Guitar improvisation

How do you improvise over chord progressions
The Guitar Blog
How do you improvise over chord progressions: 6+ ways to success

“How do you improvise over chord progressions?” is a common question I hear often from guitar players.

Have you wondered about this too?

In this video lesson, I explain one of my simple methods step by step to answer this question.

Many guitarists think knowing a scale or a few to improvise is enough. While only using guitar scales might work, there are a few problems:

  • Your improvisation might sound too scaley and mechanical.
  • You may hit the right spots but without knowing why they work.
  • You’re limiting yourself
  • Most importantly, you miss the main point.

Hint: the answer is already in the question…

That’s right – chords! Or, more specifically, chord tones (the notes that construct the chord).

How do you improvise over chord progressions? Answer: chord tones awareness

In this video, “How do you improvise over chord progressions”, I discuss what I call “chord tones awareness.”

Simply put, when you’re aware of the chord tones, your improvisation will match the chords in the background if you’re playing to a backing track.

The result will make you sound like you confidently know exactly what you’re doing.

You can use this to improvise over a backing track, but I demonstrated it using just a solo guitar in the video.

As I shared in a previous video, backing tracks have their own limitations. But with the “chord tones awareness” approach, you can learn better and create using just one guitar!

Yes, you can even compose your own solo guitar piece by combining two of the main elements of music: harmony (chords) and melody (scales).

I quickly reviewed the fundamental scales in the video, such as the major and minor pentatonic scales, before moving on to more complex concepts.

So, if you feel this is advanced, you should probably spend more time mastering these scales first. If you need any help with that – email me,

Oh, and if you’d like the PDF I show there with the diagrams – email me, and I’ll send it over!

You can watch the video here below. I’d love to know what you think – it would mean the world to me if you could leave your comments:​

To your success!
– Udi

PS
Ready to make fast progress with your guitar and music? Book a guitar chat with me here.

March 21, 2025

guitar composition FAQ - a person holding a pencil and writing on a notebook
Guitar blog posts  ·  The Guitar Blog
Unlock the Secrets of Emotional Guitar Composition: Essential FAQs

“Guitar composition”, “guitar composing”, “composing on guitar” – you’re probably here because you searched these terms and want to learn more about them. You’ve come to the right place! In this FAQ, I’ll try to answer everything I can based on my experience as a guitar composer and guitar composition teacher. If you have any more questions – comment below, and I’ll update this article with my answers!

What is guitar composition?

Guitar composition is the art and process of creating original music on the guitar. The term can mean composing music for the guitar or using the guitar as the primary instrument for composition. The term composition suggests that it’s mainly for classical guitar and classical music. But in modern times, it doesn’t have to be restricted and can apply to any type of guitar and in any genre.

Do compositions must be notated with software or written on paper?

While you can notate your music, it’s not a must. Moreover, you don’t even have to read music to compose! Some guitar composers don’t know which notes they are playing, especially when using alternate tunings, where every tuning is like re-learning the fretboard. In this guitar composition approach, you let your ear and intuition guide you instead.

Do you have to learn music theory to compose on the guitar?

Learning music theory helps you understand what you play and how to take it further. But it’s not a must! Sometimes, focusing on theory can even slow the creative process by letting our logical and rational minds take the lead. The result might be too structured and predictable music based on formulas. If you agree that creating music is about conveying emotions and feelings, then leading with that can bring more exciting results.

In addition, music theory is usually used to analyse and explain passively. However, “music composition theory” is a more fitting term that focuses on the creative application of theory. This includes uncovering how to use composition tools created by great composers and guitarists, such as permutations, as well as showing how any theoretical concept, like intervals, can be used to create guitar pieces.

Can anybody learn how to compose guitar music?

Absolutely! It doesn’t matter what level, age, and style you’re into or what you believe or think – you can learn how to compose guitar music! There’s a misconception that some people are born with a natural talent to compose or as creatives. Some are indeed born with perfect pitch (not me…), which definitely helps with anything to do with music, including composing. But even Beethoven and the great classical composers learned how to compose!

