I do understand everything that you're saying Julian... My problem is going from my eyes and thoughts before playing into the full on flow, moment and musical conversation at the beginning of playing. The middle will be great; I'll improvise exactly what is in me, but when I become consious at the beginning and end is where I struggle.
Beautiful wisdom ❤ Also, are you by chance doubling your lines with your vocals (softly)?? Maybe it’s just the way it was recorded, but I’m hearing something more (could be them overtones of that Collings)
Julian is one of the best teachers on the planet, perhaps because he's one of the best students. And of course there's no better player. Thank you Julian!
Similarly, in colleges, my best teachers tended to be overwhelmingly PhDs. This was obvious on my first day at a major university after transferring from a community college (albeit the best in the state) where instructors overwhelmingly have only master degrees, in contrast to the university professors possessing at least one PhD, and sometimes several in different areas. Having been excellent students, they know better how to teach than less accomplished educators. I’ve also taught many academic subjects and was a successful guitar teacher in my teens. My own teaching skills noticeably and immediately improved upon myself learning more from better players and teachers. We all can benefit from other teachers.
Mr. Lage in his signature, effortless manner, simplifies concepts that have confounded and therefore been jargonised multiple times over generations. He has what most geniuses of 21st century lack, the pulse of all guitarists, their pain points AND the eager willingness to share his knowledge for the world to benefit from. What a beautiful mind and soul. thank you 🙏
Just cannot get enough of this gent. So well and thoughtfully spoken, immensely gifted and hard working. Simply endlessly inspiring. I've been playing for about a quarter century, countless teachers, lessons and hours practicing, yet, any one of Julian's pieces and performances contain more music than it all combined.
Fantastic simple and core advices. Pausing - restart with the same note of the last phrase - understand dynamics/feel with different tempos. Now I only need his skills :)
@@daddarioandco The stuff he talks about is really the essence of musical improvisation as well - it can be hard to understand at first if you haven't had a lot of time with improvisation, but as you get a little bit of experience what he's saying becomes, clearly, so critical. He superbly synthesized a hefty chunk of Hal Galper's "Forward Motion" in the latter half of the video. He's also talking about being kind to yourself, and truly mindful of your playing - something that is rarely talked about particularly in guitar.
I started watching because I love Julian’s playing and approach, even though it’s all way (and I mean *waaaaay*) above me. I’m pretty much a musical illiterate and just play for my own satisfaction and the love of it. The explanation of the rhythmic variation, and the effect on what you might play, was brilliantly explained and beautifully demonstrated. Even sat here noodling on my partscaster it just made sense, and brought a bit of space and breath to my usual noodles. Wonderful.
Regardless of your level, those things he's talking about essentially timeless. I've played around some otherworldly jazz cats on guitar, and they talk about these fundamentals all the time, and it doesn't matter how many places you can fit melodic minor if you can't think of clever rhythmic motifs that you enjoy or phrases that you want to share. Something he didn't talk about here is his strong belief that you cannot play music for other people and expect them to like it. We can't know. So doing those things really helps you play music for yourself in a fun way. It's hard to tap into, but so good when you do.
I love these videos where exceptional artists come into frame and truly share what has carried with them through life and how to approach improv, videos like this will be national hallmarks for generations to come :) like historical archives into the realm of the guitar Bravo brother J.L love from Wallaceburg Ontario
man...there's a LOT to get out of this video. thanks, man. you're awesome. and what a great journey playing music is. walking the endless road. keep playing, y'all. or start, if you ever wanted to!
This is really insightful - what goes on in the mind of an improviser, what is the experience. Thank you Julian Lage for paying such close attention to yourself and for being so articulate, and for the wonderful music.
Musical philosophy can expand our potential in deep ways. Is not about how much notes can you play, but ultimately letting go and let Music flow through us.
I love the concept, “let the music play itself” and “take a breath” breathe life into solos. Articulated very well a subject kinda hard to put into words . Thanks man , great lesson.
