft, Legato/tapping vs. Alternate/sweep picking, Straight Vs. Swing, vary your phrases (triplets vs 16th notes etc). This will keep your playing fresh because you simply can´t play the same licks over and over again, at least not in the same way. This is the most important lesson I've learned next to knowing what scales/arpeggios to play over what type of chord and what techniques there are at your disposal.

Bobby it was my intention to indicate the finger best used to play the note in position.
however, I will look over this info to see if I had some Typo errors in my info.
I used some duplication and paste procedures that may have altered or needed adjustment.
Thank you for looking. Joseph

To enchance your solos try this:
Reaching a maximum of dynamics with is easyly possible without buzz or having to hit strings hard. To play pianissimo strike the string with the very spike. To play louder simply "push" the pick towards the body.
When fingerpicking try to angle your finters bout 30°. Your thumb should now be paralell to the strings and point to the headstock, while your other finters point to the bridge. This way you get a better tone.
Also try moving the pick/fingers towards the headstock/bridge to find new sounds.

Close your eyes! It's very liberating. It will actually make you play differently if you don't visually focus on the guitar. It is all about the feel anyways. For examples of lack of feeling and emotion listen to modern country and pop. Every solo I can hear well ahead of time where it is going....do all the players in these genre's have the exact same feel? Anyways I digress.

Also listen to other instruments. If you like listening to guitar-based jazz for inspiration, try going a month listening to groups that don't commonly use a guitar player. You will most likely play something different if you are copying from another instrument even if its the same notes you might copy from a guitar player. I have been listening to a lot of bill evans lately and I can tell it has given me a more choppy approach I did not have before.

I find it sometimes amazing when reading all these tips and comments how some players
are just drowning in theory, want to master all the keys and chords, progressions etc.
at the same time forgetting what it's all about ! Making music, finding a fantastic melody
while playing, playing an improvisation without too much thinking. I myself have a sufficient
knowledge of the "administration" of the music (a.o.conservatory) but you know what :
sometimes I find myself playing the most interesting melodies without thinking and knowing
what I'm playing ! After I stop playing more or less in 7th heaven, I start to make an inventory of what the hell I was playing, notes and chords. Satisfaction guaranteed !

I am struggling with what to practice. Should I first learn how to identfy which scale(s)
The tune uses or try to sort arpeggios out? Or learn notes on fret board? Frustrated Ivan.

This is John ZAMMITPACE (jazz guitarist and Avant-Garde music composer) from the small island of Malta. When most non music lovers are interested in the eurovision song contest instead of real music, let us continue with our love for the real stuff. In my previous tip I finished off with the diminished scale. This scale is made of a whole tone and a half tone progression. It does not sound too difficult, it is improvising on it, and round it, that makes many want to switch to something else. Here is an example of a diminished scale. One whole tone, one half tone, etc. If you are, again as in my first tip, in the key of C, then the notes up in an octave are: c, d, e flat, f, f sharp (or g flat), g sharp, a, b, and c (an octave higher). It sounds as if it is in a minor scale, doesn't it?
A C diminished chord consists of these notes in its basic formation: c, f sharp (or g flat), a, and e flat. Each one of these notes can be the Tonic of another diminished scale, that is starting from it and moving up a whole tone, half a tone, etc. So a C diminished chord can be also an F sharp diminished, an A diminished, and an E flat diminished.
Since I am also an avant-garde composer I would like to give my opinion on the use of sound or sound effects. The most musicians and composers who have experimented with sound (whether one likes it or not) are the avant-gardists, but while some have used the knowledge and the study of sound (greek: Akoustica...correct me if I spelt it wrong) as part of their composition and their fusion of music with the physics of sound (acoustika), like Xenakis, Stockhausen, and ... myself, among many others, others have simply used sound as an effect on the listener, which result in nothing more than Dadaism. Do not fall into that trap, even in jazz (not to mention Rock musicians) many still do not make out the difference between music and sound. Music is made from the artistic way to compose 'sounds'...pitches. Sound by itself is not music.
John ZAMMITPACE (jazz-guitarist, avant-garde composer)

I wasted years practicing scales. I now realise it would have been far more beneficial for my musicality, technique and improvisational ability if I had learned melodies. Hey ho!

If I'm allowed a second tip :o )

Give yourself a holiday and just play free abstract improvisation, preferably in the company of fellow travellers. Noises are fun! It doesn't have to be angular and atonal, just approached with an open heart and ear. It will free up your approach to "jazz" improvising.

