Improvising with a bow

I thought I'd get back to blogging with one of my favorite topics: Improvising on the violin. I could go on for hours about all the interesting things I've observed over the years learning to teach improv, but I won't. Neither of us have the patience. Maybe I can share a little bit of what I've learned over the next posts. That way you'll keep you coming back. Well, at least that's the plan.

The first thing to do is start thinking like a rhythm guitar player. Think chords.
Why? Everybody else is. Even the singer knows the chord changes. Heck, even the drummer does... (Most of the time... Ok, let's just hope he does)
Although this is not easy, nor quick, it is well worth your time.
Let's start with a real easy one: G major, or just G. It is made up of three notes: g, b and d.
Play these notes over and over, faster and faster, anywhere on the violin, one after the other. The order does not matter, just make it sound good.
Now play a D major (D) chord: d, f# and a. Play it the same way you played the G chord.
Now for the hard part.
Find all the notes in the G chord from the lowest note of the chord to the highest in first position and do the same for the D chord. Practice these note progressions the same way you did with the smaller ones and memorize the fingering, to the point where you can change from one to the other without messing up... You know what I mean.
I'll pick from here later. Don't worry, funner and easier stuff is coming up.