Thank you so much. I often have angst about improvising while absolutely being drawn toward doing nothing else. There's a great permission I have to give myself- to be brilliant or otherwise, make mistakes, be gross, fall completely flat. The best teaching, eg: Swim coach- let the water teach you how to swim. There's technical skills most people will not achieve. After that letting the music be the teacher seems to work best for me. Very Frank Zappa, if you will. And again, thank you for this sharing.
I really admire his charismatic approaches in music. Extraordinary artist describing his approaches to his art is spiritually compelling. If there is one thing, I would really like to hear him play overdriven guitar tone just because I know that he would really take it to the next level with his approaches.
I noticed that when i tap my feet while playing, i tend to play more rhythmically, and the type of rhythm i play depends on how fast or how slow i tap. So I've been using that third part to my advantage, now I'm hearing it from a master, that's amazing. Now I'll try to incorporate the first and second part to my playing. Although I'm currently learning to give space in my solos. Wonderful lesson.
The profoundly simple goal of playing the guitar in ideal is the intrinsic joy and bliss of playing the guitar. Improv is the enjoyment of enjoying the sandbox.
Lari Basilio uses top notch gear and her signature guitars are beautiful but man...what a fantastic player ! She's one of those rare gems that really gets emotions across in her playing, beautiful phrasing, the space between notes and lightning fast passes. Lari it's a joy listening to u play .
What a wonderful person. And I don’t mean that in a sycophantic way. Regardless of his musical ability, you can tell he’s just a genuinely kind and caring man.
I really appreciated this exercise idea of feeling the bigger beat or playing in a widened beat. What it did for my ear was change the expectation of resolve. I think it also loosens the correlation of rhythm, beat, and tempo.
Great stuff. Let the music breathe, speak and lead the way. One thing I sometimes do is try to catch a phrase, pause, then repeat it rhythmically. For example, if I just played 5 notes you can repeat the same rhythmic pattern of those 5 notes with different notes or even one single note representation. It creates a pattern that the listener can latch onto. People can relate to patterns and we're the listener too, after all. Drummer Benny Greb did an Improvisation Lesson video on this and talked about the same thing.
In improvisation sometimes u catch the magic but noone is there to listen and u havent recorded it... and then u start to write this improvisation but never is the same and dont remember what u did causw u were so lost to another dimansion.. nice video!
I love it! Yes - music is a language and improvisation is a conversation, sometimes with others or with yourself. And phrasing is the way we pronounce our content.
A hundred years from now people living will be saying how lucky we were to have lived in his time, the same way we talk about the generation who watched Bird, Monk, Mingus, Miles, Coltrane etc.
Jullian, at 4:47: I was thinking of a quite famous young guitarist I stopped liking so much because; and just when I thought, that HIS problem, for ME is "his playing doesn't breathe", YOU at the very SAME time said "breathe" !! Honest to Django !! I thought he doesn't breathe, just when YOU said "breathe"..Wow !!
Like Blackmore says keep that brain and emotions [of your audience] engaged in the process, sometimes it can get to be like an Olympic sport; Which has a time and place❤ What comes first the Tempo or the Melody.
@@graymurray4952 yeah, it sounded like that. my thought is that they used AI to remove backgroumd noise or some kind of filter and sometimes it doesn't work
I think to improvise at a high level the most important thing is to not think when you are doing it. Thinking is for preparation or the autopsy after you play, but when you are playing, play what you hear with the notes going straight to the fingers and skipping the process of thinking as at some tempos, it's not possible anyway and if you did do it, it would broken up and choppy. My 2 cents (worth every penny).
I like how he doesn’t give you a formula or a recipe. He gives you the essence of the feeling. This is the best kind of teaching.
The depth of his thinking and the way he articulates and demonstrates his thoughts is just sublime... what a gem this is.
🎶🎶
A pleasure as always ❤
I do understand everything that you're saying Julian... My problem is going from my eyes and thoughts before playing into the full on flow, moment and musical conversation at the beginning of playing. The middle will be great; I'll improvise exactly what is in me, but when I become consious at the beginning and end is where I struggle.
Beautiful wisdom ❤
Also, are you by chance doubling your lines with your vocals (softly)?? Maybe it’s just the way it was recorded, but I’m hearing something more (could be them overtones of that Collings)
Julian is one of the best teachers on the planet, perhaps because he's one of the best students. And of course there's no better player. Thank you Julian!
Similarly, in colleges, my best teachers tended to be overwhelmingly PhDs. This was obvious on my first day at a major university after transferring from a community college (albeit the best in the state) where instructors overwhelmingly have only master degrees, in contrast to the university professors possessing at least one PhD, and sometimes several in different areas. Having been excellent students, they know better how to teach than less accomplished educators. I’ve also taught many academic subjects and was a successful guitar teacher in my teens. My own teaching skills noticeably and immediately improved upon myself learning more from better players and teachers. We all can benefit from other teachers.
Mr. Lage in his signature, effortless manner, simplifies concepts that have confounded and therefore been jargonised multiple times over generations. He has what most geniuses of 21st century lack, the pulse of all guitarists, their pain points AND the eager willingness to share his knowledge for the world to benefit from. What a beautiful mind and soul. thank you 🙏
Dude is a genius. Literally a living legend already
facts
This is the sort of Julian Lage content I've been yearning for!
Julian is just the best, totally down to earth and one of the most soulful players I've ever heard. Love his records.
Just cannot get enough of this gent. So well and thoughtfully spoken, immensely gifted and hard working. Simply endlessly inspiring. I've been playing for about a quarter century, countless teachers, lessons and hours practicing, yet, any one of Julian's pieces and performances contain more music than it all combined.
"Phrases really begin when we stop playing" Mic drops : ) Unfolding vs overriding love it
Wow never knew how to express what he explained here. Julian is great and really understands much about our instrument
this is the best soloing lesson on youtube.
Fantastic simple and core advices. Pausing - restart with the same note of the last phrase - understand dynamics/feel with different tempos. Now I only need his skills :)
Very useful indeed.... especially the wide rhythm idea...
It really is amazing how much a shift in mindset can impact our improvisation. Really cool to see him demonstrate this. Genius guitarist.
as usual.. such patient way of discussing his method.
A totally approachable way of looking at guitar improv from such an irreproachable talent.
Maybe one of the most comprehensive and approachable players.
I could listen to him speaking for days. He has such an insight when it comes to music. And the best part is you can hear it in his music.
@@daddarioandco The stuff he talks about is really the essence of musical improvisation as well - it can be hard to understand at first if you haven't had a lot of time with improvisation, but as you get a little bit of experience what he's saying becomes, clearly, so critical. He superbly synthesized a hefty chunk of Hal Galper's "Forward Motion" in the latter half of the video. He's also talking about being kind to yourself, and truly mindful of your playing - something that is rarely talked about particularly in guitar.
I started watching because I love Julian’s playing and approach, even though it’s all way (and I mean *waaaaay*) above me.
I’m pretty much a musical illiterate and just play for my own satisfaction and the love of it.
The explanation of the rhythmic variation, and the effect on what you might play, was brilliantly explained and beautifully demonstrated. Even sat here noodling on my partscaster it just made sense, and brought a bit of space and breath to my usual noodles.
Wonderful.
Regardless of your level, those things he's talking about essentially timeless. I've played around some otherworldly jazz cats on guitar, and they talk about these fundamentals all the time, and it doesn't matter how many places you can fit melodic minor if you can't think of clever rhythmic motifs that you enjoy or phrases that you want to share. Something he didn't talk about here is his strong belief that you cannot play music for other people and expect them to like it. We can't know. So doing those things really helps you play music for yourself in a fun way. It's hard to tap into, but so good when you do.
@@quincytennyson6020
It’s kind of my ethos. I play for myself but take great inspiration from others. :-)
Julian just blows me away.
Ive been hearing about Julian from other players and this is my first time hearing him play. Fantastic!!! Seems like a good soul . Great vibe💯
He speaks as beautiful as he plays!