Eliminating Archtop Guitar Feedback
My Tip is have a look at this site, this guy may have the Answer.

www.dougsplugs.com

One of the issues with playing out and dynamics that has been an issue is room and sound level. I hear lots of tips on practice, but the actual application in a club is very tricky I'm learning. I played at a Jazz jam last night and during the first set the guitarist could hardly be heard, even on his solo. He is a fabulous player, very polished, but wasn't being heard.

I did my set and on the way out, I passed George Benson who was in the audience. He complimented me on my solo and I told him I been warned I was too loud. He said, no, they don't know the room. Every room is different and you have to know the room or you will not know your sound. I'll take his word for it, I've never SEEN a grammy, he sure has!

Right hand picking, something I realize recently, how important it is to get this right the very first time.You can call it alternate picking or sweep method, the bottom line is it will make it easier to play runs and scales, etc..
If you start a scale run on the low E and you have 3 notes, then follow this down, up, down, now your stroke is going down to the next string, if you did it the other way, your stroke would be going up, which make it more difficult to hit the next string.You would apply the reverse logic descending.So on the high E string, again, 3 notes, up down up.
I'm probably not explaining this properly, but I know that Jimmy Bruno has a free video on this subject.To me it makes so much sense.I wish I had learned this technique when I first started to play the guitar.Now I find it difficult to implement this method with ease.However I keep practicing this way, and eventually it will come naturally.

The tips and lessons are wonderful but I would love to have the ability to easily print individual lessons or tips. Printing the pages as they are displayed with a browser is extremely wasteful in terms of expensive color toner etc. Many sites offer a printable version of their content such as a pdf. Something like this would be very much appreciated.

Organizing Scales into smaller groups:

Let's say- 12345671 is your scale now try this, use four notes at a time, then reorganize them into all possible patterns: example
1 2 3 4
1 2 4 3 Now these patterns can be looked at like
1 3 2 4 First note,Second note,Third note,Fourth note
1 3 4 2 of any "group of notes you choose".
1 4 2 3
1 4 3 2 Although taking any One of these patterns and
moving the pattern up or down stepwise through
2 3 4 1 a scale is a great way to practice scales,
2 3 1 4 it is also a great way to develop MOTIFS.
2 4 3 1
2 4 1 3 Apply this to arpeggios,scales,arpeggio & scale
2 1 3 4 combinations, etc....
2 1 4 3
You will never run out of possibilities using this
3 4 1 2 procedure.
3 4 2 1
3 2 1 4 Hope this helps anyone who needs it. Joseph
3 2 4 1

4 1 2 3
4 1 3 2
4 2 1 3
4 2 3 1

When using a metronome, try to wipe out the click, until you don't hear it. It will mean that you are playing exactly on time.

Sorry, i don't have a good english...

I primarily use BIAB(Band-in-a-box) for accompaniment but sometimes if I have time I use center channel removal softwares to create a jamtrack with "live" musicians.

band in a box is ok but using a looper is much better. That way you have to put down the chord sequence you'll be playing over yourself . If everytime you do this from memory (instead of following a chart) the songs structure really gets under your fingers, and should be easier to solo over.

It's all about the Melody.

That sequence of notes, intervals and accents make people change their mood, humming it, determine events in life and recalling it every time.

Forget about Progressions, Chops, Harmony Theory, Ability.

It's all about getting a good (as in catchy & beautiful) Melody.

Aww.. too bad my tip was already shared, but I'm repeating it to emphasize the importance of this (which I believed was also shared by some of the greatest guitar players like Joe Pass):

Sing what you play!
And
Play only what you hear!

What I mean is, don't play something because you know the pattern will work on a certain progression - if you have a pattern (self-learned or something from the book), you have to digest the actual sound. This way you can work around it easier, creating new lines and adding more flavor easily. Then when you "hear" the music while listening to an accompaniment, try to play it (and sing with it too!) Normally, I practice by just playing a backtrack and just singing over it. Since my singing voice have little range (and a poor quality), by the time the backtrack is over I'm dying to touch my guitar and play what I just sang.

Also, this greatly helps when trying to learn other instrumentalists - like learning horn or piano players. Rather than trying to find it in the fretboard immediately, try to sing it first after hearing it.

It's hard especially for us guitarists that find finger patterns easier than memorizing the sound - but I guess it's really worth the pain. This does not only improve technique, but your musicality as a whole. It eliminates cliches, improves our ear, strengthens our knowledge of the fretboard, and widens our vocabulary all at the same time!

after a day of practice and study close your eyes, and just play with your ears,without thinking and imagine all the melodies you want, no rules just listen.

