Part 1: Starting to Improvise back to contents

Practice and
Learning

• Three Step Song Development

• Playing It Right
• Practice Plan

©1998-2022 Jim Gleason. All Rights Reserved.

page 2 Practice and Learning Part 1: Starting to Improvise back to contents

THREE STEP SONG DEVELOPMENT

Build a Song List
finding songs
Make a list of songs you would like to learn. Use your music collection. Go online and try youtube,
iTunes or Amazon to audition songs. Try music streaming services like Pandora, Google Music, Apple
and Spotify. Talk to friends and family and get suggestions.

order by difficulty
Prioritize your song list so you can work on the easier songs first. You could make multiple lists according
to difficulty. On a computer, you could make an editable list of the songs by difficulty.

batching songs
It is very useful to study songs in batches, where the songs share an attribute such as a particular
technique, fingering or rhythm. By studying a particular technique such as picking on a number
of songs, you will come across many aspects of the technique and be prepared for a wider range of
picking styles and challenges.

Three Steps to Learn a Song

step 1. basic version
First listen to the song. Music usually has one, two or three significant parts that require your attention
to understand, such as a vocal melody and an interesting bass part. In a band recording, two or more
of the instruments, like the bass and drums may be playing versions of the same idea.
Listen to the music multiple times. Focus on the vocal or instrumental melody a few times through the
song. Separately, listen with your focus on a second part, like a bass part (or the bass/drum composite).
Find a way to play the chords in as simple manner as necessary to get through the song right away.
Simplify the chords. Simplify the rhythm, as much as strumming each chord only once, if necessary.
However you do it, find a version you can play right away.
Think the melody while you play, humming it or singing it. If you can find the melody on a guitar or
piano, it is very useful to sing it while playing it.

©1998-2022 Jim Gleason. All Rights Reserved.

back to contents Part 1: Starting to Improvise Practice and Learning page 3

step 2. parts: structure and design

Learn versions of accompaniment and solo parts for the song, copied from recordings, read from books
or periodicals.
Break down step two into three stages by playing studies on the chord progression:
stage 1: chords with comping rhythms
stage 2: arpeggios with melodic rhythms
stage 3: scales and melody with harmonic and rhythmic variation
For any key, the fretboard can be segmented into five areas, called octave shapes. Preview the five octave
shape areas of the fretboard for the song in stage 1, stage 2 and stage 3, then focus on one octave shape
(for the key) first. Choose the octave shape area that is easiest. The Little Wing Study in “Pentatonic
Scales and Octave Shapes” shows this way of thinking.
In stage 1, you are playing the chord progression in an area of the fretboard, using appropriate comping
rhythms. This will build your memory of rhythms and fingerings. The chord fingerings will give you a
memory of groups of notes that are part of each chord.
In stage 2, arpeggio fingerings give you a more complete knowledge of the chord tones in a fretboard
area and show build a library of melodic rhythms in your mind. See “Triad Arpeggio Exercises”.
In stage 3, you use scales and arpeggios with harmonic and rhythmic variation to create melody. See
“Theme and Variation”.
The ability to create reasonably sophisticated melodic design on one chord should occur early in your
development. This both makes it more fulfilling for you and builds memories of ultimately more useful
melody.
Chord progression is commonly abbreviated by the improviser. For example, “II-V” chord changes such
as Dm7 to G7 in C major can be played discretely as V7 (G7), playing in the temporary key of the V
chord (G7) or in the temporary key of the II chord (Dm7). Melody should generally be strong enough
to stand alone on one chord before using it on many. So, if you intend to use a melody that sounds
V7 over IIm7 - V7 chord changes, it should sound well just on the V7. It should also be reasonably
sensitive to the differences between the IIm7 and the V7, so its part played over the IIm7 sounds good
also.
Making the melody viable in each style require the appropriate devices and color.

• Rock and blues use hammer, pull-off and bend slurring, more minor pentatonic scales (and less
major pentatonic scales), triads with some seventh chords and darkening tones (blue notes),
some chromatics, syncopation and a few tonal and rhythmic layers.
©1998-2022 Jim Gleason. All Rights Reserved.
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• Country music uses more major pentatonic scales (and less minor pentatonic), triads, few
chromatics, little syncopation and few tonal and rhythmic layers.
• Jazz uses less slurring, more colorful chords like ninths and altered dominant chords, many
chromatics, many tonal layers through varying interpretations of the chord progression through
elaboration and abbreviation, much syncopation and many rhythmic layers.
step 3. performability
Maintain a lists of songs you like to play and purposed ones like “dream band song list” or “corporate gigs
song list”. Delete songs that you won’t play again.
This is where you can test out the elements you have worked out in step 2: parts. You will often take a
song back to step 2 and develop it further.

When You Think You Can’t Do It

You probably have a perfectly good brain and since you’re reading this, you’re probably motivated.
If you don’t understand or can’t do something, break it down to components. If you don’t understand
or can’t do a component, break it down… and so on.

