As a guitar player, improving your improvisational skills is one of the best ways to expand your musical horizons. Here are ten tips that will help you on your quest to become a better guitarist and musician.

1. Listen to good players. If you want to know how to do something right, learn from people who have done it before you. Learn from the masters, then take what they say and make it your own style. You’ll be surprised at how much you can learn just by listening.

2. Learn how to play in all keys. Many guitarists prefer to play in certain keys because they don’t know any others. One of the best ways to become a more versatile player is to learn how to play in all keys so that no key is off limits for you.

3. Learn about intervals and chord voicings above the root note for chords. Knowing where the third and fifth of a chord are located gives you more options when soloing over chords because you can play these notes instead of just playing on top of the chord like many beginning players do.

4. Learn licks or patterns that outline chords using arpeggios and scales as a basis for soloing over chords in all keys as discussed above (tip

1. Listen to other people’s music.

2. Learn the scales that are being used in the songs you like and practice them.

3. Know the basics of how music is written (i.e., the major and minor scales, intervals, chords).

4. Listen to your favorite guitarist’s playing and try to figure out what scale he/she uses in each song.

5. Learn how different chords are formed, their inversions, etc., and make it a part of your “musical vocabulary”.

6. Once you learn a few scales, chords, etc., try putting them together using a backing track or just jamming with friends (or even by yourself!) and listen to how they sound together (but remember not to overdo it!).

7. Keep an open mind when listening to other people play; don’t just focus on what they’re doing wrong but also think about what they could be doing right – this will help broaden your horizons!

8. It helps if you have an idea of what key you want your music to be in before starting out with improvising (or even composing). You can use this as a starting point when jamming with others or just creating some riffs on your own – this way

1. Learn the basic scales, such as major, minor, harmonic minor, melodic minor and diminished. These are like a toolbox for improvising.

2. Find out some of your favorite players licks (licks are short solos). Also, listen to their style of playing and try to copy it.

3. Listen to music that features guitar playing and identify the chords being played using the above scale system. The more you listen and do this the better you’ll be at it.

4. Play along with your favorite solos by ear (this will help with your timing).

5. Learn to play in different keys, this is important as you will be able to pick up on songs quickly if someone requests one that you haven’t played before (also it helps a lot if you are learning by ear).

6. Try playing your own melodies over a backing track or song (you can find many free backing tracks online) and then come back to it later and see how well you did or didn’t do! This is a great way to improve your improvising skills. You can also make up riffs in different keys and play them over different songs – it’s always fun to see what works best! Try

1. Listen, listen and listen some more to your favourite guitar players. Analyse why you like their playing. Why do you like the way they use particular notes? How do they phrase licks? How do they use effects? How do they construct solos? How do they use dynamics?

2. Listen to other instruments too. Listen to how sax players phrase, how pianists play lines, how a flute player might add vibrato, or how a trumpet might add grace notes or embellishments to phrases.

3. Try playing along with records – it will help your timing, listening skills and your ability to play in tune – at least until you are confident enough to play solo!

4. Try transcribing solos from records (or get a friend to transcribe them for you if you are not confident enough yet). You can learn so much from this – if nothing else it will give you a huge library of licks that you can then adapt for your own playing style!

5. Learn about scales and their modes – how they sound and how chords relate to them (ie which scale fits over which chord). This will give you an enormous repertoire of notes to choose from when improvising.

6. Learn vocabulary – phrases that

Improvising is one of the most difficult things to do on a musical instrument. The average guitarist takes years to get any good at it.

Here are ten things you can do to make your improvisation sound better. It works for me, and I hope it will work for you.

1. Listen and learn to songs, then figure out the chord progressions and try to play along.

2. Try to learn the riffs of the songs you like.

3. Listen to solo’s and try to play along.

4. Try to get a feel for how notes work together and which ones don’t, avoid dissonance (two notes that are not in perfect harmony).

5. Practice, practice, practice!

6. Work out some scales, it is useful to know these if you want to improvise solos (and also for song writing).

7. Try and imitate your favourite guitarists, this is the best way to learn how they play and how they think when playing (it will also help you develop your own style).

8. Learn at least one solo by heart (this helps you memorize all the notes on the fretboard).

9. After learning some techniques (scales, arpeggios etc) practice using them in a song, even if you have to write that song yourself just so you can use them in context (practice makes perfect!).

10. Experiment with different sounds/effects/pedals/amps/guitars etc (even if they aren’t really your thing),

1. PLAY WITH NO FEAR.

2. Always think of the song as a whole and not of individual parts.

3. Listen to what you are playing, and listen to what is going on around you.

4. Play with dynamics, if you play loud on the chorus, don’t be afraid to play soft on the verse or bridge. 5. Visit www.guitar-chords-and-lyrics.com for more guitar tips and lessons!

6. Take chances, nobody will remember if you make a mistake but they will remember if you did something great that they never heard before!

7. Don’t play what people want to hear, play what you feel but don’t forget if it doesn’t work you can always go back to playing what people want to hear!

8. Sing what you play in your head before playing it out loud, this will help with ideas and also with your timing and rhythm!

9. Just because there is only one guitarist in the band doesn’t mean that you have to try and play every note just pick out the important notes (3rds 7ths 9ths 13ths etc) and let the rest flow!!!

10. Be yourself don’t copy other players, this will