I want to share with you the approach I have taken to getting the most out of TrueFire courses to get better at improvisation. If you aren't familiar, TrueFire is a music education platform strongly focused on guitarists. Lessons range from how to sing and playlong to "30 must learn country licks" to bossa nova to...well you get the picture. They cover many a topic.

This is a good time for a disclaimer: I have affiliate links but this article and opinions are all my own. You don't have to use TrueFire but I really like their videos. Excellent instructors, backing tracks and support material (tabs and charts).

When I first started buying guitar courses on TrueFire, my approach was to watch the videos a bit and then work on playing the lessons all note for note, using the tablature/charts. It's a great way to improve your timing and techinque and is an important part of the journey. It was also very entertaining, especially with guitar effects and the backing tracks. The problem is that it wasn't really increasing my musical knowledge or helping me internalize any new musical vocabulary. This is a term I came to learn later on, reading the excellent website Jazz Advice It really changed my perspective on learning. I strongly recommend subscribing to their free newsletter, and if you are in to jazz the premium membership too.

You should read their articles but here's a very high-level overview that I will then breakdown in practical terms:

• Find a piece of music vocabulary you want to learn
• Learn to sing and play that piece in all 12 keys
• Apply to your own playing where you can
• Rinse and repeat

I've always struggled to find those pieces of musical vocabulary I really want to learn. "Listen and learn from the masters" is what I've always heard. That's great but where do I start? Where do I go next? Do I need to learn an entire solo note-for-note?

It turns out that TrueFire is a treasure chest of essential musical vocabulary you can learn from. You can apply the ideas I'm going to share with essentially any of the courses they offer (or other instructional website or video you want).

One of the key things to keep in mind here is to focus on a small piece of musical vocbulary. Don't focus on entire solos. In guitar lingo we're talking a lick or phrase. It just so happens that TrueFire has a number of courses called "Licks you Should Know".

Here's my process:

• Find a piece of music vocabulary you want to learn - Here's a good one
• Learn to sing and play that piece...- Don't immediately go to the tab. I can't stress that enough. You should try your est to transcribe this lick yourself. Watch the video a few times and start trying to hum the phrase. Now try figuring it out on your guitar. I suggest you really try to figure it out yourself to get the most out of internalizing this but don't beat yourself up. You're here to have fun playing music. The other benefit of doing this with TrueFire is once you think you are done you can then watch the instructor break it down, as well as check the chart.
• ...in all 12 keys - yikes ok this is if you really have time. For other instruments playing in different keys forces you to play different fingerings. On the guitar it often just means moving up and down the neck. What I do strongly recommend is that you take the lick and try to play it all over the guitar. Some spots will make little sense and sound ridiculous. You will be amazed out how helpful this is. Now if you are serious and have the time? Play it in all 12 keys.
• The other important thing to do while learning this lick is to understand it's musical context. Is this taking me from the V to the I? Is this a blues intro? Is this a turn-aroud? That way you will know where you can use it in your own playing.
• Now try dropping this into your own playing. Perhaps that's with the TrueFire backing track. Sometimes I'll use iReal Pro (Mac, iPhone and Android) to create a small segment of a song that focuses on that harmony rather than a full song. When I have time I'll even write out iReal Pro so that it's the segment in all 12 keys following the circle of 4ths. Super nerdy.
• Rinse and Repeat - Now do it again and again and again for differents parts of a song in the genre that you are trying to learn. Intros, ii V Is, endings, etc.

Do you use something like TrueFire? I'd love to hear your process for learning.