My first tip on practicing is to create your own time signatures. One can do this by starting from simple double time signatures like 2/4 , and 4/4, by means of a simple chord, (C) or chord progression (C, Am, F, G7) and elaborate on that. Then start to elaborate on the time signatures, from double time go to triple time, 3/4, 6/4, 9/4,etc, and even to 'odd' time signatures like 5/4, 7/4, and even 11/4. See how long you can sustain an uneven time signature, and when you start to crasp that, start all over again from the simple 2/4, 4/4, etc, this time start to elaborate on the chord progression even if still in the key of C. Eg: 4/4 |C, Cmaj7|Am, Am7|F, F6|G7dim5, G7aug5| (do not forget time signatures in 8ths like 3/8, 6/8, 9/8, and 12/8, and even their 'odd' timing like 5/4 etc)
After that, use all the knowledge you have obtained and start all over again, once more, on a different fret position. Remember that you are still in the key of C major, occasionally using a diminished or an augmented 5th.
Here are some basic scales, Major (Ionian), the Seventh (Mixolydian), Minor 7th (Dorian), Minor melodic (Aeolian). etc, like Dorian, Phrygian (very used in Flamenco), and a scale which is used to a great amount in Jazz, the Diminished Scale.
That is all for the time being.
John ZAMMITPACE (jazz guitarist, and Avant-Garde Music composer)

Try to make your own little licks from scales that you are not too familiar with. Don't worry about technique, just try to make beautiful melodies with the scales. When I was learning the melodic minor scale, I looped an Am6 chord and just noodled with the A melodic minor over it, just to get the sound in the ears going.
You must also "Steal" licks from other people that you like and use them shamelessly in your own playing. Don't forget to grin like a weasle when you do.
Csoki Tibusz

Never learn a song or chord progression in one way, learn it in different positions and voicings over the neck. Outside of drop 2 and drop 3 chords learn tunes by playing chords off of the D and G strings. Remember there's no right way to play a chord or play a tune, experiment with dropping the 5th and root tones (especially if you play with a piano player or other guitarist) and incorporating melody notes and extensions in these 'smaller' 3 and 4 string chords. Learning chords like this also helped me with learning arpeggio shapes, and soloing through them by adding scale tones and chromatic tones to these chord shapes I had already learned, so its like killing two birds with one stone, learning chords starting up in the 8th-10th position, and then instead of just looking at these as chords they can also be thought as arpeggio shapes for soloing.

Don't overplay -- leave some space in your solos. Rests can be just as important as notes.

And I'm writing this because I'm struggling with it in my own plying!

In addition to Jeff,
My tip: Use a cutaway classical guitar in doing exercises, chord melodies, linear soloing, etc. It will make you intonate your expressions better and the width and reach will improve your ability on a jazz guitar. This also will save your fingertips a bit resulting from this daily 1-2 hour practise routine.

Grazzi,
Patri Artu Armonda PhD
Essene Orthodox priest

Transcribe solo's, or riffs, stuff you like the sound off, play it with the record and put it into your own playing. Play the riff at different places on the fretboard, etc... well hope i put some input here, greets

Learn the notes on the neck!!! Guitar players are notoriously weak on reflexively recognizing the actual notes they play. There is far too much focus on finger patterns. It's critical to master the layout of the notes on the neck and then learn to connect them relative to the chords.

Chuck Anderson
www.ChuckAndersonGuitar.com

Any info or links to jazz bass tips would be appreciated.

i like to practice my scales and chord voicings over the top of drum loops.. easy to do and it acts as a metronome and a drummer all in one.. i have a selection of percussion loops (thousands actually!) which vary over 32 and 64 bars and i just jam along practicing my scales and improvisation.. more fun than playing like a machine '!!' using the timestretch functions on pro tools or cubase you can have any beat at any tempo too...

it is handy to vary and mix and match them too.. keeps things lively or down beat which ever way you like...

My TIP -
Play the song backward - in the key as is and a fourth away. And that should do it.

My tip: Always practice what you are not good at! Too often people practice the same thing they are good at and it makes one feel like they are getting better but in reality they aren't progressing much. (Dirk: feel free to re-word this for the appropriate tone).

