The Difference Between Guitarists Who Are Excellent At Improvising & Everyone Else

Myth: lacking “natural talent” makes you less creative at improvising than other guitarists who were born with it.
The real difference between creative lead guitarists and non-creative ones is the following:

No, great improvisers do NOT think “faster” than everyone else. They are able to take phrases they already know and use their awesome phrasing and phrase adaptation skills to quickly modify any lick to use in any musical context.

This allows them to create awesome phrasing ideas in their solos by often reusing old ideas without the limitation of having to constantly create new licks every single second in a solo.

Here are some of the ways great guitar players create awesome phrases in their solos:

Using Sequencing To Make Scales Sound Like Music

Your scales sound dull and robotic when you play them up and down like exercises and not like musical phrases. Scales become creative when you use sequencing to create musical patterns and sing-able phrases that stick out to a listener.
Excellent guitar players master sequences to create memorable guitar licks, solos and improvisations.

Adding Musical Ornaments

Any guitar phrase can be made to sound more interesting when you use various guitar techniques to ornament it.

Guitarists with excellent improvising skills are able to spice up the most bland lick by adding a trill, slide, bend or double stop to the end of a phrase.

Focusing On The Rhythm Of The Notes

You do not have to constantly play different pitches while soloing. Great guitar players know this and do not get stuck thinking about what notes to play (as most guitarists do). Focusing on how you play the notes you have available to you is a massive factor for the quality of your phrasing.

Changing the rhythm of the notes you are playing during a solo allows you to repeat the exact same series of notes and make it sound musical and interesting.

These are just a few ways great guitar players improvise amazing solos. Your improvisation skills go to a new level when you understand how to apply these concepts into your guitar playing.

Learn how to make your improvising sound more creative with these ideas by reading this article about creating guitar licks.