[agarciaz20]

I know... weird title, but i have story and want people's input.

Anyway, i was in band (middle school band and high school marching band) for a total of 7 years and played the clarinet. I am now learning the guitar, with the main goal of playing rhythm for my church's worship team.

We already have a guitarist, but want he wants to do (and what he is really good at) is playing lead. I have been mainly learning on my own, until our lead guitarist joined the church and then he offered me leasons. He is trying to teach me songs, but the main problem that i am having is that i cant seem to "feel" the music. He gives me the song and what chords to play, and I want to know the exact strum pattern. He has told me to basically to make up the strum pattern, and that i just need practice. I know that i need practice (thats not what this post is about).

He did mention to me that since i was so long in Band and being told exactly what to play, that it may be the root of my problem. It makes sense to me, i play one instrument for so long and was told EXACTLY what to play and then i switch to an instrument where i am encouraged to improvise.

But what does everyone else think? any band people here with some input

[Nate]

Originally Posted by agarciaz20

He did mention to me that since i was so long in Band and being told exactly what to play, that it may be the root of my problem. It makes sense to me, i play one instrument for so long and was told EXACTLY what to play and then i switch to an instrument where i am encouraged to improvise.

As I see it, the problem is not necessarily so much that people in middle-school / junior-high bands don't learn how to improvise so much as that they don't learn how to listen to the music they are playing. It's rare that a band director in such a school really instructs their students on the art of LISTENING while you play to a) what you're playing, and b) what others are playing. You'd be surprised how much that would have helped you in your current attempts to learn a more improvisitory instrument. You can't improvise if you don't have a general idea of what you want what you're about to play to sound like. You can't have a general idea of what you want what you're about to play to sound like if you don't already have a general idea of what music sounds like.

My advice to you would be to keep practicing guitar however your teacher instructs you, but also to spend some quality time practicing your listening skills. Does that sound silly? It shouldn't, and eventually it won't. Pop in one of your favorite CDs (or, even better, a CD of the type of music your worship team plays) and try to listen to the music in a way you never have before. Try to pick out individual parts and hum them along with the music. Listen for the bass line one time through a song, then repeat the song and listen for the rhythm guitar, then repeat it again and listen for lead guitar, etc. To be even more successful, listen for instruments that are NOTHING like what you're trying to play... like an organ or a flute or something random like that. Try to catch on to the general feel of the music, then as you keep listening, try to tap out the rhythms on whatever is handy, hum the melody along with the music (out loud), then try to turn the music off for a second and see if you can recreate (just by tapping and humming) some of what you were listening to.

This kind of active listening is critical if you want to learn how to improvise anything, even something as simple as a strum pattern.

[What5647]

i took piano for 7 years, and wasn't taught a thing about how to improvise. i delved deep into theory, scales, etc, but i feel that i was never shown how to make music, only to churcn out what others had written. i ended up quitting. and this has made it hard to leanr to improvise for the guitar. but i've found something just today that helps greatly, simply sit down and play the thing. any odd melody, experiment with it. see what works, and what doesn't.
listening helps, and then again it doesn't. i've got a good ear, and can normally pick up a guitar part by ear, but then it's like i'm back to playing written music again, it's not "mine"

[presbystrat]

Originally Posted by agarciaz20

He did mention to me that since i was so long in Band and being told exactly what to play, that it may be the root of my problem. It makes sense to me, i play one instrument for so long and was told EXACTLY what to play and then i switch to an instrument where i am encouraged to improvise.

I had a similar music backround and was never taught how to play by ear. I found it helpful at the beginning to use some different strumming patterns in an instruction book. You can also find some on the internet. After playing for three years, I don't think about the exact pattern; I just play what feels right.