What would you do if you had to improvise a guitar solo and had never done it before? Let’s say you were in a band situation and you only had a few minutes to figure out what you were going to do.
Analysing a chord progression and figuring out which scales should be used at different points can be tricky. It can also be hard to execute scales on the fly, while being musical and sounding confident. The hardest thing for guitarists who are just starting out with improvising, is just that – getting started. I often teach students who simply want to know what to do, when jamming in a certain key with friends, or who are asked to take a solo in an ensemble.
For these reasons, I think it’s good to have a basic battle plan. A kind of simple rule of thumb that can work as a starting point, but can also be your go-to tool when improvising.