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Improv Session 1: Neil Young (Patreon)

Published:
2020-04-17 15:49:17
Edited:
2025-12-15 10:14:24
Imported:
2026-06
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Hello all. Hope everyone's doing OK at the moment. I thought I'd try something new this week and kick off a potential new series of improvisation videos. I've made a backing track in the style of Neil Young's track On The Beach. I solo over it, and then discuss the chords and how you might go about creating your own improvisations. Here's a link to the video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=isT7GAmL33A

Below, I'm attaching the backing and a lesson notes PDF in which I've written out various chord, arpeggio and scale options.

Have fun with it, and let me know if you have any ideas for future instalments!

Adrian

Comments

John Weatherford

One of many of Adrian's lessons I come back to again and again.

GARY OWEN

Fabulous! This is SO helpful to me. I’ve been playing a long time (since 1991) and it’s lessons like these that really help to unlock new ideas when your playing hits a plateau and you end up stagnating a little. Can I stick a request in for a future lesson please? How about a similar idea for The Allman Brothers? Their playing incorporated blues, jazz and soul and some incredible lead playing from Duane Allman and Dickey Betts...

Peter Llewellyn

Great lesson, thank you. Love this type of lesson, strictly learning someone else's music is fun but finding ways to make your own (or your own version) is even more fun, and this helps a lot. Doesn't hurt that I'm also a massive Neil Young fan!

Chris Kueny

Thanks Adrian! I haven't spent a lot of time practicing improvisation, but some of the few times I've done it, I've found that my feeling of happiness and of really feeling the music with my whole body was far greater than on any of the other things I was practicing. So I guess the lesson there is that I should do it more often! This lesson should help.

Martin Lorenz

Great new format! I'd love to have more lessons of this kind. How about something jazzy? Maybe soloing over some ii-V-I changes as in Miles Davis' "So What"

Chris Kueny

Ha, me too! Long ago I googled "Cinnamon Girl guitar lesson" and landed on Adrian's. I think he was posting Joy Division right around that time, and I saw Johnny Cash here too. Been here ever since.

anyonecanplayguitar

Thanks Gary. Yes, like the Allman Brothers suggestion. Not listened to anything of theirs for a while, but I must revisit some of their music soon.

anyonecanplayguitar

Thanks Peter. Yes, that was really the idea with this - take someone else's chords and song and do my own thing over the top of it Glad you found this one useful.

anyonecanplayguitar

Yes, I definitely think improvisation is important and should be part of most players practice routines. There's a freedom you feel when you're not trying to play someone else's riffs or licks and the focus is just on making music in the moment. If you make a mistake or something doesn't work it doesn't matter.

anyonecanplayguitar

Thanks Martin. Yes, I definitely want to continue this series and something jazzy would be fun as I've not done much jazz lately. A Miles track would be a lot of fun to play over.

anyonecanplayguitar

Yes, feels like a long time ago now! Think that was one of my first popular videos.

Brian Scott

Absolutely brilliant Adrian, this is going to be so helpful to me. Along with your previous video on Triads this is going to help me to finish memorizing the fretboard once and for all (in spite of myself!) You are great at mixing up the genres so I am already excited in anticipation of a country style improv;) Best to you and yours.

Ben

Really well created lesson and delivered excellently as always! Revolution Blues is my favourite from Neil on the album. Just a quick thought, if you do decide to continue the series, fingerings to go with the arpeggios could be helpful for players that haven't come across them before. I know that you can add them fairly easily in Guitar Pro.

Hans-Peter Kissler

Hi Adrian, a very useful lesson. Please go on with that stuff. I would be interested in some basics of Jazz-Soloing, for example the chromatic combining of arpeggios...

anyonecanplayguitar

Glad you liked it Hans-Peter. Yes, I was thinking of doing a jazz edition of this series - maybe a jazz blues or a simple standard. Look out for it later in the year!

Toby

Hi Adrian. Yes i really like the idea of the improv sessions and i actually understood the music theory!

anyonecanplayguitar

That's great, theory doesn't need to be scary! And yes, I got quite a positive reaction to this video, so more will be coming.

anyonecanplayguitar

Yes, I can certainly do that if it would be helpful. Will try and add them to future lessons and if I get a chance I'll edit this tab to include fingering too.

Lusic Mover

Hi Adrian. Been discovering your posts for past few months and stumbled upon this one. One of my all time favs in any genre, song and album. Been playing for 9 years, mostly finger picking but when I do dabble in a solo no surprise to my ears I end up sounding Neil ish ish. Anyway, can't wait to use this backing track, hopefully take some time off work and get stuck in to your amazing content.

anyonecanplayguitar

Thanks - glad you liked this lesson, and hope you've been enjoying playing along to the backing. Your support on here is much appreciated. Cheers! Adrian

Eric Sherman Baker

This is brilliant. I'm a guitar teacher myself. You are my favorite teacher I've encountered in the last fifteen years.

Bill Crelin

So much helpful content wrapped up in this single lesson. Amazing and much appreciated