Frank Gambale – Improvisation made Easier

Frank Gambale - Improvisation made Easier

Frank Gamabale has been sitting with the top echelons of the Fusion Guitar Elite since his debut release (1986s “Brave New Guitar”) and while many people only associate him with the development of the sweep-picking technique this GIT alumni is far more than simply a technical guitar player. Musically he has always been fresh and creative, as well as being a tireless educator and personally Improvisation made Easier by Manhattan Music Publications is his best work in that latter field.

119 musical examples ranging from simple two-bar motifs to blistering cascading arpeggios illustrate all of the harmonic material, and the dual CD format contains each example at three speeds in order to thoroughly explore the phrasing ideas he demonstrates.

Each Chapter is dedicated to a particular mode or scale  and follows the same format – an examination of the mode’s intervallic structure, an explanation of the “classic” chords derived from that mode, a complete fingering diagram for each mode, and an exhaustive series of diagrams for chord voicings.This is followed by three different musical phrases and a short modal “song” to give you a more complete understanding of the tonality of the scales and a repertoire of stock licks to build upon. At this point I should probably note that a well-developed sweep picking or alternate picking technique will be most “true to form” whilst performing these examples but of course they can as easily be used by those with more an a legato/hybrid approach.

As an example to illustrate this process we’ll look at Chapter 2 – The Lydian mode.

Frank starts by explaining that the Lydian mode (E Lydian in this case) is built upon the fourth degree of the major scale and contains the same notes as B major. He goes on to explain that the intervallic structure of the mode is responsible for it’s particular flavour and compares the mode to an E major scale in order to demonstrate the differences between the two. At this point he clearly demonstrates how to build chords based in the Lydian mode and explains various choices arising from the intervals and notes (Maj7, Maj7#11, F#/E etc) . As outlined above he then presents the most popular chord choice for the Lydian mode (the #11) before moving onto scale diagrams.

Interestingly, these are notated intervallically rather than following the more usual format of a 3 note per string scale with the root notes emphasised – the reason for doing so is to develop a more musical approach whilst improvising,  focusing on an awareness of the intervals in relation to the underlying chords. As some of the examples feature key modulations this allows the player to follow progressions with a wider palette and understanding of the relative strength of the scale tones, passing tones and chord tones.

At this point he illustrates some chord choices for each mode via a series of very clear voicing diagrams ranging from simple examples to voicings which have rather more challenging aspects (wider stretches, unusual barre positions etc) again, with the onus on developing a broader improvisational vocabulary.

On to the (sometimes terrifying) musical examples. For E lydian these cover a wide variety of ideas ranging from the initial phrase which is more akin to a simple intervallic motif, through a 16th note scalar sequence, and ending up with an extended line which traverses the neck via a series of his patented arpeggios and scale lines.

To put this in context, there are 12 chapters with material ranging from the Lydian mode, to Half/Whole Diminished lines, Phrygian Dominant and Aeolian b5 (Harmonic and Melodic Minor modes) and each presents the reader with a large amount of musical/technical ideas to learn and develop – in short, Improvisation made Easier might be aimed towards the intermediate/advanced player but there’s a staggering amount of information here and it is most certainly incredible value for money.

The last chapter is a song covering a variety of modulations (in fact, at least two bars dedicated to each scale covered in the book) which acts as either inspiration, or the impetus to go and throw your guitar into the bin! Very highly recommended as a source of licks, and as a treatise on modal/scalar improvisation it is essential.

Rating:

Share on Facebook