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Creative & Rhythmic Tools for Soloing and Improvisation

Improvisation is the most primal manifestation of music and the pinnacle of creative expression for musicians. Across the entire evolution of music, improvisational skills have been requisite for virtually every world-wide genre of music from Classical to Middle Eastern to contemporary Jazz, Blues and Rock.

Learning how to improvise really well is no easy task, and it’s certainly not a skill that you can develop overnight. But there are many tools of the improvisation trade that you can get a grip on very quickly and Dweezil Zappa’s Phrase Generators is one of them, and a very good one at that.

“To make striking and memorable improvisational phrases you need rhythmic and harmonic variation. Using the phrase generators that I’ll share with you in this course, you’ll learn how to create your own unique vocabulary of phrases with lots of rhythmic and harmonic variety.”

In the first section of the course, which Dweezil calls Subdivision Magic, you’ll play your way through a series of lessons to learn how to craft and connect a wide variety of rhythmic sub-divisions: Fundamental Techniques, Making Fives, Making Sevens, Making Nines, Making Elevens, Making Thirteens, Combined Groupings, Polyrhythms: 5 Over 3 and Polyrhythms: 5 Over 4.

“I'll show you my recipes for sub-division variations so that you’ll be able to play different rhythm groups of 5s all the way up to groups of 13s. I'll expand on the usage of my Fretboard Freedom pentatonic strategies and introduce you to the 3-1-3 economy picking technique. 3 notes on 1 string - 1 note on the next - 3 again on the next. I’ll also show you some techniques that will bridge all of these concepts and empower you to create your own mind-blowing new arsenal of rhythmically enhanced musical phrases.”

In the second section, Dweezil demonstrates many of his favorite rhythmic devices and melodic patterns: Rhythmic Contours, Play Your Phone Number, 2-1-2 Patterns, 3-1-3 Patterns, Rhythmic Picking Device, Melodic Patterns, Longer Melodic Sequences, Demented!!!, Demented Blues?! and Ancient Inflections.

“In the second half of Phrase Generators, I’ll introduce you to the concept of Rhythmic Devices. It's a shape-shifting modular approach to keeping a consistent rhythmic contour flowing across the neck while changing the harmonic landscape. You’ll learn to attach notes to numbers, literally... you will write a melody to your phone number as an exercise and example! You will learn how to attach symmetrical patterns and adjacent notes into your rhythmic phrases for harmonically demented sounds and added contrast between dissonance and consonance.”

You will play you way through the entire course — no boring exercises or tedious theory to struggle through. Dweezil demonstrates and explains each Phrase Generator approach, and then breaks them down technique-by-technique.

All of the key examples are tabbed and notated for you and you’ll also get the practice rhythm tracks to work with on your own. Each of the rhythm tracks comes in two versions - one with and one without the bass, enabling you to generate your own original phrases.

Grab your guitar and take Dweezil to the practice room. You’ll emerge with a whole new suite of improvisational tools and skills.