Practicing with Guitar Backing Tracks to Improve Solos
We all are looking to practice smarter and better, right? One of the best ways to practice your soloing technique for guitarists (or any musicians) is to improvise over backing tracking in all keys (major/minor).
Guitar jam tracks, or backing tracks are designed to allow a player to freely practice while feeling like they are inside of a real song. Where can a person find these tracks?
One good spot for free guitar jam backing tracks happens to be Youtube.com. Basically, I just did a quick search for "A minor backing track" and found some really good backing tracks that are roughly 3-4 minutes long. I will admit though, I really want to be able to re-record these tracks onto my computer, solo over them, and listen to my solos so that I can go back and listen to my mistakes and hopefully improve. However, the audio quality on all of these backing tracks were so low-fi that I have no interest in even going through all that effort to record in this manner. However, it was still fun to log on and search for "B major blues" and solo over that. I found that the most popular soloing key is probably "E major blues" and I had fun soloing over this many times.
I did find a few sites which promised to offer free guitar backing tracks but I must admit that I was pretty let down by what I found.
Tips for Good practicing of Guitar Jam Backing tracks:
First, know your scales! Far too many players think that they can get by without knowing where the exact notes of scales are found. This is not a good suggestion and any guitar teacher would tell you that this will result in guitar solos which are stale and redundant. Basically, you should know all 5 patterns of scales for both major and minor pentatonic at a minimum. As you get used to where the scales are location, do your best to transpose them onto as many keys as possible. This way you can go ahead and solo in any key, whether it is a major or minor chord progression.
For the more advanced player, knowing even more detailed types of scales will result in the best playing experience around, as you can customize your playing to different chords and styles of music (jazz, blues, etc.). When using guitar jam tracks or (backing tracks), you should always try to vary the dynamics of your soloing. Basically, don't just play fast the entire time. It is not about how many notes you can play, but how well you select each note and weave it into a melodic masterpiece.
Further try your best to stay away from guitar jam tracks which are loops of short bars which will result in your playing getting old very quickly. The best case scenario for good guitar jam backing tracks is to pick tracks which are not overly produced, but rather sparse, and allow for you to focus on your own playing. Some players like to have guitar jam tracks which sound like entire bands, while other people opt to record their own guitar tracks with a single acoustic guitar or electric guitar and jam over that.
Another tip- far too many guitarists who are practicing using guitar jam tracks or backing tracks fail to focus on practicing good rhythm. Basically, you need to always solo while keeping a good beat. Thus, if you do get your hands on guitar or even piano backing tracks, it is vital that you figure out what the BPM (beats per minute). A good steady amount of BPM is between 70-85 BPM for moderate speed and 100+ for a faster progression. Again, when soling using guitar jam backing tracks do your best to keep good time signature by always tapping your foot or even using a metronome when playing.
Another problem with some guitar jam backing tracks is that the actual progressions being played may deviate from the scales you are playing. For example, you need to know whether or not the overall chords in your progression work with the various scale modes you are playing. By not taking these above things into consideration (and sadly, many guitarists never do), you will end up becoming a HACK PLAYER. A hack is someone who has a very small arsenal of solo or playing techniques which will sound stale and repetative rather quickly.
A great way to also improve rather than simply using guitar jam backing tracks (in a minor, b major, or any mode) is to play along with your favorite artists. When doing this simply select an album, tune up perfectly to the band, and start soloing away. For a newer player an excellent way to improve your solo technique is to actually copy (note for note) the solos of some of your favorite artists (whether it is John Mayer or Jimmy Page). This will show you how a real guitarist varies not only the notes they are playing but the rhythm and dynamic elements as well.
Downloading guitar jam backing tracks is certainly not the easiest thing to find online; and in some cases this is not even free. Again, a great free source for guitar jamming back tracks would be youtube.com or through the various other methods listed above.
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