Suggestions for an improvisation class (various plucked instruments)

Hi,

I am mainly a guitarist (and a recent though enthusiastic convert to uke) I have started a community group where we are trying improvisation with various instruments. So far we have guitars, ukes, a charango, an algerian mandola (with quarter tones) ,lots of quieter percussion (We have djembes but they might overpower the plucked instruments) And some recorders sneaked in somehow. People generally have played a year, maybe two, and are up for trying anything that seems fun.

I am trying to balance things for different tastes and styles of music. In a few sessions we have had lots of laughs and made music in wierd and wonderful styles from minimalist to classical to arabic to sort of folkish. I am not very experienced in improvisation (though I love experimenting with it).
Maybe some of you have experience and ideas and maybe links to different possibilities

Thanks ,

Tony

The pentatonic scale would be the place to start.

In 4/4, one or more instruments can play alternating bars of I and V7 while others can call and response one or two bar phrases using the pentatonic scale. Start with various one note rhythmic phrases, expanding to two note rhythmic phrases, etc...

Eventually graduating to 12 bar blues?

I was going to suggest the luthiers thread but then reallized you wrote plucked.. So sorry..

Yes I will try that, thanks. They have done pentatonic and also call and response , but not with I and V7.

infidel said:

The pentatonic scale would be the place to start.

In 4/4, one or more instruments can play alternating bars of I and V7 while others can call and response one or two bar phrases using the pentatonic scale. Start with various one note rhythmic phrases, expanding to two note rhythmic phrases, etc...

Eventually graduating to 12 bar blues?

Click to expand...

Sounds like a blast! My advice, once your group finds its groove, comes from John Lennon:

Turn off your mind / Relax and float down stream... :music: