How to Develop ideas when solo-ing

Following on from my contribution to a discussion on Linked-in:

To someone who knows some chords and scales theory and so on but isn't sure how to begin solo-ing, (i.e. developing ideas, building phrases, "telling a story" musically, as it were), I'd advise the following.

Start with some "simpler"  material such as a Blues, or maybe something in an easy key involving diatonic ("in the key") chords and a II-V progression  e.g. Cmaj7, Emin7 , Dmin7 G7, Cmaj7.  Make sure you can keep a steady rhythm going with your chords in your left hand, or, if you need help, maybe play along to a simple drum beat on your computer.

Now you have a musical "bed" that will carry you along, try to invent a three-note phrase that suits the first chord, Cmaj7: let's say "E-G-E", in any rhythm that you like that pleases you. Now, your job in your next musical phrase as a composer (because that's what improvisation is: composition "on the fly"), is to develop that first phrase, which you could do by a number of tried-and-tested techniques.

For example, turn it upside down (G-E-G), or add to it (e.g. E-G-E-D-E) or play around with the rhythm by stretching it out.  Whatever you play must suit the chords you are playing over of course: that's where the  theory-stuff comes in, but hopefully you will have done that enough, and practised it enough aurally, for that to be "in your ear" already (and, of course, you can keep practising that).

If you could be singing or humming while you play, (like Oscar P. did a lot of!) you would be doing a great job, because that would prove that your fingers weren't just on auto-pilot! Instead, you would really be engaging you mind and your ear, as well as your fingers. Even if we can't hear you, like we did Oscar, that solo ought to be sounding privately in your head, so that even if you weren't playing your instrument, you could be singing it (if you could sing well enough!)

By developing a phrase (or motif, as some say) using such techniques as described above, you can hopefully build longer phrases and chains of phrases over your chord progression, which grow out of one another and, all-in-all, add up to a meaningful solo. It takes practice, just as it does using the verbs, grammar and sentence-constructions of any language to converse fluently in it.

Sorry if this sounds a little "dry" as advice, which is just the way it is when you try to put an "organic" process into words.  However, just as with the theory aspects, if you practice this kind of phrase development enough it should get "in your ear" and become second-nature, so you can just concentrate on the music! Apologies too, if it's too basic for some. Some people are lucky enough for this to come naturally to them for the word go, others maybe less so, but I would say everyone can always improve.