Over the past decade I've had such a hard time understanding how modes work and how to solo using jazz techniques and theory application (if that makes any sense).
Recently I've tried to get back into figuring out how to improvise stylistically like guitarists Guthrie Govan, Greg Howe, and Frank Gambale... But I feel I can't even scratch the surface of how they play because of my lack of theory knowledge.
I've started to understand modes loads better by watching a bunch of videos, but when I sat down to apply some of the thought processes behind soloing (implying the chordal notes in whatever scale or mode you're playing) and I feel like I'm just confusing myself more and more.
For example, I took a look at this page to understand what kind of scales work over a given chord.https://www.apassion4jazz.net/jazz-chords-scales.html
For a single major chord (i.e. C) it shows as if there are literally only 3 notes that would be considered "wrong" over that chord. C#/Db, D#/Eb, and G#/Ab. It seems that any other note is free game, given you imply the chordal tones to outline what you're playing over. Is that... right?
I tried messing around with it on guitar and couldn't really come up with anything sensible. Do I just not have a large enough library of "licks" to pull from? Am I misunderstanding how to apply modes? If I wanted to play specifically C lydian, would I focus on the lydian notes, imply the chord tones, and ignore some of the notes in the other scales that technically work over it until I'm ready to imply a different sound (i.e. major bebop)?
Forgive me if I sound totally ignorant.
I'm really stuck and would love to be able to just improvise with that, if I dare say, "jazzy" sound.
Can anyone help point me in the right direction? I'm really frustrated that I can't figure this out... :/
Submitted September 02, 2020 at 11:15AM by Jadefox02 https://www.reddit.com/r/Learnmusic/comments/il7kqr/struggling_to_understand_jazz_improvisation/?utm_source=ifttt
Javier Rodriguez
Wednesday, September 2, 2020