Easy (and Fun) Spanish Guitar Improvisation for Beginners

Playing Spanish guitar improvisation is something that many guitar players list as one of their musical goals to learn to play one day. However, many guitarists just avoid learning this amazing style of guitar altogether because they feel that it's just too complicated for them to learn.

I myself have seen a lot of guitar tutorials teaching this technique, and they are really intricate and theoretical, unnecessarily. So, I decided to make a really simple Spanish guitar improvisation lesson for all of you, so that anyone can pick it up easily!

To get started, we need some building blocks, so first we're going to learn an important scale that will lead us into the rest of the lesson.

First Scale for Learning Spanish Guitar

The first and most useful scale to use for Spanish guitar improvisation is called the E Phrygian scale.

When playing this scale, keep in mind the fingering is the same as the fret #. Don't worry if you don't get this scale right away, it does take some practice, but the best approach is to just practice it at your own pace! 

A great way to practice this scale and to also get the hang of improvising, is to play the scale along with a Spanish guitar backing track. Here's a link to a free backing track that you can use to practice and play along with:

Romantic Spanish Guitar Improv Backing Track <<

The Fun 'Baby Chords' Lick

Next, we are going to learn what I call the 'baby chords' lick. There are 2 chord forms used for this lick- the D Minor chord and the D chord.

First using the D minor, move your hand all the way up so it is on the 8th fret, 1st string, and then make the chord form. Then make the D chord form going to the 7th fret 1st finger. Then go 2 frets down to the 5th fret, and then one more down to the 4th fret.

When you play these chord forms on those frets, what you are actually playing is an A minor chord, a G chord, an F chord, and lastly an E chord. You can pick them any way you want; I'm going to finger-pick the chords. Here is a link for you to listen to how this lick sounds: 

'Baby Chords' Lick << 

Another Cool Lick

An additional way to work on your Spanish guitar improvisation chops is to learn this other really cool guitar lick. Don't get frightened off by how complicated this lick sounds, its actually quite easy to play!

To get started on this new lick, you're going to use the same frets that you just played on for the 'baby chords' lick. Start off by using your first finger on the 8th, 7th, 5th, and 4th frets. But now you're going to pull-off of all of the notes with your first finger.

Keep in mind as you do this, that you're not pulling straight up, but rather just pulling off to the side- kind of picking the note with your left hand. You will want to do it fairly quickly, so it doesn't mute the note.

Remember when you are trying these Spanish guitar improvisation methods, to not get too stuck on doing it the exact same way I do it. Play whatever sounds good as an improvisation to you and have fun with it! Click on the link below to hear this new lick:

Cool Lick <<