Improvisation III - "Stella by Starlight" Part 3

Once again, this month’s improvisation exercise is the same as last month’s except that the range within which one arpeggiates has been shifted to between the 1st and 5th frets inclusive. This range of the guitar can be tricky as it requires a bit more stretching. Nonetheless, it is a familiar range for most guitarists. Because of this, I find my habits are more well-worn here than elsewhere on the fretboard. This exercise helps me break those habits.

For new readers, the rules of this exercise are:

1. Arpeggiate the chords of a song in 8th notes within a five-fret range of the guitar.

2. Starting on the lowest available chord tone in that range (in this case, G, the third of an E half-diminished chord) and arpeggiate upward. Change directions only when the next chord tone falls outside of the five-fret range.

While the purpose of this exercise is to improvise according to the above rule, some may find it helpful to read through a reference exercise. You can find one chorus written out here and watch me perform it here.

Improvisation II - "Stella by Starlight" Part 2

This month’s improvisation exercise is the same as last month’s except that the range of the arpeggiates has been shifted to the 9th and 13th frets inclusive. As useful as I find this exercise within one fret-range, its real power seems to me to lie in this kind of variation. Just as I am getting used to where all the notes lie within a particular range of the fretboard, when I alter the range—sometimes by as little as one fret—everything changes.

For any new readers, the rules of this exercise are:

1. Arpeggiate the chords of a song in 8th notes within a five-fret range of the guitar (in this case, from fret 9th-13th inclusive).

2. Starting on the lowest available chord tone in that range (in this case, D, the seventh of am E half-diminished chord) and arpeggiate upward. Change directions only when the next chord tone falls outside of the five-fret range.

While the purpose of this exercise is to improvise according to the above rule, some find it helpful to read through a reference exercise. You can find one chorus written out here and watch me perform it here.

Improvisation I - "Stella By Starlight" Part 1

Practicing improvising on your own can be very tricky. I find it helpful to create simple, game-like scenarios based on a small set of rules. These games don’t necessarily make one improvise in the fullest sense of the term but they help develop my ability to think quickly about harmony and the guitar. The rules for this improvisation game are as follows:

1. Arpeggiate the chords of a song in 8th notes within a five-fret range of the guitar (in this case, from fret 5-9 inclusive).

2. Starting on the lowest available chord tone in that range (in this case, Bb, the fifth of a E half-diminished chord) and arpeggiate upward. Change directions only when the next chord tone falls outside of the five-fret range.

This exercise and others like it help me work out my knowledge of the fretboard in a rather rigorous way as well as force me to hear chords resolve one to another in ways I wouldn’t normally choose. Though the point of this exercise is to improvise using the rules only, it may be helpful to read through one chorus of the exercise, which you can find here. You can also watch me playing this exercise here.