I love these videos where exceptional artists come into frame and truly share what has carried with them through life and how to approach improv, videos like this will be national hallmarks for generations to come :) like historical archives into the realm of the guitar Bravo brother J.L love from Wallaceburg Ontario
this is the best advice, and the best demonstration of 'feeling bigger beats' ive ever seen. kudos.
SUCH a beautiful bit of advice. It would be awesome to get this video re-mixed.
Julián is the guy that open the road and the sky, we always love his music, I mean how music take his fingers and reach our heart. Gracias Julian.
This is the most inspiring lesson ive seen! Julian is one of the best out there!
man...there's a LOT to get out of this video. thanks, man. you're awesome. and what a great journey playing music is. walking the endless road. keep playing, y'all. or start, if you ever wanted to!
This is really insightful - what goes on in the mind of an improviser, what is the experience. Thank you Julian Lage for paying such close attention to yourself and for being so articulate, and for the wonderful music.
5:19 beautiful “ let music unfold and don’t override “l
Musical philosophy can expand our potential in deep ways. Is not about how much notes can you play, but ultimately letting go and let Music flow through us.
I love the concept, “let the music play itself” and “take a breath” breathe life into solos. Articulated very well a subject kinda hard to put into words . Thanks man , great lesson.
Great ideas, how lucky are we to be given this wisdom
Thank you so much. I often have angst about improvising while absolutely being drawn toward doing nothing else. There's a great permission I have to give myself- to be brilliant or otherwise, make mistakes, be gross, fall completely flat. The best teaching, eg: Swim coach- let the water teach you how to swim. There's technical skills most people will not achieve. After that letting the music be the teacher seems to work best for me. Very Frank Zappa, if you will. And again, thank you for this sharing.
This is gold!
Thanks for a great lesson Julian.
Thank you for this, it was an amazing lesson. Julian is a true genius
The man is brilliant in every possible way!
this was literally a master class workshop thank you JL and thanks for sharing
id love to see a time when Julian was learning . everyone starts somewhere and this man has become basically my favorite guitarist
What a great lesson!! From a true master of the instrument! Thank you!
Thanks, Julian. Great tips.
We think so, too!
At 7:47 it reminds of a Wayne Shorter composition, “Prince of Darkness,” from the Sorcerer album by Miles Davis.
Please come somewhere close to TX! Seeing you live is on my bucket list
A man whose words on the guitar are both poetic and gospel. Long live King Julian
Julian you're on smooth cat, I appreciate your ethereal and wise advice.
I really admire his charismatic approaches in music. Extraordinary artist describing his approaches to his art is spiritually compelling. If there is one thing, I would really like to hear him play overdriven guitar tone just because I know that he would really take it to the next level with his approaches.
I noticed that when i tap my feet while playing, i tend to play more rhythmically, and the type of rhythm i play depends on how fast or how slow i tap. So I've been using that third part to my advantage, now I'm hearing it from a master, that's amazing. Now I'll try to incorporate the first and second part to my playing. Although I'm currently learning to give space in my solos. Wonderful lesson.
The profoundly simple goal of playing the guitar in ideal is the intrinsic joy and bliss of playing the guitar. Improv is the enjoyment of enjoying the sandbox.
Thank you, Julian and D'addario!
Lari Basilio uses top notch gear and her signature guitars are beautiful but man...what a fantastic player ! She's one of those rare gems that really gets emotions across in her playing, beautiful phrasing, the space between notes and lightning fast passes. Lari it's a joy listening to u play .
JL ! what an amazing musician, person. love the philosophy behind the music. its as important as technique.
What a wonderful person. And I don’t mean that in a sycophantic way. Regardless of his musical ability, you can tell he’s just a genuinely kind and caring man.
Wow, I love this guy.
I really appreciated this exercise idea of feeling the bigger beat or playing in a widened beat. What it did for my ear was change the expectation of resolve. I think it also loosens the correlation of rhythm, beat, and tempo.
This was an excellent lesson!
Thanks Julian. I learnt something new here
Appreciate your work with the Emancipation Proclomation
I think here, he is still just a member of the House.