There are mainly two ways to learn guitar composition:

  1. Self study: researching the right resources, like YouTube videos, online courses and books.
  2. Working with a mentor: getting professional help and a structured plan to overcome mental, emotional, technical, musical and creative challenges.

When I first picked up the guitar, I immediately composed music on it. Yes, it was mainly based on open strings and probably wasn’t very interesting to listen to, but the act of composing the guitar is that easy and simple. It’s like giving your child a pen and a piece of paper, and you’ll get a piece of art that you’ll hang on the wall with pride.

Even guitar composition students with a strong disbelief manage to do so. Here’s an example:

Where and how to learn guitar composition?

Quite a few teachers and educational institutions teach “guitar” and “composition” as the main subjects, mainly by learning other people’s music and methods.

According to my research, there are very few programmes that teach the guitar as the main compositional instrument that’s not restricted to a specific genre (classical or jazz). Berklee College of Music, for example, offers a course titled “Guitar Composition Techniques for Performers/Composers” (here’s the link), which is part of a wider composition programme.

This gap is the reason for opening my only guitar composition academy, which focuses on artistry more than the techniques, for example, by showing how to be in tune with the guitar and transform emotions into music through it.

What’s the difference between guitar composition and improvisation?

Composition and improvisation are two approaches to creating music on the guitar. A common difference people think is that composition is planned and pre-written, and improvisation is created spontaneously at the moment.

But the lines can be blurry. For example, you can compose on the fly by playing and recording random notes on the guitar. Similarly, you can base your improvised music on musical ideas you have already practised and played in the past. Additionally, sometimes aimlessly improvising music on the guitar (known as “noodling”) can lead to structured compositions at any stage of the creative process.

One more approach is to enable moments of improvisation within a composition. This way, there is a general structure with flexible, non-definitive parts. Here’s an example for a guitar composition with improvised bits:

How to compose music on the guitar?

There are many ways to compose music on the guitar, from how to get inspiration to finding the right structure for your music. A simple way of looking at the creative process is to break it down into 3 steps.

  1. Inspiration and ideation: getting inspired and creating a musical idea.
  2. Development: expanding and enriching that musical idea.
  3. Completion: adding related parts if needed and deciding on the final structure.

Of course, this is a general overview of the process of guitar composition, and each step includes multiple mini-steps.

How to start and get better as a guitar composer?

Like anything in life, to start and get better at guitar composition, you also need to:

  1. Learn what to practise.
  2. Practise what you learned.

Imagine guitar composition as a muscle you need to train and make it stronger. It can be difficult to compose something instantly as a beginner composer, but the more you hone your compositional skills, the better you’ll be able to compose on the spot!

Nothing should stop you from picking up the guitar right now and creating something new that you never played before. For more inspiration and guidance – check out these guitar composition lessons.

Isn’t it better to compose on a piano?

For many composers, the piano and keyboards are the main instruments for creating music. They have a wider range of octaves (7 plus a few keys), and you can play 10 notes at the same time. The guitar is more limited in that respect, about 3-4 octaves and mostly 6 notes at the same time. But the guitar has other advantages. Here are some of them:

  1. If you’re a guitarist, you can compose straight away on your instrument.
  2. The guitar has a few positions for the same pitch, giving it richer tone and colour options.
  3. The open strings enable diverse and unique combinations of notes, for example Campanelle.
  4. The guitar can be very expressive with, for example, string bends, slides, and other creative manipulations.

Is composing music hard?

Composing music can be an easy or hard task, depending on where you are in the creative process. Some guitarists have a lot of self-doubt, so it’s hard for them to begin. Others start but are overwhelmed with too many options to develop their ideas. There are also guitar players who find it easy to create and develop their ideas but struggle with finishing them.

Do you have any more questions? Comment below, and I’ll update this article with my answers!

January 26, 2025

guitarist playing guitar emotionally
Guitar blog posts  ·  The Guitar Blog  ·  Tips for guitarists / guitar students
How guitar music creation helps you with life’s hardships

Guitarists,

Whatever you’re going through, remember that music, especially music creation, is an incredible way to cope with life’s hardships.

