Improvisation starting point

[ibblebibble7]

Hi guys, 

 

I've recently decided to start learning how to properly improvise on the guitar. I'm a massive fan of the licks, techniques and melodic sounds from Thin Lizzy (mainly Gary and Scott) and Led Zeppelin. does anyone have and starting point suggestions, I'm not a complete beginner as I have got 95% of crazy train down and a few Thin Lizzy songs like Waiting for an alibi and Dancing in the moonlight etc, I know of a few pentatonic scale shapes and the bare basics of minor third harmonies (I think?). Any help would be greatly appreciated! 

 

[ezbass]

A common mistake is for folk to stick to the minor pentatonic when improvising, whether the key or chord is major or minor. Try and make sure you’re complimenting the chord by emphasising the 3rd note. A lot of players tend to play through the scales from one end to the other. Stand out from the crowd by making some interesting, intervalic jumps (Carl Verheyen is the king of this, check him out). Don’t be in a hurry to show your chops too early, build to a crescendo and release (the solo from Stairway is a great example of this).

[Kiwi]

Look at barre chord shapes and use those notes as a guide to what to play, then experiment with different positions up and down the neck.  Then, if you're brave, try it with inversions and THEN with modes.  See how far you can push things without it sounding irrelevant.

[ibblebibble7]

On 02/07/2025 at 08:00, Kiwi said:

and use those notes as a guide to what to

 

so use the bar chords of a song almost like scale shapes?

[ezbass]

4 hours ago, ibblebibble7 said:

 

so use the bar chords of a song almost like scale shapes?

Yep! Therein lie the important chord tones, which will add flavour to your soloing.

[Kiwi]

On 04/07/2025 at 00:37, ezbass said:

Yep! Therein lie the important chord tones, which will add flavour to your soloing.

Mostly thirds.