©1998-2022 Jim Gleason. All Rights Reserved.

back to contents Part 1: Starting to Improvise Practice and Learning page 5

PLAYING IT RIGHT
How Do You Know You’re Playing It Right?
Improvising guitarists commonly practice songs with errors in rhythm, notes and with bad technique.
They think they are playing correctly and repeat errors over and over. This is bad. This creates strong
memories of the errors.

you can’t erase an inaccurate memory

Once you have practiced something with errors many times, you have created an inaccurate memory
of a musical part. Without brain damage (not recommended), you cannot erase the bad memory. You
can only overpower it with a new correct memory. It is also difficult to prevent the incorrect memory
from coming to mind when you play the piece in the future.

get auditory feedback

Make sure you have the part you are practicing in mind correctly and that you are playing it correctly.
Record yourself playing it and listen to it played back. An excellent way to do this is to make a stereo
recording with a correct version on one channel and your rendition on the other.
In recording programs like Garageband, Logic Pro X, Pro Tools, Logic or Digital Performer, you can
put a reference recording like the original artist you are coping in one track and record yourself on
another track. Then play back the recording and pan the reference recording track to the left and your
track to the right. Adjust the volume so you can clearly hear both at the same time.
Figure out how to slow down the original to 50-70% speed and record yourself playing with it at. Make
successive recordings at increased speeds. Go up to 110%, so you can easily play at 100%.
If you don’t use a recording program, at least play with the reference recording well-balanced with the
volume of your guitar, so you can clearly hear both. Start at slower speeds.

Think It Correctly First wIth “Air Guitar”

Think through the piece first without actually playing guitar. Whenever you can, sing or hum your
guitar part, even if only its rhythm in a monotone voice. Then do the same with “air guitar and, upon
repetitions, gradually “fade in” touching the guitar until you are actually playing the part.

©1998-2022 Jim Gleason. All Rights Reserved.

page 6 Practice and Learning Part 1: Starting to Improvise back to contents

PRACTICE PLAN
Hopefully, you will see the need for structure in your practice early on, before wasting hundreds
of hours of practice by creating bad memories, not building retention and playing redundantly. It is
typical that a guitarist will play for years and finally realize that they are not using their practice time
efficiently.

Bruce Lee, Jerry Rice, Yo Yo Ma, Tom Cruise, Michael Phelps

Do you think these people randomly practice their art, or do they have a plan? Does Tom Cruise do all
his own stunts just banking on the abilities he gained as an athlete in high school and college, or does
he have a regimen? Does Yo Yo Ma play whatever he feels like every day, or does he look for areas
of improvement and work on them with a plan?
When Eric Clapton recorded with the Bluesbreakers for John Mayall in 1965, he was hired to work
eight hours a day on the project. One day, they finished the session after three or four hours. Eric asked
his employer, John Mayall what he should do for the rest of the eight hours. John said, “go practice”.
Eric did.
In the Clint Eastwood film, Bird, Charlie Parker, the phenomenal bebop alto sax player is shown in
Kansas City playing at a “cutting” contest (informal improv competition). Charlie had practiced hard
for the competition, but apparently not hard enough. In the middle of his solo, the drummer gestured
the ultimate insult by removing the mounting screw from his crash cymbal and throwing it onto the
stage (meaning Charlie was no good). Of course, Charlie was devastated. In the next scene, Charlie has
returned to the club after months of practice and enters another cutting contest. No one has ever heard
a soloist so good, like he was from another planet!

Daily Technique
Technical studies need to be practiced daily. Neuromuscular connections require regular practice.
Look for both weak and strong points in your performance and use technical studies to strengthen weak
points and take advantage of strong ones.

Work At the Edge of Your Ability

Repeat phases or technical exercises in a looped fashion at a level of difficulty and tempo high enough
to cause your performance to be slightly flawed. Correct the flaws during repetitions, then increase the
level of difficulty and tempo. In this manner, you are increasing your capability by working at the “edge
of your ability.

©1998-2022 Jim Gleason. All Rights Reserved.

back to contents Part 1: Starting to Improvise Practice and Learning page 7

Acknowledge Fatigue and Take a Break

As you repeat a phrase or section, you will increasingly improve. Then at some point, you will fatigue.
Recognize when flaws in your performance are caused by fatigue. Take a break for a minute, or for
about half the period of time you were looping the exercise.
Every 15-30 minutes, take a five-minute break. Leave the area. Relax.

Build Strong Memories

Many guitarists play the same thing when they first pick up a guitar every day for many days. Recognize
when you have mastered a piece and give yourself the opportunity to experience something new.
Continually find new “pick up” songs.
There are a limited number of songs you can retain in your practice over each period of days or weeks.

build phrases into sections

A single-note phase is typically 8-20 notes, usually 2-4 bars. Build your memory of a phrase (two to
four bars) by repeating it. When you think you can remember it while working on the next phrase, go
onto the next phrase. Then combine the two phrases. If you cannot remember the first phrase, you
should have given it more repetitions.