It helps with:

– Dealing with your feelings and emotions by expressing them through the guitar and understand yourself better.

– Taking breaks from physical or mental struggles by immersing yourself in a world of sounds.

– Adding more meaning and a sense of purpose by connecting yourself to something bigger than the daily grind.

If you need any help with your guitar journey – I’m here for you. Message me; https://m.me/udiglaser.

Yours,
Udi

January 24, 2025

Guitar composition and musical creativity - are we creative by nature.
Guitar blog posts  ·  The Guitar Blog
Are we creative by nature?

Guitar composition is something anyone can (and should) create. But some think they don’t “have it” or lack imagination and can’t compose guitar music.

In this post, I’d like to show you that you are already creative and can easily compose original music on the guitar.

When you do simple things in your everyday life, you create. For example, let’s say you commented on this post: “Thank you! I feel more confident in my creativity and can compose original music without the guitar”.

No one has put together this string of words in that specific way. Don’t believe me? Try to google my comment example with quotation marks. It’s original! The result says: “Your search did not match any documents.” (Although, when this post is published, it might lead to this page…).

However, I’m sure your comment will be much more interesting than my example, and you can then Google your comment and test your originality yourself.

Like writing, communicating with others using language is also based on your creativity. You’re creating sequences of words in your unique way.

Even when you speak, you improvise in the moment, like improvising music on your guitar. Bassist and author Victor Wooten beautifully explained this point in his TED talk.

Guitar Creativity & the “Four C Model”

In psychology, the “Four C Model” differentiates between four levels of creativity. The first level, “mini-c,” concerns novel and personally meaningful interpretations of experiences, actions, and events. 

It means, for example, that when you played a few notes on the guitar as a beginner, you may have experienced a feeling you created something new and different to you. 

According to this concept, “mini-c” inherently exists in a learning process that we can foster and nurture to move on to the next level of creativity. 

Creativity from a biological perspective

But psychology can’t provide definitive proof for our creative nature. So perhaps we can get evidence from a biological perspective. This quote describes it nicely: 

“One of the defining features of humanity is the ability to be creative. This ability is exhibited throughout human society and is a fundamental force in the development of humankind. However, the concept of creativity itself is shrouded in imprecision and subjectivity, making it difficult to address from a scientific perspective. One approach to the rational study of creativity in humans is to consider it from an evolutionary perspective, aiming to identify related behaviours in other species that can be studied without the cloud of human subjectivity that the word creativity entails.” (Wiggins, 2015; doi: 10.1098/rstb.2014.0099).

I’d add that it’s also very difficult to compare creativity levels between people. What are the parameters and who decides them? 

I’d add that it’s also challenging to compare creativity levels between people. What are the parameters, and who decides on them? 

That’s why the term creativity can be open to interpretation and tricky to measure scientifically, although there are efforts to research specific aspects of it.

My conclusion and guitar composition

We still need more research to understand creativity. But despite its subjectivity, there seems to be a broad agreement that being creative is an essential part of being human, even if it’s on a fundamental level. 

It happens when we learn something new and begin our learning process as babies and even in the womb.

The cool thing is that this long post results from a comment I received on a different post. It is a chain reaction of inspiration and creation; you can choose to be part of it. 

To be more creative is your choice, whether you believe it’s in your nature. How? Commenting on this post is a simple way! Learning guitar to enhance your creativity is another. 

Enhancing guitar players’ creativity is what I’m trying to promote through my guitar composition group, Solo Guitar Composition Artistry Group, where I share free resources and videos.

I also opened a new venture called The Art of Guitar Composition Academy. This programme gives a holistic overview of music as an art form. We explore there all the elements of music practically and experiment with compositional tools that will help you through every stage of the creative process.

