Members guitarbilly74 Posted October 16, 2012 Author Members Share Posted October 16, 2012 I drop the electric and pick up my 12 string and play riffs on that. It's kinda cool/percussive when I mute strings etc and I come up with some ok stuff (rather than go through the same pattern every time I pick up the electric) yeah I've been thinking of buying a 12-string... or any decent acoustic for that matter. I have an Ovation that sounds really uninspiring, I {censored}ing hate that guitar so much Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members shane159 Posted October 16, 2012 Members Share Posted October 16, 2012 I just take a week or two from playing completely, other than rehearsal. After that, I usually come up with several ideas. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members peavey_impact Posted October 16, 2012 Members Share Posted October 16, 2012 I will say that buying one of these Nashville-tuned guitars from Lewp inspired me to come up with all kinda cool stuff, without feeling wildly different than a normal guitar (like a 12-string does). Very cool....and it sounds and plays so lovely http://www.wechterguitars.com/models/Nashville/NV-5413CE Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members OverDriven Posted October 16, 2012 Members Share Posted October 16, 2012 I'm weird. Sometimes I go through a month where I'm writing stuff constantly, and sometimes I barely play in a month. No idea what causes it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Blakkwater Posted October 16, 2012 Members Share Posted October 16, 2012 take an indefinite break. When you start feeling the itch to pick up your guitar again, then run with it and bash out some tunes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members rhino55 Posted October 16, 2012 Members Share Posted October 16, 2012 try writing on a different instrument switch from acoustic to electricalternate tunings And of course the right mixture whiskey and weed will usually get me there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members guitarbilly74 Posted October 16, 2012 Author Members Share Posted October 16, 2012 take an indefinite break. When you start feeling the itch to pick up your guitar again, then run with it and bash out some tunes. well that's really not an option because the band practices twice a week and gigs every other weekend, so these are things I have to do no matter what. But I will try to limit my other playing and see if it helps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Stevetemp Posted October 16, 2012 Members Share Posted October 16, 2012 Like others have said.....usually taking a break helps. I think more specifically you just "let go" of the anxiety and frustration. I know you're no wuss, quitter, or flake...but possibly asking the band for a week or two off, may be useful to not only you and your relation to the band...but also others as well. Unless you are in the midst of some heavy moving forward/awesome opportunity...I don't see anything wrong with a vacay. Orson Scott Card, Sci-Fi writer extraordinaire of Ender's Game fame, has a book called "How to write Sci-Fi". In the very first few pages (and on his website), he says something like this (paraphrase): "If you want the truth about what separates a good writer from a failed or wanna-be one....it's the will to sit down every single day and write. Ya wanna know how to be prolific and successful? Make yourself do it. Every. Day." He goes on to talk about some techniques and story development, but he's deadly serious about it being the greatest factor. Now....we may not be musical pros like Orson is to literature, and depend on artistic output to survive or reach pro goals, but his words ring true. I look at it as driving inspiration, rather than ridicule. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members grunge782 Posted October 16, 2012 Members Share Posted October 16, 2012 I steal other people's music. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members carvinlegacy99 Posted October 16, 2012 Members Share Posted October 16, 2012 write an opera I read this: http://www.amazon.com/Perfect-Wrong-Note-Learning-Softcover/dp/1574671456/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1350414267&sr=8-1&keywords=the+perfect+wrong+note Maybe it can help, idk. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Chris.novak Posted October 16, 2012 Members Share Posted October 16, 2012 This is odd but works for me. Take one or two of your most used strings off your guitar. In my case the e string and the g string. Then {censored} around. What usually happened for me is it stops me playing my usual style and i am forced to create sounds I wouldn't normally. Also, emotion adds to music writing. So try killing a member of your family or go on a shooting spree in a school. Some of the best songs I wrote were in jail waiting to be sentenced. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members paul88lx Posted October 16, 2012 Members Share Posted October 16, 2012 Creatively speaking, put the guitar down. Just do 20 or 30 minutes a day of mindless scale runs and exercises. Then walk away and do other {censored}. After a bit, you'll find that you need to play. The other thing I have done is taking those mindless excerises and put a drum beat to them. You might be surprised how good cycling a major scale over a double bass beat sounds. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members paul88lx Posted October 16, 2012 Members Share Posted October 16, 2012 well that's really not an option because the band practices twice a week and gigs every other weekend, so these are things I have to do no matter what. But I will try to limit my other playing and see if it helps. See if the band will dive into learning some oddball covers. Stuff that is maybe not what you guys would normally play. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members newholland Posted October 16, 2012 Members Share Posted October 16, 2012 go to the library and pick through the records/cd's. find 10 random albums you've never heard and look interesting and listen to those rather than what you usually listen to. I also usually hit the art book section and pick random {censored} off the shelves and see what looks cool and dive in. then just start looking for inspiration. just go every direction but what you usually do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members peavey_impact Posted October 16, 2012 Members Share Posted October 16, 2012 This is odd but works for me. Take one or two of your most used strings off your guitar. In my case the e string and the g string. Then {censored} around. What usually happened for me is it stops me playing my usual style and i am forced to create sounds I wouldn't normally. . I think this is a pretty good idea actually. At least as far as coming up with stuff in a different style/phrasings - I'm not sure how much it'd help with actual songwriting Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members soundgardener75 Posted October 16, 2012 Members Share Posted October 16, 2012 I would listen to the bands that got me excited to play guitar. It kinda fixes my priorities in music. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Goop Posted October 16, 2012 Members Share Posted October 16, 2012 So try killing a member of your family or go on a shooting spree in a school. Having an all original band (assuming that is what Billy's band is) go down the cover song path can be dangerous. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members guitarbilly74 Posted October 16, 2012 Author Members Share Posted October 16, 2012 I'd probably take the Chris.novak route first. Having an all original band (assuming that is what Billy's band is) go down the cover song path can be dangerous. yeah we play all originals... we'll jam on covers from time to time but it's just jamming, I never really cared about playing covers with the band. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Goop Posted October 16, 2012 Members Share Posted October 16, 2012 yeah we play all originals... we'll jam on covers from time to time but it's just jamming, I never really cared about playing covers with the band.In my experience it's tough to find a group of guys who want to do all originals. I'm not a fan of playing covers either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members guitarbilly74 Posted October 16, 2012 Author Members Share Posted October 16, 2012 In my experience it's tough to find a group of guys who want to do all originals. I'm not a fan of playing covers either. yeah no doubt, I lucked out with these guys big time, it took a while to find the right guys but we're all in the same wavelength with this band... we want to play originals only and have no desire to make it or take it anywhere, we just do it for the love of it and play gigs to our friends and their friends and have a good time. It's really a best case scenario for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Chris.novak Posted October 16, 2012 Members Share Posted October 16, 2012 I think this is a pretty good idea actually. At least as far as coming up with stuff in a different style/phrasings - I'm not sure how much it'd help with actual songwriting I found it helped when I broke a string and kept playing for a week or so with the string broken. Then I started doing it on purpose if I couldn't write. Then when I had all my strings back I would build on what I had started and create a song. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members yourguitarhero Posted October 16, 2012 Members Share Posted October 16, 2012 take an indefinite break. When you start feeling the itch to pick up your guitar again, then run with it and bash out some tunes. Ja, I'm on a break just now Been 6 months and barely played my guitar. Wrote, like, 1 song? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Nick H Posted October 16, 2012 Members Share Posted October 16, 2012 It seems you lack inspiration. Try to do anything you can to force yourself to think outside the box you normally think in. Jam with different people, listen to different stuff. Or even take a second look at what first made you love music. For a more technical idea, just tune your guitar a wierd way that youve never tuned it before. It will give you a fresh sound/playing format, and will likely fuel your creativity. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members theAntihero Posted October 16, 2012 Members Share Posted October 16, 2012 Taking a break and new gear always helps me. An off the wall thing that helps me sometimes is to watch movies that you find heartbreaking,profound etc as they usually have good music along with it, also a plus if its not exactly the style you play, it always seems to help my creativity. Other than that there is always taking an off the wall effect and going bat{censored} with it for hours at a time, my personal favorite is the Mold Spore. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Chris.novak Posted October 16, 2012 Members Share Posted October 16, 2012 Another thing I do is think about what sort of song I want to do, and then ban myself from using tradition methods to create it. Example Want to write a heavy as {censored} metal song. So I'll ban any palm muting and drop d style tuning. Or Punk song - no typical 7th chords. Only using 4ths and 3rds etc or open tuned. I'm also quite a lazy player. So what I sometimes do it write a song and then push the tempo way up so its far faster. Tempo adjustments can quite often make a dull song into something working with Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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