Improvisation is a bit of a paradox for musicians. The freedom a player
enjoys when improvising might appear to be at odds with the rigid discipline
of study and practice necessary to achieve that freedom.
However, with study and practice comes fluidity — and the ability to craft
compelling improvisations. The more knowledgeable and practiced the player,
the more creative and daring a musician can be without being preoccupied by
technique and theory. But what should you study and practice? What theory
needs to be mastered? How do you learn how to improvise?
Larry Carlton’s 335 IMPROV will guide your journey with an approach that is
highly enlightening and extraordinarily accessible.
Eighteen-time GRAMMY nominee and three-time GRAMMY winner Larry Carlton is
certainly one of the most versatile and accomplished guitarists walking the
planet today. With over 3,000 sessions, 200 hit records and 100 gold albums
to his credit, Carlton has improvised thousands of memorable guitar solos,
comps and parts over the course of his career. Suffice to say that Mr. 335
is uniquely qualified to present this curriculum.
"I get asked all of the time about my improvisations," Larry tells us. "Am I
thinking scales and arpeggios when I improvise? Do I have stock approaches
to progressions? Do I use modes? I have certainly studied and am very much
aware of these principles, but my personal approach is quite different when
I’m improvising."

Carlton’s passion for education has fueled his enthusiasm for producing this
course. “I’m excited about 335 IMPROV and the opportunity to present my own
approach to improvisation,” he says, “which, as I demonstrate in the
course, works just as well for me over rock, blues and pop as it does with
jazz.”
335 IMPROV is organized into six sections. Each section covers a series of
related topics and each uses a vamp or section from one of Carlton’s tunes
as the practice track. The tracks were cherry-picked by Larry to provide a
range of harmonic and rhythmic situations, in a variety of musical styles
that will satisfy players of most every discipline.
SECTION 1
1:1 Comping 2-Chord Pattern
1:2 Expanding Comp Choices
1:3 Approaches to Soloing
1:4 The Triad Approach
1:5 Breaking Down Triads
1:6 Chromatics
1:7 Concepts in Play
SECTION 2
2:1 Comp & Solo Over 1 Chord
2:2 Shifting the Raised 9
2:3 Comping on a Raised 9
2:4 The Diminished Scale
2:5 Shifting the Diminished Scale
2:6 Concepts in Play
SECTION 3
3:1 Chords & Melody
3:2 Complementing the Melody
3:3 Comping Performance
3:4 Improvising Over Chord Changes
3:5 Connecting Chord Tones
3:6 Concepts in Play
SECTION 4
4:1 Pedal Tones
4:2 Blues Rhythm Voicings
4:3 Melodic Minor
4:4 Concepts in Play
SECTION 5
5:1 Melody & Rhythm
5:2 Thinking Through the Changes
5:3 Soloing Concepts in Play
SECTION 6
6:1 I-vi-ii-V Progression
6:2 Available Scales
6:3 Soloing Approaches for I-vi-ii-V
6:4 Making Music with Scales
6:5 Concepts in Play
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335 IMPROV also features a distinctive
multimedia toolset for you to work with as you progress through the course.
Every video lesson can be viewed three ways: in a multi-split screen view,
in full view, and in fretboard view. TrueFire’s video lesson player further
expands your video experience with PIP, full-screen, looping, keyboard
shortcuts, tab, notation, practice rhythm tracks, plus smart rewind and
fast-forward.
335 IMPROV is meticulously transcribed and annotated including tab, standard
notation and Power Tab so that you can “see” and “hear” the notation played
out at any tempo, without a change in pitch. You can also print out the
notation for your reference. Larry provides annotations in all of the
transcriptions to point out how he approached a particular section of the
improvisation. All of the backing tracks that Larry works with throughout
the course are also included as practice rhythm tracks.
Whatever your preferred style, Larry Carlton and 335 IMPROV will open your
eyes and ears to the art of improvisation. More significantly, 335 IMPROV
will lay out the knowledge base you must acquire, the techniques you must
develop, and the creative skills you must cultivate to “free” yourself and
become a monster improviser.
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WHAT YOU GET
335 IMPROV is optimized for intermediate to advanced players and
features 377 minutes of video instruction including alternate views
for every video lesson in the course. Additional learning materials
include practice rhythm tracks, text commentary, transcription
annotations, tab, standard notation and Power Tab so you can see, hear
and play along with the tab and notation at any tempo, without change
in pitch.
ORDER OPTIONS
Interactive video course is packaged on 2 DATA-DVD discs (Windows and
Mac compatible) and is presented with
TrueFire's multi-media lesson
player, which features PIP, full-screen, slow motion, looping,
keyboard shortcuts and other handy controls. Course is also available
in its entirety on TrueFire TV for Level 2 and Level 3 students.
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