u/dyashar

Been playing guitar for years, write songs in an indie/alt rock band, play live regularly, can learn songs by ear decently well, and can write riffs/chord progressions/melodies pretty naturally at this point… but improvisation has always been my biggest insecurity and I really want to finally fix it the right way.

I’m realizing I don’t want to just sound like “pentatonic box guy” anymore.

The kind of playing I’m obsessed with is Larry Carlton / Steely Dan stuff. Kid Charlemagne completely broke my brain. That style of improvisation sounds SO intentional and melodic and horizontal across the neck compared to the way I naturally play now.

Current situation:

• I know the pentatonic shapes pretty well
• Know basic major scale stuff
• Starting to understand chord tones/arpeggios more
• Recently been focusing on targeting chord tones over changes instead of just running scales
• Working on hearing the chord underneath and landing on notes that actually sound connected to the harmony
• Learning parts of Kid Charlemagne right now
• Have been practicing singing phrases and trying to find them on guitar
• Starting to understand guide tones (3rds/7ths) and why they matter

BUT…

I still feel completely lost improvising in real time once things move away from familiar box shapes.

Like if someone says “solo over this progression,” my brain still often goes:
“okay where’s the pentatonic…”

I don’t naturally see the neck horizontally yet. I don’t instantly know where the chord tones are during fast changes. I can FEEL musical ideas in my head, but translating them to the fretboard in the moment still feels clunky and anxiety-inducing, especially jamming with my band. It’s honestly been one of my biggest musical insecurities for years.

I want to get to the point where:

• I hear something and my fingers just go there
• I can actually follow chord changes melodically
• I stop sounding trapped in shapes
• I can play THROUGH the harmony instead of over static scales
• I can move across the neck fluidly instead of vertically inside boxes
• My phrasing sounds more vocal/jazzy/melodic like Carlton, Robben Ford, Julian Lage etc.

What I DON’T want:

• random disconnected exercises
• another “learn all the modes” answer
• vague advice

What I DO want:
A genuinely structured plan.

Like:

• what should I practice daily?
• weekly?
• in what order?
• what skills matter MOST first?
• what resources/books/apps/videos actually helped you make this transition?
• what made things finally CLICK?

I’m very willing to practice seriously. I just feel like I’ve never had an actual roadmap and have kind of pieced things together randomly over the years.

Would really appreciate advice from players who made the jump from “good rock player” to truly melodic/harmonically aware improviser. THANK YOU!

Been playing guitar for years, write songs in an indie/alt rock band, play live regularly, can learn songs by ear decently well, and can write riffs/chord progressions/melodies pretty naturally at this point… but improvisation has always been my biggest insecurity and I really want to finally fix it the right way.

I’m realizing I don’t want to just sound like “pentatonic box guy” anymore.

The kind of playing I’m obsessed with is Larry Carlton / Steely Dan stuff. Kid Charlemagne completely broke my brain. That style of improvisation sounds SO intentional and melodic and horizontal across the neck compared to the way I naturally play now.

Current situation:

• I know the pentatonic shapes pretty well
• Know basic major scale stuff
• Starting to understand chord tones/arpeggios more
• Recently been focusing on targeting chord tones over changes instead of just running scales
• Working on hearing the chord underneath and landing on notes that actually sound connected to the harmony
• Learning parts of Kid Charlemagne right now
• Have been practicing singing phrases and trying to find them on guitar
• Starting to understand guide tones (3rds/7ths) and why they matter

BUT…

I still feel completely lost improvising in real time once things move away from familiar box shapes.

Like if someone says “solo over this progression,” my brain still often goes:
“okay where’s the pentatonic…”

I don’t naturally see the neck horizontally yet. I don’t instantly know where the chord tones are during fast changes. I can FEEL musical ideas in my head, but translating them to the fretboard in the moment still feels clunky and anxiety-inducing, especially jamming with my band. It’s honestly been one of my biggest musical insecurities for years.

I want to get to the point where:

• I hear something and my fingers just go there
• I can actually follow chord changes melodically
• I stop sounding trapped in shapes
• I can play THROUGH the harmony instead of over static scales
• I can move across the neck fluidly instead of vertically inside boxes
• My phrasing sounds more vocal/jazzy/melodic like Carlton, Robben Ford, etc.

What I DON’T want:

• random disconnected exercises
• another “learn all the modes” answer
• vague advice

What I DO want:
A genuinely structured plan.

Like:

• what should I practice daily?
• weekly?
• in what order?
• what skills matter MOST first?
• what resources/books/apps/videos actually helped you make this transition?
• what made things finally CLICK?

I’m very willing to practice seriously. I just feel like I’ve never had an actual roadmap and have kind of pieced things together randomly over the years.

Would really appreciate advice from players who made the jump from “good rock player” to truly melodic/harmonically aware improviser. THANK YOU!

Edit: Thank you so much everyone. I'm really grateful for everyone's expertise! Something I forgot to mention is i've been playing guitar since I was about 16 and I'm 35 now. Only I never dove deep into it until recently. Mainly just focused on rhythm and songwriting. I'm more of a vocalist/songwriter first. So for instance, I am able to play some of the more difficult solos with practice at a bit slower tempo with ease. But improvisation and knowing what I'm doing and how to get to where I want to be is my current focus. Thanks again.

Hey everyone. My LA indie rock band Saturday Night Vacancy just released a new song called “Amalfi Coast.”

It’s a groove-driven indie rock track inspired by bands like Incubus, Young the Giant, RHCP, and Vampire Weekend. The song’s about romanticizing escape, nightlife, luxury, and beautiful places while still carrying anxiety underneath it all.

Would genuinely love to hear what people think of it.

Been trying to figure out what I’m doing wrong with music marketing/social media for years and would genuinely love outside feedback.

I’ve been in bands since 2017 (2 different projects now), and despite consistently releasing music, playing shows, making content, etc., we’ve never really broken past:

• ~230 followers
• ~35 monthly Spotify listeners
• ~1k plays on a song
• mostly (only) friends coming to shows

At a certain point I have to stop assuming “the algorithm is against us” and ask what we’re actually missing.

I’m fully open to honest feedback, even harsh feedback. Music, branding, visuals, content strategy, consistency, songwriting, social media presence, whatever.

Band is Saturday Night Vacancy. Indie/alt rock. We have all the relevant social media, including a website, and currently 3 songs streaming on all platforms.

Would really appreciate people taking a look and telling me what stands out immediately as weak/confusing/off-putting or what you think is holding us back. Thanks so much.