Is this a good way to practice improvization?

[Notyour Beezwax]

I need to work on my improvisation, the way I used to practice it was basically just play a mix of chords and riffs that sounded good together in a linear fashion. The new approach I'm thinking about taking is to pick a chord progression and play it over and over with either a drum track or a metronome. Then once I get in that groove start improvising riffs in different bars or changing chords (ie play A7 for a bar instead of A major) while still keeping track of where I am in relation to the progression I'm working in. I also plan on keeping things to a certain key, scale, or mode until I get really comfortable with it then maybe getting weird if I want to. Does this sound like a good exercise? If not how should I improve it and what has worked for you?

 

[William B.]

I think it would work, maybe try 1 or 2 chords at a time. Sometimes I try hit the chord once and play a couple notes from that chord individually for however long the measure is. It works sometimes, I think improvisation means freestyle, so I guess it's just have fun, but try to keep it on a timer and somewhat melodic. Holding a note for a little longer or bend a bit higher could make all the difference.
I'm not so good, but I think it's fun.

 

[idssdi]

In principle improvisation is making things up on the fly so you can literally do it in anyway you want and just do it a lot. Most important thing is to take the elements of music you like into account while doing so to make it sound cohesive and not like random mumbo jumbo.