Likewise built longer sections of music and entire songs, memorize smaller regions of music and joining
them together to make larger regions.

section or song repetitions and schedule

Each section or song you practice has to be repeated enough times that you can remember it until the
next time you will practice it, no more (redundant), no less (memory loss). Without knowing when
you will practice it next, you won’t know the necessary number of repetitions. This is the purpose of a
practice plan: to know how well you have to memorize each item.

separate the rhythm and pitch

The picking and plucking hand typically plays rhythmically. Isolate the rhythm that it plays by muting
the strings with the fretting hand or holding a single chord and playing just the picking or plucking part
without the changing notes. Even if you don’t read music, use standard music notation as a graphic
guideline for the rhythm and listen to any available recording.
The fretting hand generally makes the pitch changes. Memorize the sequence of notes by reading the
tablature or standard music notation, keeping the picking/plucking hand idle.

©1998-2022 Jim Gleason. All Rights Reserved.

page 8 Practice and Learning Part 1: Starting to Improvise back to contents

Once the rhythmic and pitch components are strong by themselves, multi-task and put them together,
playing the full version of the piece.

separate the melodic and accompaniment components

Guitar parts will often combine melody, accompaniment figures (like arpeggios), bass lines and rhythm-
keeping parts. Isolate each part and practice it alone, then combine the parts.

Outline Your Practice

Most musicians don’t experience using a record of their practice, but they should. The best approach is
to use a written record on paper on in a computer to develop the concept of scheduled and monitored
practice for a few weeks or months. As you get more proficient at using the plan, you will need less and
less of it written down and can eventually do it in your head or with a brief outline.

cycle in all of the elements during a broad period of time

During every few weeks or months, you should incorporate all the necessary components of your
musical performance: expression, melody, rhythm, technique, chord progression, fingering and theory.

a practice log
Making a record of your practice can be very productive. Recording your exercise sets to monitor
the growth of your muscles in weight training since muscles grow when exercised at the right
frequency, some daily, some every two days or more. Likewise, recording your practice can build
memories of musical parts to use in performance.
In a diet program, a written record makes sure you are getting all the proper nutrition. In music practice,
you should monitor the components (expression, melody, rhythm, etc.) to make sure they are all getting
covered.

a sample log
These instructions are given:
“We will modify the log as necessary to represent songs and studies you enjoy and are
designed to attain you long term goals in music. To the right of each forward slash, enter a
number from 0 to 9 to indicate how intensely and intelligently you worked, where “9” is the
highest (best) rating. Ideally, you would attain ratings of “9” early on and consistently. Low
ratings can be raised by choosing music you enjoy and by making difficult tasks easier by
including more progressive steps.”

©1998-2022 Jim Gleason. All Rights Reserved.

 Sunday, August 11, 2013 page 1

back to contents Part 1: Starting to Improvise

THE LOG Practice and Learning page 9

Note:
thetheportal
links (blue,scheduling,
underlined) inpayment
the table below are not live.
& parking
exercise, song or design ✓ u,8/1 Fri,8/2 Sat,8/3 Sun,8/4 Mon,8/5 Tue,8/6 Wed,8/7

song ratings comping design solo design min rate min rate min rate min rate min rate min rate min rate

guitar improv (quizzes) more log items

TECHNICAL WARM-UPS 5 5 5 5 5 5
FORM. close&clear, chromatic rolling on 2 strings
PENTATONIC. locating, warm-ups, blues rock cell develop.
MAJOR SCALE. warm-ups,

FIRST STEP: BASIC COMPING & MELODIC AWARENESS 20 20 10

Californication
Sultans Of Swing
SECOND STEP: PARTS . Comping and solo structures 20 20 20 20 10
and designs (incl. copied rhy. guitar + solos from original
and solo or comping studies). Three stages: chords/
comping rhythms, arpeggios/melodic rhythms, scales/
melody with harmonic/ rhythmic variation. Preview five
octave shapes, focus on one octave shape (for the key) first.
Under The Bridge study
Day In The Life Arpeggios
Cliffs Of Dover main themes
THIRD STEP: PERFORMABILITY

review song list

25 25 25 25 25 25 20

Scheduling, Payment And Parking

Rates And Scheduling
Please give 48 hour notice to reschedule any lesson to avoid a $10 charge ($20 the second time if no 48 hr.
notice is given twice in the same 28 day period). I teach year round. We should discuss any holidays. You
can skip one of every eight weeks (and not pay for it). If you take long summer vacations, we should not skip
so much during the rest of the year. Please pay for four lessons at a time. Make up lessons must occur
between regularly scheduled lessons. Without frequency discount, my rate is $75 per hour.

Parking
Please park in the wide driveway in front of our house, or right in front of our house (before the tree). If
both of those spots are taken, across the street at the end of the street near Blair is good. Please don’t park
in front of any neighbor’s house.

©2011-2013 Jim Gleason. All Rights Reserved.

©1998-2022 Jim Gleason. All Rights Reserved.

page 10 Practice and Learning Part 1: Starting to Improvise back to contents

©1998-2022 Jim Gleason. All Rights Reserved.