Improvisation perspectives

This is a series of ideas about gaining new perspectives. It applies to improvisation intention. Nothingness is also an intention.

Starting from the music types that are personally enjoyed, imitate those styles without the correct knowledge or harmonic understanding. No attempt at being theoretically correct is made. It is an interpretation and should be played with reasonable precision and style. It should not sound quite right, but rhythmically it should be pretty close in a weird way. Thats the sign that you're doing it correctly. It also should be really fun and hilarious.

Take the Zen approach. This can be utilized to varying degrees. You may be kicked off stage if you are completely floating on the astral plane and not playing music in this reality. And you may be required to act as a functioning human. With that in mind, go as far as you can without thinking.

Typewriter approach. Seeing the fretboard notes as totally equal and selecting them randomly.

Absorb the traditional tonal systems of each culture. It is good to use the most popular one, as it is crazy to try and learn everything. The system that is the most common (maybe) is the numbering system and notation. Each note in the chromatic scale is assigned a numerical value. This method has proven workable from classical music to jazz improvisation. It is further categorized by quality and extensions. Such as Major9b13. There are also abbreviations like m7#11, which is a minor 7 with a sharped 11. And there are symbols that show chord types. Such as a circle representing the diminished harmony, or a minus sign symbolizing minor. Overall there are many different abbreviations/symbols, but hopefully they will be close enough that you can discern them. This can all be represented on notation. A written history of note selection. It is categorized by an alphabet. A-G, with sharps and flats. There is huge library of books on this subject that gets deeper and deeper.

Internal visualization of available notes. This comes after understanding the personal use of scales. It is learning the intervallic jumps and steps that are possible, and seeing the chords at your disposal. It is unnecessary to look at the fretboard for this type of practice. Is is an individual view of the depth and scope of organized tones. People visualize in different styles. Use the most natural feeling one. A lot of times it could be a view of the fretboard, the mechanics of the fingers, or an overall design concept of the pattern. This is a distinct/strict way to organize the brain, as opposed to the free-flowing creative visualizations. It has more concrete results for learning and memorizing. Of course we internalize to varying degrees all the time, this just puts more awareness into the game.

Being in the moment while playing. At one of its furthest reaches this could mean that you never play something you wrote, or preconceive any ideas. It would all come spontaneously. It would be very child-like and fun. Now that is not to say that you can't be in the moment while playing a composed song, that would totally be the wrong idea. In fact the other end of this spectrum is composition. It "is" that moment you created it. Then you recreate that moment in the future as desired. Both methods are perfect. The balance of freedom and boundaries in the maw of the universe.