To learn more about it and to see if it’s the right thing for you, schedule a guitar chat with me – https://udiguitar.com/contact-udiguitar/

May 22, 2023

Kirk Hammett guitar solo songwriting composition improvisation
Guitar blog posts  ·  The Guitar Blog
Guitarists criticise Kirk Hammett, but who needs fancy guitar solos?

I recently read an interview with Kirk Hammett in Total Guitar and discovered that there’s an ongoing online debate about his guitar solo in Lux Aeterna. 😮 I felt I needed to address it

As someone who grew up in the 80s, Metallica has been a significant influence on my musical upbringing. I learned a lot from their guitar transcription books before even knowing what I was playing.

I understand that there’s some expectation from guitarists to evolve artistically, and it’s safe to say that Hammett’s solos were more diverse in their earlier albums, which he admits in the interview. 

Nowadays, and from what I could hear in their latest album “72 Seasons”, their music still primarily relies on the minor pentatonic/Blues scale, and Hammett is content with mainly using the minor pentatonic scale for his guitar solos. So Lux Aeterna’s solo is a bit more interesting, as he uses some chromatic runs. 🙂

Personally, I love this guitar solo as it brings the energy the song requires. I listened to a few other guitarists’ alternate solos to the song, and I didn’t feel it at all. They might be excellent technically, but there wasn’t any musical connection to the song.

Some of the criticism regarding the solo is that it jumps from one idea to another with “no logic”. But doesn’t it create a sense of hastiness that’s related to the feel and meaning of the song?

In the creative process, it might be true that these bits were glued together from different takes. Hammett said he’s now very much into improvisation and left the editing stage to Lars Ulrich and the producer Greg Fidelman.

This leads to an interesting topic, what is the purpose of a guitar solo? 

Is it for lead guitarists to showcase their shredding skills, like in those alternate solos? Or is it for adding a part that melodically expresses the song’s feel, energy or meaning without lyrics?

There are other approaches to incorporating a guitar solo, like using it to tell a story. But in this case, it seems that those other two answers are the main schools of thought.

I support the latter. To me, if the song needs a guitar solo (which is not a must). It’s a break from the vocal parts into a more abstract expressionism that doesn’t have to follow any rules. It exists because it adds some value to the song.

Also, I think it’s essential to have a flow into the guitar solo, so it doesn’t feel like it was forced into the song. In Lux Aeterna, specifically, I love how the band clears the stage for it by literally stepping down (chromatically).

Personally, I’m more into solo guitar than guitar solo. 🙂 On my latest instrumental guitar album, I had only one “traditional” guitar solo that goes into a blurry cloud of sounds. In another track, I used sweep picking to add an extra layer behind eight other guitar layers. 😀

What are your thoughts on this? Where do you stand?

Read more articles about guitar composition on my guitar blog!

Photo of Kirk Hammett by Raph_PH.

​​

April 18, 2023

A robot AI is a guitarist - CREATIVE GUITAR PROMPTS for songwriting composition and improvisation
Creative Guitar Challenge  ·  Guitar blog posts  ·  The Guitar Blog  ·  Tips for guitarists / guitar students
5 Creative Guitar Prompts to Improvise and Compose New Music

Looking for creative guitar prompts?

The word “prompts” became common these days because of chatGPT and other AI apps. But instead of outsourcing intelligence, how about using and upgrading NI? 

The good things about NI are that its creative capacity is unlimited, it can search for the most updated information on the web, and can even connect and have meaningful chats with humans. 🙃

NI can also create beautiful music by using the smart algorithms of MI and mainly because of its extraordinary emotional expression capabilities. 

So here are 5 creative guitar prompts you can challenge your mind with to improvise, write songs and compose new musical creations…

  1. Write the next release of your favourite musician.
  2. Your middle two strings broke. Use the other four to write a song.
  3. Compose a monophonic guitar piece.
  4. Write a soundtrack to the last video on your phone.
  5. Play a famous guitar riff but with different notes.
CREATIVE GUITAR PROMPTS for songwriting composition and improvisation
5 creative guitar prompts

It’d be great to hear your variations on these creative guitar prompts! Would you like to share your attempts on my Electric Fingerstyle Improvisation Guitar Group on Facebook?

