David Bowie jam

[dbowie123]

Hey this is my first post and I need some help with some jamming/improvising techniques for David Bowie. I was able to record a small sample from the song onto my amp and have it go into a loop, it's about 4:04 into the junta album and its about a 5 second sample and it's really great when looped for jamming over. The thing is I've been feeling pretty limmited in my soloing in this song and have trouble going outside a simple b minor pentatonic scale with a few exceptions of notes. http://www.all-guitar-chords.com/guitar_scales.php?qqq=7&scch=B&scchnam=Pentatonic+Minor&get2=Get&t=0&choice=1    <- that is pretty much the extent of my soloing in this loop and would really love it if you could give me some tips like other scales or arpeggios to use in this song. Listening to Trey he uses some crazy sounding scales and i know this song has alot of potential but it gets static and dull if i play the same notes for a while. I've been playing for over 5 years and have a pretty good understanding of music theory but seem to be stuck here. Could really use some tips, Thanks!

[Stiles12]

Not trying to sound like a master of guitar right now because I'm not by any means, I am still learning new techniques everyday... so take this as help and not so much a criticism.

I am going to try and keep it as simple as I can, and try not to get into so much theory. just thought that I could add my two cents and it might just help you get passed your troubles

To start, David bowie is ONE of the trickiest Phish compositions there is... especially in the jam section. I have been playing this song for some time now and I still struggle trying to hit all of the lines that Ernest hits.

To play this song you really need to dive into theory, the pentatonic "box" is actually used in the song, but it cant be used exclusively or it will just sound repetitive with little or no depth.

David bowie is a very "tension and release" based jam

Tension and release and the theory of outside playing Vs. Inside playing is possibly the hardest thing to do on a guitar, for me at least. (you say you have a good understanding of theory, so if you know this just blaze on by)... Try to find runs that are outside your normal scale (creating distance from tonic tones) This can be done in a ton of different ways. you can create tension by using different time signatures from the rest of the group, or in your case the loop. You can also create tension by playing outside or increasing distance from a specific scale, specific chord, a specific group of chords, even Silence (as wierd as that sounds). There are tons of theories and techniques to play outside the normal realm of a scale or chord.
Most of David bowie is and entire build up of tension untill it gets to that end section where it releases.

Now we can get into what I do to play the song... again doesn't mean it is right or wrong for that matter, just tricks and scales that I find myself using when playing a song like bowie, that might help you. Hopefully other people can chime in and clear some of the loose ends up (again not a pro)

When playing this song I use a variety of different scales, modes, and arpeggios. When I play it I usually use the key of Em and not in Bb. I use Em pentatonic for some subtle releases; other than that I use E Harmonic Minor a lot. When playing the song I would say about five of the seven total minuets, I am playing somewhere around that harmonic minor. I find that playing harmonic minors creates an easy way to build tension in my playing, and trey uses this scale on a lot of the minor songs he plays; stash is a good example, he virtually uses D harmonic minor exclusively throughout the tune. I really like to express the the semi-tone between the 6th and 7th degree (in the E harmonic minor it is the D# to the resolving E), because it will basically create tension and release it all by it self. It would be hard to tab anything out for considering some runs are a few minuets in length and a lot of the time I am jamming along with my band trying to listen to where they are trying to take it. but check out the scale and learn some pieces of it. I play it usually starting with the tonic, so I usually start with my first finger on the 6th string 12th fret or 5th string 7th fret and alter the scale from that position.

http://www.scalerator.com/cgi-bin/sdispatch.py?optionsDisp=none&root=E&pattern=harmonic+minor&tuning=EADGBE&size=30

Arpeggios is another quick thing I am going to touch on. Trey uses a lot of these arpeggios when the jam first starts to commence. again I play Em arpeggios and I like to slide between them, playing one arpeggio into the next to keep continuous sounds without necessarily sweeping (sort of like a bow traveling across a violin) This is where I am thinking you started playing the song out of the Bm penta, becuase there is a very prominent Em arpeggio that resides whithin the demensions of that scale that trey hits to start the jam 90% of the time (at least the shows I listen to) Here is a decent site that will help you with your Em arpeggios, I use a few more but for the most part it is a good start.

http://www.gibson.com/en-us/Lifestyle/Lessons/InstrumentLessons/Em%20Arpeggios/

Just as a general rule of thumb when trying to play any of treys solo's.. (like Jerry Garcia, Frank Zappa, and Carlos Santana) try and get familiar with the aspect of passing tones, and "half-step-approaches" This will be a good way to build even the most simplistic scales like the 1st degree of the minor pentatonic scale. Also learn that Pentatonic Scale from beginning to end (Horizontally not laterally) being able to cruise through each step of the scale will help you a lot. So if you are playing a Em pentatonic, be able to get from E to E using all five tones in the pentatonic scale (open position to the 12th fret), this will add a little depth to your pentatonic lines, and open the door for more versatile jams.

Hope some of this helps, If it got to deep into theory I apologize, its just how I know it.

if you have questions just ask, someone will most likely be able to respond

Good luck, and Welcome

[picture_of_nectar]

Great post, thanks.

So he uses several modes in Bowie also? Which ones?

[dbowie123]

Wow thank you so much for such an in depth response! It was a very interesting and informative read and it just shows how much i still have to learn  . I was just jamming and started to work in some of your pointers and am seeing lots of improvement and making it even more enjoyable to play. Thanks again!
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