How to Improvise Music on Any Instrument

Improvising on any instrument requires knowledge of several things. It also takes a lot of practice to become good, and to develop a listenable voice. The main ingredient: melody.

While some instruments, such as wind instruments, lend themselves mainly to melody, others like stringed instruments can be more rhythmic in nature. If you've been playing the clarinet, for instance, and learning to sight read music notation on it for several years, you will probably already have a good grasp of melody in your head.

Guitar players who often start out by learning easy chords and strumming, however, won't have that benefit. Piano players usually get a good sense of both, but tend to lean on melody if they've only been sight reading.

Listening

So how does one develop a sense of melody? The answer lies not in your own fingers, but in others'. While that may sound absurd, the best place to discover your own sense of melody is by listening acutely to the melodies of other players. It need not be on the instrument of your choice either.

All music has some melodic content to it. A great exercise is to put on headphones and listen to any song, concentrating on melodic elements within the song. You should try to sing the melody to yourself. Easy popular music may be the best place to start for beginners, but at some point you'll need to expand your reach to longer instrumental solos.

Instrumental music in any genre is best. Artists like Joe Satriani, Steve Vai and Sansietch have entire albums filled with one guitar melody after another. Classical artists such as Vivaldi and Bach have wonderful creations that will start your mind on the way to hearing, and singing melodies in your head. And that is the goal. In order to really create melodies on the spot, during play, you need to be able to hear them in your head.

Can you create improvisational melodies without that? Certainly, but until they come out of your own mind they will be unlikely to have much feeling, and unlikely to spur feelings in the listener.

Developing Knowledge

Another important aspect in learning to improvise is knowing which notes to use. Beginners often feel overwhelmed with this, but it need not be difficult. The knowledge of keys or scales should be studied. Start simply with the major scale and learn the key signature and notes for all 12 keys. It's not as hard as it seems, and the benefits far outweigh the effort.

The reason is that for each of those 7 different notes in each of the 12 scales, you already have another scale that can be used. Do the math: 7 x 12 = 84. That means by just learning the 12 major scales you will actually have gained 96 total scales. These other scales are called modes, and it doesn't take much to figure out how to use them. Simply put, each one has a unique flavor, a particular feel that they generate.

If you were a painter would you rather have 12 colors or 96? You see the power of just a little knowledge.

Technical Skills

Instruments like wind instruments only require you to learn finger placements for the 12 notes that make up music, but stringed instruments usually have these notes repeated in many places all over the instrument. This means another step toward improvising is knowing where each note is.

This can be a daunting task, but for instruments like the guitar, systems have been devised to help you learn them quickly. The CAGED system for instance or the 3 note per string system are used for guitar. You will need to choose a system to learn, and memorize the patterns if this is the instrument you'll be improvising on. Piano players and flutists can get the jump on you here.

Practice Makes Melody

Finally, with all these skills and the knowledge you've acquired, you will need to practice. Start by playing melodies over slower music. The less going on in the music the better, as it can get confusing trying to place melodies between vocals and other solo instruments.

The best, and usual place to start, is with the 12 bar blues progression. Record yourself playing it in any key and then solo over it. Remember to sing simple melodies in your head, and then transfer them to your instrument. Don't simply play a bunch of notes. A final trick for you would be to insert standard licks that everybody plays, in repeating groups, between your own heartfelt melodies.