Vamps, Jams & Improvisation

Guitar players love to jam. Call out a key, lay down a one or two chord vamp, the rhythm section kicks in and everybody starts to get their groove on – simple enough for seasoned players with monster improv chops and big ears. Not so easy for most intermediate and early advanced players who tend to run out of ideas and struggle communicating musically with the other members of the band. This 2-DVD set illustrates dozens of approaches for developing solid melodic and rhythmic ideas for soloing or comping over one and two-chord vamps. You'll first learn how to think melodically and then how to best express those ideas, in a vamp or jam setting, with the other band members. The DVDs cover creative devices like melodic patterns, call and response, stutter picking, guide tones, horizontal lines, tone targeting, muffled arpeggios, chromatics, expressions, passing tones and other techniques for generating ideas on the fly. You'll also learn how to develop ideas around unusual scales like the Super Locrian, Bartok minor and harmonic minor scales. Rhythm and comping are also covered with equal emphasis; clave rhythms, inversions, rhythmic alteration, quartal harmony, bubble parts, chord punches and how to clearly communicate and then lock up with the band is demonstrated in detail. 185 minutes.