Conference napalm::guitar

    Hey Bill,
    
    Extract this and post it in your office...I couldn't have said it any
    better

    
    	Hi Bill - yeah, I thought the same thing.  I'm going to
    	print it and use it at home too!
    
    	... er, which "Bill" are you talking to ?
    

    Hi Tom,
    
    I'm talking to Bill S., the dude with the purple RG750.

    Buck.... my guitar teacher :-)
    
    OK,. its extracted/posted,.. but theres a lot of differences between
    what he sayd and what you said. Although, we were discussing Guide Tone
    Lines as opposed to solos,.. Solos we haven't really discussed in
    great depth. 
    
    There is a lot of agreement between the stuff you said and whats in
    that note though,.. the ony difference seems to be lots of extra
    stuff in the note that you didn't mention (yet?)
    
    							/Bill_guitar
    							slinger_in_training
    
    
    

    Yet.
    
    Still, a good thang to have kicking around the back of yer mind.

re:.0
�	"You can lead a horse to water, but a pencil must be lead".
�	I found this GP article by Mick Goodrick regarding improvisation
�	rather interesting.  

Which issue of GP?

    
    	The latest issue with that Slash character on the
    	cover.

re .33  Arf Arf Arf (You're cracking me up, but sorry I started it).

re .0's suggestions, I'll let you know when I've had chance to read the article
(i.e. when it arrives in the UK in about 1 month).

    
Re .0

	Are these really rules or an exercise?

	I'll have to scrutinize the article a bit more.....tonight,but
    here's my reaction......

	I would find playing a solo following some of these rules to be very 
limiting as I have found that individual notes or strings to have different
timbres and I like to use them that way(even though they may be the same note)
I could do it,but prefer not to...
	So I would dis-aggree with the position playing or staying within one 
octave. But I believe what Mick is refering too is the Berklee 6 pack of scales
all of which are in a certain position whether 2nd,fifth seventh etc. 
	I would find playing a solo from the first fret,sixth string to the
twelveth fret first string and the reverse to be more of value to me. 

His list however distincly implies discipline,thought and control. Perhaps as
the series of his articles to be published he will expand.
	I'm NOT saying that position playing is bad,but it is just as important
to learn how to connect the positions.
	The most valuable rule/tool he doesn't mention is to be able to 
sing what you play,likewise if I was to copy a solo,singing a phrase of it 
is part of the learning process. I use to play through a tune using chord 
tones first,then play off of those chord tones. It really relates all back 
to scales theoretically,but playing melody's you hear and listening for 
chord changes and modulation is just as important.

a few more,but perhaps the same....

	0 Practice pick attack at extremes(dynamics)
	  (This means play both aggressively with a pick and 
	  then back off and recognize the tonal differences.)

	0 When learning a rythmn part to a tune play through the changes
	  playing only chord tones first.

	0 Work at finding several different voicings to a chord and work
	  at moving the fewest amount of fingers,this creates a flow.

	0 Start a theme melody(perhaps 4 to 8 notes)and develop off it.


	(Did I just start another rathole?)

    re:44 - Yes, they are meant as exercises, not as a basis for
    constructing solos.  And he continues on (I didn't type it in)
    to talk about how frustrating it is to hold back.  What was
    good to me about it was that it told me how reliant I am on
    scales in virtical positions.  I kept wanting to go to them.
    
    And your suggestions were really good too.  Maybe we need a one
    page list of improve bullets posted on our amps!!
    

    re limiting
    
    	Well,.. for me,. having been playing in an "unlimited" way for
    like way too long now. these are guidelines I wished I had learned
    and applied years ago. If I had, then at this point when I "step
    out" on a lead,. you'd know I was stepping out,.. instead of wondering
    where the current stream of unlimited gobbledygook is going to start
    or end.
    
    	I think the intent in presenting these guidelines is to get
    you started on the right foot. Once you have learned and applied
    these rules, of course you will step beyond them. I think the
    author would encourage it even.
    
    	BUT
    
    	Its not as easy to fall back into something that sounds reasonable
    if all you know is free form. Thats like having no guidelines at all.
    Sometimes thats fun,.,. but I'd bet that kind of playing would draw
    more criticism from you guys than a well structured,.. somewhat
    limited,.. but tioght and coherent solo..
    
    	Am I making any sense? Anyway, its just my humble opinion...
    
    								/Bill
    

    
    	Say you play on only the E and B strings for 4 or 8 bars.  And
    	then dropped to B and D strings (skipping the G) for another
    	8 bars.  And then one of the others...
    
    	Lots of our handy riffs would fall by the wayside and that
    	would be good for me.  
    
    	For me, playing chord tones only for a I-IV-V wasn't hard.
    	But playing just extentions was really tough for me.  Wasn't
    	too musical at all.
    
    

Hey Tom,

	Thanks for the pointer to Mick's article,theres some other
	substance in the article which I might try to apply. I read it
	over last night. 

	Heres something similiar to playing a tune with just chord notes...
	in a 13579 etc fashion.

		What I started to do is take a chart(standard) and work my
	way through it with playing a chord on the first beat and use the 
	other three beats to create a bass line to the next chord.  With
	a blues I IV V this is fairly easy. But after that try it on a tune
	like Stella,All The Things You Are or Autumn Leaves.  I work on doing 
	this cold to force myself to think about where the tune is goin. 
	(I avoid memorizing the tune or the bass line)

								Rick

	That's an excellent exercise! There's a lot of good technical
	development in finding where the chromatic moving lines are
	or where a riff can be played against the changes or where
	a riff can be played in one place against the changes and then
	moved and altered for the next set of changes and so on.

	A copy of a good Jazz fake book helps...

    	Yes and be VERY careful at first as you can do some serious
    ligament/tendon damage from streaching you finger's to do this.
    try it SLOWLY!!!! 
    
    	BTW,jazz fake books?  Where can I find a replacement for my
    severely worn(1978 vintage) Real Book?  :^)   Send me mail so as
    to not encourage something illegal....
    
    							Rick
    

	There is a thing on the market called "The New Real Book" which
	is available in most of the larger music stores. It's published
	by Sher Music Publishers. The material overlaps the Pirate Real
	Book considerably and it's a hell of a lot easier to read.

	Mine cost me ~$35.