Members captain kazoo Posted November 22, 2009 Members Posted November 22, 2009 there is a lot of help out there for attacking the technical side of playing the guitar, but what kind of right brained exercises are there, ones that are geared towards creativity? the few i'm aware of are fairly limited, like playing on just one string or focusing on rhythm playing just one note. personally, i know that creativity is a byproduct of practicing a lot, but what is good for focusing just on the non-logical part of the brain?
Members captain kazoo Posted November 22, 2009 Author Members Posted November 22, 2009 half an hour after insulting me
Members GreenAsJade Posted November 22, 2009 Members Posted November 22, 2009 Hey, I just called it how it is If you get on a "holy grail thread" and says "oh, I can do everything I want to" at the same time as expressing disappointment "music is too simple, everything I do is disappointing", then you're going to get some poeple saying "WTF?". It's not personal as such, it's just observing wierdness going on, and having a bit of a giggle at it. But if you ask "what are some good exercises for creativity" I'm right there with you. Cheers, GaJ
Members 1001gear Posted November 22, 2009 Members Posted November 22, 2009 Innt indignation right brained?
Members mosiddiqi Posted November 22, 2009 Members Posted November 22, 2009 A couple of things to try: Put the guitar down. Pick up a bass, drum machine, keyboard..whatever takes your fancy...and write a riff, song, rhythm....then try and play guitar to it. You may be surprised that you're forced to consider some different options on the guitar when the original idea isn't guitar based. In the same vein, transcribe music from other instruments, sax, violin..anything really. That often gets a light going in my head. And finally, play along with some non-guitar music(see the trend here?)...for me, what made a HUGE difference to my writing was playing along with Public Enemy records that I loved. On their early stuff there was only the occasional guitar riff sampled...and I'd try and add to that. It was a great lesson in rhythm and economy and got me thinking a lot more about arrangement. Nowadays, at least half our songs are written on bass...and the guitar is often the last part to be written. So, I'm working with a bass line, rhythm and vocal melody that are already finished....makes you think differently.
Members captain kazoo Posted November 22, 2009 Author Members Posted November 22, 2009 Hey, I just called it how it is you call it as you perceive it, and you're very small minded.
Members captain kazoo Posted November 22, 2009 Author Members Posted November 22, 2009 i don't have any musical goals because i'm a better musician outwardly than in my head, so i just play whatever i feel like playing at the time and then i let my hands do whatever they want to do after that. i also find musical cliches boring. i don't see why those two are hard to reconcile. not everyone has to suck at what they do.
Members 1001gear Posted November 22, 2009 Members Posted November 22, 2009 Nobody says you have to be first call competent.
Members Jasco Posted November 22, 2009 Members Posted November 22, 2009 personally, i know that creativity is a byproduct of practicing a lot, but what is good for focusing just on the non-logical part of the brain? Try this one. Put one string on your guitar. Tighten it, but don't tune it. Get a slide. Play some music, either solo or with a rhythm track. Every couple of minutes, randomly tighten or loosen the string with a quick twist of the tuning peg. Keep playing music.
