Working on improvising skills, any good places for backing tracks?

[ChrisMetal86]

I've been working on my improvising skills a lot lately while learning theory somewhat. It has helped quite a bit having a backing track to put those notes to use to see/hear how it all goes together musically. As I'm learning more, I wan't to have much more variety of styles to practice with. The problem is that most of the backing tracks don't inspire me because they seem the be the same boring riff for 3-4 minutes. I like music that has depth too it and can tell a story with the feel of the song, not tell the opening line 304985039485 times in 3-4 minutes.

I like a broad range of stuff from funk, to blues, jazz, metal, etc. Some of my favorite artists I love to jam along to are Neil Zaza, Greg Howe, Andy Timmons, Marco Sfogli, Satch, Vai, and Larry Mitchell. True you can go and purchase their backing tracks and play along to their famous songs, but I'd rather jam along to an inspiring track that sparks my own creativity from the background of the canvas.

Can any of you guys shed some light or recommendations to a few good sources to get backing tracks from? I search YouTube for hours on end sometimes, but like I've already mentioned, a lot of them are the same riff over and over and are very bland. Perhaps there is a channel that provides really nice sources that I have not found yet in my time searching, or maybe a website that has stuff similar to the artists I've mentioned.


Thanks in advance guys! :encouragement:

 

[luke]

I use:

Kawai GB-4 w/ sound card library

Boss JS-8 with internal tracks and guitar less tracks downloaded online.

The Real Book app.

Looper in Axe Fx.

 

[ChrisMetal86]

Thanks luke, I'll check into some of these tonight.

 

[boblazz]

bobbysbackingtracks.com

 

[dpavel]

Sometimes Karaoke tracks let you express your playing , improvising & skills..

 

[mr_fender]

There's also good ol' Band In A Box as well.

PG Music - Band-in-a-Box for Windows

 

[Rick]

https://www.guitarplayback.com/

This is David Wallimann's site, and it is a treasure trove of improvisational tracks and lesson materials. David is a Fractal player, and decent guy to boot. You should give this a look.

 

[fractalz]

In no particular order:

JamTrack Central : http://jamtrackcentral.com (Guthrie Govan, minus-one tracks for some albums, etc)
Coffee Break Grooves : Backing Tracks by Coffee Break Grooves - Smooth Jazz, Blues, Jazz Fusion and more (Fusion tracks)
Play Jazz Now : Play Jazz Now | Jazz Play-Along Tracks (Jazz backing track CDs, downloads and an app, tracks are also on iTunes)

on iTunes:

Modal Mojo : https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/modal-mojo-dominant-modes/id298914684 (more in this series)
Play Jazz Now : https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/starter-tracks-for-piano-guitar/id305044457 (more in this series)
Hal Leonard : https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/blues-classics-guitar-play/id616934766 (more in this series)
Jamey Aebersold : https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/gettin-it-together-volume-21/id526189984 (more in this series)

Apps:

Session Band : https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/sessionband-for-ipad/id580135085 (different versions for jazz, country - plug in a progression and it loops it with a band)
iReal Pro : https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/ireal-pro-music-book-play/id298206806 (lead sheets and backing band, tempos, chord charts - go to forum and download 1000's of charts)

Not quite backing tracks, but, Cambridge MT has full mixes. Mix one up sans the part you want to play : Mixing Secrets For The Small Studio (Cambridge Music Technology)