5 ways to better improvise on guitar

by GVMA Pro Sam Birchall

Improvisation can feel a bit mysterious when you’re starting out, but at Good Vibes we’re always encouraging players to approach it the same way we approach everything else: stay curious, stay musical and build skills that actually stick. Improvising isn’t about having a million licks ready to fire off. It’s about developing a small, reliable musical vocabulary that you can shape, stretch and personalise. Here are five practical ways to grow that vocabulary and bring more confidence into your playing.

1. Listen to more music
   This is the easiest and most important step. Your musical vocabulary grows every time you put on a track you love. If you tried to improvise a jazz solo without ever hearing jazz, you’d have nothing to draw from. But with regular, relaxed listening, you absorb phrasing, groove, tone and feel without even trying. The more styles, artists and eras you listen to, the more ideas your ear has to work with when you pick up the guitar.

2. Start small
   Instead of learning hundreds of licks that never truly settle into your playing, take one short phrase and see how many different ways you can use it. Repeat it. Change the rhythm. Move it to a new string set. Most great improvisors aren’t pulling from endless ideas — they’re taking a small set of sounds and reshaping them in musical ways. This builds real, long-term fluency.

3. Use backing tracks
   Backing tracks can be a brilliant practice tool, especially at the beginning. Make life easy by creating a playlist of your favourites so you can jump straight into playing. Choose tracks in the style you want to develop. The track itself guides your phrasing and helps you hear what fits the vibe and what doesn’t. It’s a simple and effective way to try out new ideas in a musical setting.

4. Transcribe your heroes
   Working out what your favourite players are doing is one of the quickest ways to grow your own sound. This doesn’t have to be complicated. Hum or sing along to a solo to absorb the general feel. Or go deeper and learn a lick note for note. Pair this with your backing-track practice and those ideas start to blend naturally into your own playing.

5. Record yourself
   Whether you use a phone, a looper or a DAW, recording quick snapshots of your improvising is invaluable. When you listen back, you’ll spot exactly what needs attention. Maybe your phrasing feels repetitive — time to find some rhythmically interesting players to steal ideas from. Maybe you’re stuck in one register — challenge yourself with licks that sit higher or lower on the fretboard. Your music library becomes your best teacher for targeted improvement.