Moderators Jed Posted November 22, 2009 Moderators Posted November 22, 2009 you call it as you perceive it, and you're very small minded. I think I'm starting to see a pattern here . . . . Here's the thing, if you want civil discussion and you are able to gracefully handle divergent opinions then - you've got the right place. If on the other hand you are looking to play the part of bulletin board bully, desperately clinging to some warped sense of superiority - then you are seriously chosen the wrong forum. We're not really into micro-managing every post on this forum. The forum members pretty much police themselves and do a great job of keeping on-topic and maintaining a standard of civility. If you are able to find a better persona to project onto this forum - then please do. Otherwise you'll find us not particularly tolerant of trolls or troll-ish behavior. cheers,
Members TrickyBoy Posted November 22, 2009 Members Posted November 22, 2009 A couple of things to try: Put the guitar down. Pick up a bass, drum machine, keyboard..whatever takes your fancy...and write a riff, song, rhythm....then try and play guitar to it. You may be surprised that you're forced to consider some different options on the guitar when the original idea isn't guitar based. In the same vein, transcribe music from other instruments, sax, violin..anything really. That often gets a light going in my head. And finally, play along with some non-guitar music(see the trend here?)...for me, what made a HUGE difference to my writing was playing along with Public Enemy records that I loved. On their early stuff there was only the occasional guitar riff sampled...and I'd try and add to that. It was a great lesson in rhythm and economy and got me thinking a lot more about arrangement. Nowadays, at least half our songs are written on bass...and the guitar is often the last part to be written. So, I'm working with a bass line, rhythm and vocal melody that are already finished....makes you think differently. One final "out of your comfort zone" thing is learn/practice/play genres of music that you normally wouldn't listen to - If you mostly play rock, listen to jam bands or blue grass. Learn some of the phrasings and then apply them back to rock, for me that opens up a whole new avenue for me to explore creatively.I think the biggest mistake I made when I was younger is that I wanted to be an EVH / Steve Vai clone and that's all I listened to. Stray Cats came out and I paid them no mind - I had no idea what I was missing.
Members Virgman Posted November 22, 2009 Members Posted November 22, 2009 Being left handed and therefore right-brained I should be able to answer this question but... I can't think of a damned thing.
Members mosiddiqi Posted November 22, 2009 Members Posted November 22, 2009 One final "out of your comfort zone" thing is learn/practice/play genres of music that you normally wouldn't listen to - If you mostly play rock, listen to jam bands or blue grass. Learn some of the phrasings and then apply them back to rock, for me that opens up a whole new avenue for me to explore creatively. I think the biggest mistake I made when I was younger is that I wanted to be an EVH / Steve Vai clone and that's all I listened to. Stray Cats came out and I paid them no mind - I had no idea what I was missing. That's a very good point...everytime I need reminding of how much there is to learn..I try and play a classical piece or any other fingerstyle piece. And, suck majorly
Members mikey4402 Posted November 22, 2009 Members Posted November 22, 2009 Get a loop pedal. Learn other instruments. Try mashing 2 or three songs and try to make them fit in one key. listen to music and try to describe it using colors, or shapes. Listen and try to improvise over music outside of your genre. This works better for acoustic guitars. But think of your guitar as a percussion instrument. Thats all i can think of right now...
Members Darrell_Curtis Posted November 22, 2009 Members Posted November 22, 2009 Well, as someone who has played mostly countryocksouthern rock and some funkR&B I find it helpful to pursue classical pieces. Also, I still work on Jazz although I haven't performed any with a group for an audience since my stint as a Jazz major. So it still puts me outside of my comfort zone.Learning songs and solos of all types helps feed my head ideas. I've been learning one solo after another by Robben Ford because he has such an idiosyncratic style. He plays things I'd NEVER think to play.One other thing that helps me is to download practice tracks that have unusual or non-diatonic chord changes and force myself to play over the WITHOUT ANALYZING THE CHANGES FIRST.These work for me. May not for someone else.
Members captain kazoo Posted November 22, 2009 Author Members Posted November 22, 2009 here's something. i like to listen to music that i hate until i understand what the cause of it is. it can get pretty introspective.
Members GreenAsJade Posted November 23, 2009 Members Posted November 23, 2009 I guess there are a whole range of reasons why one might hate some kinds of music, some more fruitful than others to explore, eh?I too try to challenge my boundaries. For example, I haven't really made much progress in liking hip-hop, but I've gained some sort of appreciation for it. Same with jazz to tell the truth.On the other hand I don't see much value in pursuing the question of why I hate songs like "Achey Breaky Heart" GaJ
Members TrickyBoy Posted November 23, 2009 Members Posted November 23, 2009 On the other hand I don't see much value in pursuing the question of why I hate songs like "Achey Breaky Heart" I think the point is assuming that you don't like country, don't focus on one song - instead, look at the genre and try to gain at least a level of appreciation for it - more importantly, take the time to learn some of the common phrasings used in that genre and adapt it to what you do.
