Learn to Improvise on the Guitar

Learning to improvise means you need to understand chord shapes as well as scale shapes. For the purpose of this page, please make sure you can play Em, G, Am, and C at least. You will see why this is important in a minute and a little bit of preparation goes a long way to understanding how to improvise.

Click on the letters to see the chord:

Em G Am C

For more basic chords, click here:

Just Open Chords for Beginner Guitarists

At its most basic, improvising is easy. It is about taking a snapshot of the notes you might find in a couple of chords and then playing with single notes and part chords from within that box. Knowing the notes or the scale degrees will help you though because cetrain notes need to be played and returned to more often than others to anchor you in the right sound for those chords (anchor you in the "tonality" or give a sense of the "right key") If these words are totally strange, don't worry, you don't need to know all the parts of an engine to drive a car!

If playing "in E minor" your most important or anchor notes will be E and B - you will find those letters on the diagram. Keep returning to those notes, start with short phrases of maybe 5 or 6 notes only in a nice rhythm and make short tunes.

In "G major" the most important notes will be G and D.

If you know Nashville or music theory those notes correspond to 1 and 5 or tonic and dominant degrees of the scale.

Once you have come up with lots of little "licks" or tunes, team up with a friend, one of you can play chords and the other can "noodle" with the notes. You are now playing lead at its most basic.

Try these chord progressions:

Em / / / | G / / / | Em / / / | G / / / | D / / / | G / / / | D / / / | Em / / / ||

G / / / | Em / / / | G / / / | Em / / / | D / / / | Am / / / | D / / / | Em / / / ||

Here are a few pages you might find interesting or helpful in learning to play guitar:

20th Century Boy
Band In A Jam Project
Best Songs To Learn On Guitar
Best Way To Use A Guitar Pick
Born To Be Wild
Hallelujah
Harley Davidson Guitar Stuff
Hey Joe
Highway to Hell
House of the Rising Sun
Johnny B Goode
One
Perfect Day
Play Guitar REALLY Fast
Satisfaction
Smoke On The Water
Stairway to Heaven
Summer of 69

Songs of the Reef - Guitar TAB Edition
Guitar tunes with a maritime feel exploring octaves. An attractive book for young guitarists at an early stage of reading and playing.

Songs of the Reef - 8 Octo-Pieces for Young Guitarists
Octo-Pieces explore octaves! Songs of the Reef contains easy to read large notation with note name noteheads.

Traditional Tunes for Flute and Fingerstyle Guitar [Paperback]
Well loved songs and tunes from around the world competently arranged for flute and guitar. Notation and TAB

My First Very Easy Christmas Carol Book [Spiral-Bound]
Carols for beginners to play. Single note melodies with chord letters. Very easy large font notes with notename noteheads.

Traditional Christmas Carols For Guitar Solo [Paperback]
Easy and intermediate arrangements of well loved Christmas carols for fingerstyle guitar. Includes TAB as well as music.

Traditional Christmas Carols for Guitar Ensemble [Paperback]
Arrangements of well loved Carols for flexible sized guitar ensembles, these are full scores, not separate parts.

I came across a teacher on my travels who was telling young children that improvising is "For people who can't play the actual solos in the music" This is not correct. Improvising is at the root of all blues, jazz, rock and pop music. If you learn to improvise you can make your own solos and songs up! It is essential to jazz musicians! If all you want to do is play other people's music then perhaps it is not necessary, but it is fun and why not learn to do both? All great musicians can perform existing music and make up their own too. It is your right to learn all the skills you need and I hope this first lesson has been helpful to you!