Also, Do you have an article or mini lesson about turnarounds, descending, and ascending chord phrases? I am weak in this area. Thanks, MArk

Try to find tunes with the same changes. Many standards are based on the changes to other standards. For example, Wes Montgomery wrote the changes to his famous tune 4 on 6 around the changes to George Gershwin's Summertime. Here are some other birds you can kill with one stone:

Donna Lee (Charlie Parker) = Indiana
Hot House (Tad Dameron) = What Is This Thing Called Love?
Whispering (Miles Davis) = Groovin' High
Things Are Getting Better (Cannonball Adderley) = Doxy
Impressions (John Coltrane) = So What?
Dig (Miles Davis) & Bright Mississipi (Thelonious Monk) = Sweet Georgia Brown
Freight Train (Tommy Flanagan) = Blues For Alice
Lullaby of Birdland (George Shearing) = Love Me Or Leave Me

There are many others. Always keep an eye out for easy expansions to your repertoire

While playing in a jam or at a gig if you can't hear what the person on the side of you is playing or( even the person five or 6 feet away) your playing too loud try to keep volumes
equal unless it's time to comp. then you still want to hear what the other guy is playing

Simple changes in sound produces variation to your solo. Sounds simple, but makes your solo much more interesting! Example of other variations you might want to try:

Play very high up in the instruments register. Or very low.
Change the sound by using chords, octave solo, play very softly etc.
Produce contrasts. After a passage of many notes, play one single note several times.
Create a theme of two or three notes and vary the theme. (play it backwards, play two notes fore every tone. Double tempo. Try to mix that theme into a longer phrase.
Play the same theme off key (one fret up is the standard procedure)

Good luck

Learning bebop vocabulary and phrasing bebop lines on the guitar - FORGET about "position playing." You can't play bebop by staying in one, or even several adjacent, positions on the guitar. A lot of bebop phrasing requires repeating ideas in different octaves - that's really hard and impractical on the guitar because, unlike the piano, the fingering for a phrase in one octave changes dramatically when played in a lower or higher octave in the same position. Imagine a common eighth note F minor chord phrase - say, 1,2,3,4,5,3,2,1 (F,G,Ab,Bb,C,Ab,G,F) - played once and then repeated an octave lower. You could play it in one position - at the eighth fret - but the fingering for the first phrase would be completely different than that of the second phrase. Not only would that require learning two different fingerings, but it would also change the sound of the phrase because the attack on the strings at certain notes would sound different, especially if you don't pick every note. To think and play like a bebopper, play the first phrase at the eighth fret, but then repeat the phrase an octave lower by moving down to the fifth fret. It took me years and years to figure this out (despite its obvious nature), but if you watch Metheny, Martino, Benson play, you'll see they're jumping all over the neck. This approach is counterintuitive because it's not the most efficient way to move your left hand around, but efficiency isn't the goal. Once you start repeating your phrases like this, you'll add coherence to your solos while adding more interest by expanding the harmonic range of your solos.

Surviving a long solo

Creating a structure in a solo helps you to perform four or five choruses without being an absolute bore. You also get the benefit from a attentetive audience who appreciate the fact that it seems like you know what you are doing.

Here is a suggestion:

Chorus 1
Simple notes, maybe just the pentatonic scale. Or maybe a three note theme with small variations.

Chorus 2
A lot more playing, more notes, playing on chord or whatever. More intense.

Chorus 3
Repeat one tone for at least 4 bars, maybe more if it’s an up tempo song. Develop the one note into more notes but dont overdo it

Chorus 4
Use the blues scale and more straight rock phrases to make simplicity and make the rhythm section set a steady beat towards an end of a solo.

OK, you do it a lot of other ways, but its worth while to play a few choruses and hold back and save the most dramatic part to the end of your solo.

Practice like this

Take a minus one-record, preferbly in medium-tempo. Create a solo according to the model above. Remember to hold back. Don´t be alarmed if it doesnt sound interesting. You are practicing a new way of thinking, so dont fall back on your old ideas.

You can swap order between the choruses or find other ways of structuring at single chorus. The main thing is to hold yourself in control and always listen to what you do.
Good luck

Take just one chord progression- a blues with some extra II V's would be a good place to start-and transpose it to all 12 keys. other musician's before me have said that we learn the most from transposition.

A great tip to learning new tunes is to play them very slowly, so slowly you can play all the way through without a single mistake. Do it over and over, gradually increasing the tempo. The key is to make sure you can play without any mistakes with each incremental increase of the tempo. Don't speed up until you can. You'll learn it faster that way. When you try to learn it at tempo you end up just practicing your mistakes.

If I had to choose one tip, it would be this one:
When you can't play, sing. take a song you know well or want to learn (satrt with Blue Bossa or a 12 bar blues), then sing the melody, sing the roots of the harmony, sing the scales, sing the arpeggios 1-3-5, 1-3-5-7. You will be amazed how much of guitar playing has nothing to do with the guitar!

I always sing while improvising, it helps me play more natural and melodic lines. Don't sing too loud though, they might hear you :-)

Try tapping your foot on beats 2 and 4 while playing, it helps your swing feel!

Great, I'm first :-)

My tip: always try to make music when practicing. When doing technical exercises like studying scales, don't play too mechanically, put some music into the exercise...