Prompt the Promt

Then I thought, what if you write “creative guitar prompts” as a prompt into an AI app? I did, and chatGPT gave me these 10 ideas:

  1. Play a piece in a different time signature, such as 7/8 or 5/4.
  2. Write a song that tells a story, and create a guitar riff to go along with it.
  3. Try playing a piece of music in a different genre, such as rock music played with a classical fingerstyle approach.
  4. Use alternate tunings, such as Drop D or Open G, to create a unique sound.
  5. Incorporate percussive elements, such as slapping and tapping, into your playing.
  6. Create a medley of your favourite songs, blending them together into one piece.
  7. Write a piece using only one chord, exploring the different melody and rhythm possibilities.
  8. Play a piece in reverse, starting with the last chord and working your way backwards.
  9. Experiment with different guitar effects, such as reverb, delay, or distortion, to create new sounds.
  10. Improvise a piece based on a specific emotion, such as joy, sadness, or anger.

I asked it to regenerate and got 10 more creative guitar prompts, and some are quite similar and variations to the first 10.

  1. Write a song using only three chords
  2. Create a soundscape by playing with different textures and effects pedals
  3. Write a piece in a different time signature than you are used to
  4. Use a specific emotion as inspiration for your playing
  5. Write a piece in the style of a genre or artist you admire, but put your own spin on it
  6. Experiment with alternate tunings
  7. Write a song with a narrative structure, like a story
  8. Improvise a solo over a chord progression you’ve never played before
  9. Collaborate with another musician and write a piece together
  10. Create a medley of different songs, seamlessly blending them together.

But this time, it also added an important closing sentence. “Remember, these prompts are meant to inspire and challenge you, not limit you. Feel free to interpret them in your own way and let your creativity guide your playing.”

Conclusion

This was a great experiment, which I believe proves my initial point. AI is based on common knowledge and on the information we know so far. It cannot yet generate ideas that haven’t been thought of. When I thought of producing 5 prompts of my own, I wanted to come up with new ideas and skipped the ones the chatGPT suggested. I thought they were a bit obvious and predictable.

For example, writing the next release of your favourite musician is an idea I for from the visual arts, to draw the next painting by Picasso and so on.

The conclusion is: feel free to experiment with all of these 25 creative guitar prompts. And here’s another challenge: create your own prompts!

February 15, 2023

Musical expression on the guitar - Guitarist Gary Moore RIP
Creative Guitar Challenge  ·  Guitar blog posts  ·  Music  ·  The Guitar Blog  ·  Tips for guitarists / guitar students
How to enhance musical expression in your guitar playing

For improvisation, songwriting, and composition on the guitar in particular, these five ideas can help you be more expressive

The idea for this “musical expression on the guitar” article began with an answer I gave to a question in a guitar Facebook group. The question was along the lines of “How do you improvise on the guitar in a more musical way?”

My reply was: “The key is to develop your inner voice and ear and make it a whole-body experience, which is more than just “thinking” with your fingers. It’s about connecting all the different elements and components of a musical experience.”

Then, as I gave the question some more thought (and discussed it in my group “Guitar Songwriting & Composition“) I became aware of its problematic wording. What does “more musical” mean? The intent behind the original question was probably “how to be more expressive on the guitar” or “how to play the guitar with more musical expression.”

So I thought I’d break down my answer into five effective concepts that help me and my guitar students. 

Five Ways to Improve Musical Expression on the Guitar

1) Get Up, Stand Up

Most of us sit while playing the guitar. But standing up can already make a big difference. You can then move more freely by, for example, swaying your hips and gesturing with your hands and head. This also helps with getting into the rhythm and immersing yourself in your playing. This is what I meant by making it a whole-body experience. It’s like the difference between practising and performing. When you stand up, it can feel like a live gig, even if the crowd is the furniture around you. Also, sitting too much is not very healthy.

  • If you play classical / flamenco guitar, you can still move while sitting. But you can also try to stand and rest your foot on a high stool.

