Conference napalm::guitar

    Some free advice,.. worth almost as much as you paid for it...
    
    Take what you know now,.. and sprinkle in all the tricks:
    
    	- bends
    	- slides
    	- hammer ons
    	- pull offs
    	- whammys
    
    	except when you go for a slide,,, work it out so you slide
    	into a new position...
    
    	or when you go for a bend,.. bend up to the next scale degree
    	in whatever mode you're in
    
    	Get into the "pre-bends" (they're the coolest in my book,.. which
    	gest edited daily so...:-)
    
    	I don't know if this helps at all,... good luck man. I can
    relate to where you're at right now
    
    							/Bill
    
    	

I agree with the last reply, if you have the material you list at hand you are in 
great shape. 

  Here's my 5 francs (I am in France) of advice and bear in my mind I am just a
guitar hacker.

 Same as -.1 pulls, slides, (definitely pre-bends) and all the other artifacts.

In addition LOTS of interval practice over the scales in the different positions
and also get into diagonal (sometimes called crossovers) scales. This is what
does it for me, it trains the ear (as much as mine can be) and gets you moving 
around the fretboard. I find interval playing in practice allows me to get close
to what I hear in my head (I think this is what it is all about). Really being 
able to connect the flying arpeggios in your head to your fingers is the trick.

And finally......

PERSONAL OPINION ALERT!!!!

I have stopped trying to approach soloing with the attitude of "OK guys play some
chords and I'll improvise." I now listen carefully to the backing and prepare key
turn-arounds, breaks etc.. Then the improvisation becomes a series of connecting 
passages. Works for me. In particular I look for connecting sequences across
scales and scale positions.

END OF PERSONAL OPINION

  Hope this helps

Cheers 
  Chris.

       Thanks,  I'm right at that point where it's starting to come
    together, when I see someone do a really cool run I want it but don't
    understand what there doing just yet.  I know this may sound like a
    dumb question but pre-bends to me is bending up to a higher note
    so that it's easier to move to higher position ?  I have been trying
    to learn as many runs as possible to get the structure.
    
    Thanks for the help,
    
    Jeff

    When I really jump positions, I will use open strings as a "pivot"
    while the left hand jumps up to the next position.
    
    When gradually changing position, I run a scale on one or two strings.
    I recommend practicing all scales on one string, across the top 2
    strings, and across the top 3 strings.
    
    
    Also, starting low on the neck and sliding from position to position,
    all the way up is a good excercize.
    

	What Buck said about practicing scales on one string is cool.

	I used to practice all of my scales in a basically 3-note per
	string form until a teacher pointed out that I was getting
	brainwashed by the fingering patters. Besides playing ALL of
	the scales (thru circle of 5ths) on each of the strings, there
	are some other exercises:

	Major scale, 4 notes/string: (G Major example)

		start on 6th string G (3rd Fret) and play:

		G-A-B-C on the sixth
		D-E-F#-G on the fifth
		A-B-C-D on the fourth
		E-F#-G-A on the fifth
		C-D-E-F(-G) on the sixth

	Major scale, 2 notes/string: (D major example)

		start on 6th string D (10th fret) and play:

		D-E on sixth
		F#-G on fifth
		A-B on fourth
		C#-D on fifth
		E-F# on sixth

	Another good way to work up or down the neck is with sequences.
	I started getting the hang of how to do this using triads.

	Play "triad scales" with the root moving up a string:

	Example in C Major, starting at C on fifth string

	Play:	C on 5, E & G on 4
		D & F on 5, A on 4
		E on 5, G & B on 4
		F & A on 5, C on 4
		G on 5, B & D on 4
		A & C on 5, E on 4
		B on 5, D & F on 4
		C & E on 5, G on 4
	
	Move it to other strings, or keys, add 7s, 9s, 11s, 13s, use
	jazz minor scales, harmonic minor scales, etc. as the basis
	for your triads.

	ALWAYS call out the notes as you play them.

    I try not to think about too much theory when I am improvising.
    
    Practicing scales and positions is not improvisation.  But it is
    necessary 'cause I find that I can't improvise unless the modes I use
    are second nature.
    
    I feel you have to divorce yourself from thinking when you improvise. 
    That is not to say that you don't think at all, it's to say that you've
    done all of your thinking in the practice shed...and not so much on
    stage.
    
    I also find, because of the way our band works, that I have a melody
    going through my head when I'm improvising and no matter how far off
    that melody I stray with runs, I can get back to my original theme.  I
    never know what the hell I just did 'till I hear the tape.  Then I
    realize that what I played was sound theory because of the way I
    practice scales. For me, scales are nothing but scales.  I dont think I
    have ever played a scale from top to bottom or from bottom to top
    during a solo.
    
    -SCW-