Members MetalJon Posted November 23, 2009 Members Posted November 23, 2009 there is a lot of help out there for attacking the technical side of playing the guitar, but what kind of right brained exercises are there, ones that are geared towards creativity? the few i'm aware of are fairly limited, like playing on just one string or focusing on rhythm playing just one note.personally, i know that creativity is a byproduct of practicing a lot, but what is good for focusing just on the non-logical part of the brain? I think you need to keep learning new things. If all you do is play metal, blues, jazz, or whatever all the time, then your creativity will be confined to that genre. One thing I've noticed about some of the best guitarist-composers is they tend to jump around between genres while defying them at the same time. Vai, Satch, Petrucci, are all guys that more or less come from a metal/shredder background, but have transcended that narrow niche and incorporate elements from all over. I'd say the best thing for creativity is to keep adding new things to your repertoire. Once you get pentatonic down, add diatonics. Once you get that, add melodic and harmonic minor and their modes; add sweep picking, tapping, Gambale-style economy picking. If you don't continue to add to your arsenal don't be surprised if you start running out of ideas.
Members mc_carlini Posted November 23, 2009 Members Posted November 23, 2009 I think I'm starting to see a pattern here . . . . Here's the thing, if you want civil discussion and you are able to gracefully handle divergent opinions then - you've got the right place. If on the other hand you are looking to play the part of bulletin board bully, desperately clinging to some warped sense of superiority - then you are seriously chosen the wrong forum.We're not really into micro-managing every post on this forum. The forum members pretty much police themselves and do a great job of keeping on-topic and maintaining a standard of civility. If you are able to find a better persona to project onto this forum - then please do. Otherwise you'll find us not particularly tolerant of trolls or troll-ish behavior.cheers, Maybe he belongs to THE Ultimate Guitar dot com? (sorry, just had to. i hate that place lol)
Members c+t in b Posted November 23, 2009 Members Posted November 23, 2009 do everything in the book, the advancing guitarist. the guitar will open up and you will be able to go any route you want
Members wrathfuldeity Posted November 23, 2009 Members Posted November 23, 2009 This reminds me of something I had heard about Miles...that he listened to the sound of the city or was playing sounds of the city??? Idk but, how about listening to things outside of what is generally usually considered music...like animals, machinery and etc and then trying to emulate, interpert or symbolically represent the sounds on guitar. Like trying to play a swamp, moon light on the bay or a prairre dog town.
Members Knottyhed Posted November 23, 2009 Members Posted November 23, 2009 there is a lot of help out there for attacking the technical side of playing the guitar, but what kind of right brained exercises are there, ones that are geared towards creativity? the few i'm aware of are fairly limited, like playing on just one string or focusing on rhythm playing just one note.personally, i know that creativity is a byproduct of practicing a lot, but what is good for focusing just on the non-logical part of the brain? 1.) Write.2.) Learn, because you can use everything you learn to write... I think it all boils down to your improvisational skills. So really it all boils down to expanding these. One thing I like doing to try and 'expand' my mind a bit is to work on my rhythm. So I can play something as 16th notes, can I instantly play it as triplets, or quintuplets, syncopated etc. etc. The answer is usually no - LOL, so I have to work on it. But the stronger my time gets the easier I find it to come up with interesting riffs and licks. Ultimately I think it's not about skills on the instrument, it's about more general musical skills. The best song writer I know is actually not a very advanced guitarist - they can strum and know major and minor chords only, although they have an incredible sense of time and a very good ear. Apparently writing songs is like any other skill, you have to practice it and until you've done it literally hundreds of times you'll just churn out garbage. I suspect you also need talent...
Members GreenAsJade Posted November 23, 2009 Members Posted November 23, 2009 The "T" word! Run for the hills!
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