2) Sing

Using your voice—either your inner or actual voice—can help a lot with being more expressive on the guitar. For example, when you “scat” (sing what you play at the same time), your playing can sound more human. In other words, you will use speech-like phrases. It’s because when we speak, we say a few words, pause or take a breath, and say a few more words, and so on. When you do that with the guitar, the result can be similar. You’ll play and sing a few notes on the guitar, breathe and rest, then play and sing a few more notes, and so on.

  • If that’s tricky, you can also play something and then sing it. The other way around can also work, sing something and then play it. 

Watch these two short videos about guitar scatting:

Guitar scatting part 1
Guitar scatting part 2

3) Listen to the Music

Playing the guitar expressively is not just about playing one phrase, the next one, and then another. Instead, think about it as a conversation between you and the guitar. It’s bi-directional. So after playing a phrase, listen to what you’ve just played before automatically playing the next one. Ask yourself, “Where does this phrase want to go?” This way, your phrases will stimulate you to respond and create other related phrases. 

  • This concept is particularly crucial when playing with other live musicians. The ability to listen to those around you is probably the most important aspect of music expression and creation. 

4) Surprise Yourself

If you “think” too much with your fingers, your playing might sound too mechanical. For example, it can happen when you play over a scale you know automatically, like the pentatonic minor scale. Especially when repeating previously practised exercises, like scale sequences. It can be much more exciting to improvise and come up with new note combinations you’ve never tried before. 

  • To break the patterns, pay attention to how you play. Are you mostly using the same order of fingers? Mix it up.

5) Silent Notes

We tend to focus too much on what notes to play. But it’s equally (or even more) important to focus on how we play these notes. For instance, adding interesting dynamics and tone can be much more expressive than a constant stream of notes. This way, you can repeat the same phrase while diversifying it by playing with other elements of music. 

  • Learning the power of the elements of music also helps with finding your sound and your own style on the guitar. It can make your music and your playing more unique and original. 

Musical Expression on the guitar – Summary

To sum up, to play the guitar with more musical expression, think about it as a whole-body experience by standing and moving your body, singing, listening to your playing, surprising yourself with new note combinations, and focusing on other elements of music.

I’d love to hear your thoughts on this article! Comment below. Also, if you’ve implemented these concepts, it’d be great to hear how they helped you!

After Note

While working on demonstrating these ideas in a video, a new guitar tune came out. So instead of a video that explains and shows these concepts, here’s that tune that I came up with. I thought it was important because ultimately, the idea of musical expression on the guitar is about creating new music that excites you. Need help applying these principles to your music? Let’s have a guitar chat!

https://youtu.be/O_oVVk7Fp60

Photo of Gary Moore: Jan Reif

Did you like this article about musical expression on the guitar? Comment below

January 24, 2023

guitar improvisation
Creative Guitar Challenge
Van Gogh playing guitar

You can never understand or analyse a piece of art just by using words. Language is limited. That is why painters like Van Gogh expressed their feelings, emotions and thoughts through colours. This is the meaning of art – communicating through different mediums. Music is the same because music, in its most “basic” form, is Art – The art of communication. Birds probably invented music. We just copied and turned it into something else.

I wanted to explore the use of music as a mixture of art criticism, interpretation and translation from colours to notes. To create a dialogue that cannot exist in real life, but can be real in this virtual existence. Not only in literature, exchange of ideas can sometimes be hidden between the notes.

I recorded the following improvised piece while looking at Paul Gauguin’s painting of Van Gogh (1888), since this is a very deep dialogue between two painters about art itself. Obviously, focusing on the face area is almost a given. But the hand is also very eye-catching and full of movement although it looks still. The flowers are a bit gloomy however there are some glimpses of optimism. For me, brown is represented well by using the note ‘D’, while the different textures can be expressed by alternating between a few modes, like Dorian 4# and Aeolian, and blending them with other musical shades and some chords…

But what am I doing…? I should let the notes speak for themselves:

January 24, 2013