Improvising Over Quick Chord Changes - Bluegrass Guitar Lesson

[@bunkoist]

I'm being transformed! Glad I found your stuff. Thanks for doing so much for free. Someday I may actually do lessons. First I have to do self help videos on how to change my habits or I would never practice and then be a failure.Seems to always happen with "lessons".

[@ledheadsteve]

As a guitar teacher with a classical/jazz/rock player who is just dipping his toes into bluegrass I really appreciate your methodology for teaching bluegrass. I've seem quite a few videos and I feel like I have a better sense of the style than if I had looked at a bunch of random licks!

[@JosephusDalrymple]

By golly adding a sixth in a line does make it sound like bebop. Thanks!!! I learned something for which I'd been searching.

[@CowboyBobDuke]

I enjoy your thoughts and direction on improvising. I don't want to learn someone's solo note for note. I don't want to be them. I want to be me. Props to you for more improvising and technique to be a better player.

[@tablature6121]

Good stuff, as always, Marcel. Not only "improvising over quick chord changes", but also the "thinking" of folks like Tony Rice, who can take a simple bluegrass melody line, all on the diatonic scale, and give it a bluesy/jazzy/soulful feel by "straying" a bit. Notes well taken. Off to the woodshed. Thanks.

[@Bill-gb9kf]

Great lesson Marcel! Like other posts have said... I am tired of copying others breaks. I am pushing hard to become proficient at improvising on mandolin. This lesson was really good in that you walked us through your thought process. Thanks!

[@engelsanchez]

You're such a badass. I'm glad I found your channel. My brain may explode from going through this, but it's all good.

[@garyapitz8360]

I really enjoyed your improvising video !

[@LanceClark]

12:35 When you first learn that aliens exist

[@benstokes5092]

Do you have any advice or maybe even a video on how to memorize notes up and down the neck and how to know what notes sound good over what chords?

[@LessonsWithMarcel]

That's a good idea for a video! My quick advice for memorizing notes on the fretboard would be to make sure you know the chromatic series: A A#/Bb B C C#/Db D D#/Eb E F F#/Gb G G#/Ab. You should be able to say that in your sleep before you worry about notes on the fretboard. Then pick one note (like G), there's only 6 strings. So there's 6 G's to memorize between open and 12th fret. Those G's are now islands on the fretboard that you know and you can use them to work out other notes with the chromatic series. With some diligent work you can start filling in more islands and landmarks around the fretboard. This works much better than trying to memorize notes by brute force and makes your understanding feel much more organic. For what notes sound good over what chords you should check out my video called something like "What Scales I Use For Bluegrass"!

[@benstokes5092]

@@LessonsWithMarcel thank you so much! That helps alot!

[@thomasburmester292]

Great video Marcel. I know with practice the decisions you walk through in these videos will become instinctive (or at least quicker). However, that said, there are still a lot of decisions to make in a short space of time. To what extent would bluegrass musicians have many of these lines worked out in advance (at least in part) rather than "on the fly"? Thanks

[@allstringron]

First... I subbed today. This video and a couple others that I've watched of yours are brilliantly simple ideas. Perfect! Have you seen or heard of Tux Guitar tab editor? Also a nice editor I think.

[@anthonyvittoriomusic5489]

Can you explain the "point of tension" at .45 ... what are the two schools of thought in counting the music, and what is the 'tension' of the bluegrass community?

[@LessonsWithMarcel]

Yeah, I guess the simplest way to say it is that bluegrass is mostly written in 8th notes but felt in 16th notes. That being the case, people will sometimes argue about whether we should be saying four 8th notes or four 16th notes in a scenario like this. Okay, both sides of the argument. - Let's start with the 16th noters, Bass players play quarter notes (1 2 3 4), Guitar plays a boom chuck which would be 8th notes (1 + 2 + 3 + 4 +), and banjos/ other soloists would feel 16th notes ( 1e+a 2e+a 3e+a 4e+a). It's a pretty simple practical approach and I think pretty close to what most of us feel in our heads. - The other perspective is that if we write the fastest playing as 8th notes (1 + 2 + 3 + 4 +) things will be easier to understand on paper. That means boom chuck becomes (1 2 3 4) and the bass player becomes (1 3 ). But wouldn't this be slower? Not if we play it twice as fast (cut time)! This is why maybe you've seen a couple pickers argue over 8th notes versus 16th notes or 90bpms versus 180bpms. The music sounds the same and is performed the same to them, they're just arguing about the terms used to describe time. It's a silly debate, like "is cereal soup?" Don't think about it too hard. Hope that helps, if any of that is confusing definitely look online for resources about counting in music! Marcel

[@blairbarbour7046]

Blair here....great stuff , Marcel....you have great melodic direction chops....my simple question that I search for (I am pretty new to bluegrass; I come from a blues rock/ neoclassical shred style)....if you could grind it down to what scales to use over a bluegrass tune in G major, would you use G major, G major pentatonic, or G major blues to play over the changes...OR....use G major scales over G, C major scales over C, D major scales over D, etc.....when doing cold improvising....I am now jamming with some decent bluegrass players and really knowing bluegrass, how can I quickly fit in??....I would surely appreciate your help in this regards....I have watched your amazing bluegrass videos, but still need that “scale “ or “scale choice(s)

[@LessonsWithMarcel]

All your questions answered here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/iqjXlXhpn6p7fLM

[@DrewWolf5]

Are you playing a custom Martin? It looks like a variation of the D41 with a cutaway. Did you customize it yourself?

[@TAkridge]

Can you possibly talk about taking a break on songs you do not know the melody on.

[@alan4sure]

Start by playing individual strings while holding the appropriate chord shape. Or slide up into one of those notes sometimes.

[@mysongs1803]

Too much talk not enough constructive teaching

[@tonekilltech]

the talking was the most constructive teaching