What a soulful and unique player
@Julian Lage is a genius.
wow i needed this
Amazing. I need more
Lesson from Julian- what a treat!
What a lesson this is!
Thank you for sharing!!! ❤
Amazing ideas, beautiful person ❤
Curiosity sparked.
Great stuff. Let the music breathe, speak and lead the way. One thing I sometimes do is try to catch a phrase, pause, then repeat it rhythmically. For example, if I just played 5 notes you can repeat the same rhythmic pattern of those 5 notes with different notes or even one single note representation. It creates a pattern that the listener can latch onto. People can relate to patterns and we're the listener too, after all. Drummer Benny Greb did an Improvisation Lesson video on this and talked about the same thing.
That was awesome 👏👏👏👏
this is very good concept actually
Love Julian !!!
Fantastic!
Haven't even picked up my guitar and I'm playing better already! Brilliant teacher
Let us know which artists you would like to see a lesson from down below! 👇
Julian for the second time please and thank you
Jacob Collier!
@@zachindesamen.
Blake Mills!!
Derek Trucks
13:36 that’s the sauce
Thank you Julian, thank you D’addario!
I appreciate this so much
Thanks Julian...
Thank you Julian!
Thanks! ❤🙏
More please 🙏🏽
Very grateful that you are sharing experience and guitar and personal wisdom
As Peter Erskin said to me also create space and it will speak to you ❤
I wanna be Julian. Always smiling, sparkles in the eyes, and yes, he’s not bad with a guitar 😉🙏
In improvisation sometimes u catch the magic but noone is there to listen and u havent recorded it... and then u start to write this improvisation but never is the same and dont remember what u did causw u were so lost to another dimansion.. nice video!
I love it! Yes - music is a language and improvisation is a conversation, sometimes with others or with yourself. And phrasing is the way we pronounce our content.
Very well said!
Thank you❤
Excelente!!
Excellent
Wow that second part was ear opening!
Do you feel like expanding the beat gives you more importance in selecting notes? I'm curious how this works with faster progressions.
A hundred years from now people living will be saying how lucky we were to have lived in his time, the same way we talk about the generation who watched Bird, Monk, Mingus, Miles, Coltrane etc.
Bob Ross of guitar 🙌
so wild to think like that,,, very cool
brilliant
Jullian, at 4:47: I was thinking of a quite famous young guitarist I stopped liking so much because; and just when I thought, that HIS problem, for ME is "his playing doesn't breathe", YOU at the very SAME time said "breathe" !! Honest to Django !! I thought he doesn't breathe, just when YOU said "breathe"..Wow !!
Thank you
Like Blackmore says keep that brain and emotions [of your audience] engaged in the process, sometimes it can get to be like an Olympic sport; Which has a time and place❤
What comes first the Tempo or the Melody.
the audio is very weird, don't know why. anyway, hearing julian is always a pleasure
Great lesson though!
@@graymurray4952 yeah, it sounded like that. my thought is that they used AI to remove backgroumd noise or some kind of filter and sometimes it doesn't work
In a lot of segments he often hums and orates the melody he's trying to play along with the guitar playing.
@@opedroarte yeah it definitely sounds like some of the audio is getting transformed into some weird little vocalizations.
@@opedroarteyes, I agree with that. Listening with headphones and there’s some really odd artefacts in the sound.
He’s still amazing though!
How do we get Julian and Guthrie together for a jam session? My new years birthday jam possibly? 🤪
Zero accountability - I think the vulfpeck guitarist , Cory Wong talks about this a lot. Great video thanks.
inspiring :)
I think to improvise at a high level the most important thing is to not think when you are doing it. Thinking is for preparation or the autopsy after you play, but when you are playing, play what you hear with the notes going straight to the fingers and skipping the process of thinking as at some tempos, it's not possible anyway and if you did do it, it would broken up and choppy. My 2 cents (worth every penny).
I think you should have the chord progression in the background to help hear the harmonies. Thank you!❤
Also… who setup/mixed this audio???
In a lot of segments he often hums and orates the melody he's trying to play along with the guitar playing.