Members raggety Posted March 29, 2006 Members Posted March 29, 2006 Right now everything sounds so repetetive and boring. What do you do to find something that sounds 'Fresh' ? I seem to have hit a wall with guitar currently
Members Raths Posted March 29, 2006 Members Posted March 29, 2006 I get up to the point in the progression where I'm not liking it at the moment and then just start playing all the chords I know until I find one I like, then continue on. Play through that a couple of times and change to something else again. It seems to keep it fresh enough for me. L8R Raths
Poparad Posted March 29, 2006 Posted March 29, 2006 You're probably experiencing diatonic-itis. There reaches a point where chord progressions sound a little bland when they're all within one key. Try finding chords outside of a key and working it out so they fit into a progression (sometimes finding the right voicings helps smooth it out a bit). For example, instead of something diatonic like this: | C | F | G | C Try: | C | G | Ab | Bb |
Members bdemon Posted March 30, 2006 Members Posted March 30, 2006 You get Ted Greene's Chord Chemistry. Or check out that Rhythm Methods column in Guitar One. Are you working mainly with standard bar chords with roots in the bass? Might want to study some inversions. And...hey--I gotta practice!
Members raggety Posted March 30, 2006 Author Members Posted March 30, 2006 Originally posted by Poparad You're probably experiencing diatonic-itis. There reaches a point where chord progressions sound a little bland when they're all within one key. Try finding chords outside of a key and working it out so they fit into a progression (sometimes finding the right voicings helps smooth it out a bit). For example, instead of something diatonic like this: | C | F | G | C Try: | C | G | Ab | Bb | Diatonicitis sounds about right ! why would you choose Ab and Bb to go with the CFG prog ? i do sometimes add Bb as a flattened 7 when playing C major chords, but where does the Ab come into it?
Members raggety Posted March 30, 2006 Author Members Posted March 30, 2006 Originally posted by bdemon Are you working mainly with standard bar chords with roots in the bass? Might want to study some inversions. And...hey--I gotta practice! I don't play barre chords much, I'm not too keen on the sound of them, i much prefer open chords with playable open strings
Members simeon Posted March 30, 2006 Members Posted March 30, 2006 or try changing one of the chords in your diatonic progression from major to minor (or the other way round) sim
Members mfergel Posted March 30, 2006 Members Posted March 30, 2006 I have the same problem....but.....I think a lot of times it's what you do with those progressions. For example, I've been learning a lot of Aerosmith lately and so much of that stuff is standard progressions, yet, it sounds so unique because of the other parts that happen at the same time or the way they hold the certain chords out for longer periods of time. It may not be your progressions that are cliched, but your rythms......I bet you are change every 2 or 4 beats......? Try holding the first chord out for 3 beats, the next for 2 beats, the 3rd for 3 beats and the 4th for 1 beat. Switch it up and throw some single not lines in between them as well.
Members dastardlydrvish Posted March 31, 2006 Members Posted March 31, 2006 Sometimes adding altered tones can spice up an otherwise bland or ordinary progression.
Members Soundstorm Posted March 31, 2006 Members Posted March 31, 2006 I've had this problem many of times. First, I agree with the other guys, try different chord qualities. If you're happy with where the root or bass note of the chord takes you, stick with it but experiment with notes within the range of your grip and your progression could take on a whole new meaning. Second, try thinking outside of the 1-4-5-1 box. By that, I mean we all have tendencies to cycle back to the first chord of the progression after the we reach the fourth chord. WAY to big of a tendency. It's the habit of the ear to want to hear resolution. Like wanting to go back to the 1 after you've hung around on the 5 for awhile. Like in blues. Try pushing the progression to 8 or even 16 chords before it re-cycles. It's really challenging and makes you sit there and think for awhile. There's one Jimi song in particular, I can't remember the name, where he never repeats the same sequence of chords throughout the three or so minutes. Classical music is great for that too. At the same time, don't disregard the power and beauty of a simple two chord, swing back and forth progression. Two chords spaced nicely can become hypnotic if done right. Hope this helps
Members soc_monki Posted March 31, 2006 Members Posted March 31, 2006 i have the same problem...im a big punk fan, but when i write a song or something, or play a song with my band, i cant just play the progression. our singer/rhythm has written a lot of stuff, and most of it is just simple progressions...when i came into the band like 7 months ago, i started adding stuff over them, like octaves, little lead melody lines, ANYTHING to make it more interesting, not just for me, but for anyone who listens. a big catalyst for me doing that was listening to Coheed and Cambria. a lot of times their progressions are pretty simple...but they add little things here and there, little melody lines, or something, that makes it sound so interesting and unique. so now im doing that as well with my band's stuff, and it adds so much to the sound...you have the bass playing the rhythm and adding little notes here and there...rhythm guitar holding down the chord progression, and me doing wacky things all over the place, and playing the rhythm at times. the songs are just built from that one progression slowly up to a very interesting song LOL but, if youre in a one-guitar band, or a one-man band...i guess this advice wouldnt help ya LOL
Members mfergel Posted April 1, 2006 Members Posted April 1, 2006 Coheed and Cambria is a great example as soc_monki mentioned. Very simple progressions but they have a way of taking numerous simple progressions and putting them in a single song as well as not always following the verse-chorus-verse-chorus formula.
Members Nick Layton Posted April 6, 2006 Members Posted April 6, 2006 Another thing you could do is listen to songs you like and analyze the chord progressions. You are bound to find some interesting new ideas.
Members raggety Posted April 6, 2006 Author Members Posted April 6, 2006 Originally posted by Nick Layton Another thing you could do is listen to songs you like and analyze the chord progressions. You are bound to find some interesting new ideas. What i have been doing over the last few days is playing some really old blues songs, songs from the 1920's, but i've been trying to add my own twist to them.
Members virtuohno Posted April 11, 2006 Members Posted April 11, 2006 when your playing a standard barre chord , like this: ------------- ------7------ ------7------ ------7------ ------5------ -------------- try turning it into a David Gilmourish m9th chord like this: --------------- ------7------- ------7------- ------5------- ------7------- --------------- works best with light or no distortion probably...you can move it up and down the neck as needed ..... another cool chord substitute I discovered...and it sounds cool at the end of a progression, ...gives it a sorta 'hanging' feel, which could lead to any number of new things (chords , progressions, licks, etc).... --------------- -------8------ -------7------ -------5------ -------6------ --------------- also moveable!
Members Dawn Posted April 11, 2006 Members Posted April 11, 2006 Originally posted by raggety Right now everything sounds so repetetive and boring. What do you do to find something that sounds 'Fresh' ? I seem to have hit a wall with guitar currently Well a couple of things. 1st your basic chord structure is made up of your 1,3,5,7 right? Adding your 2,4,6,9,11 and 13 to your chords should add some spice and give you more color to play with. Another method is muting your strings with your fretting hand, take out your metronome and start creating rhythm patterns to a set beat. When it gets boring, DON'T GIVE UP!!! Change your rhythm pattern instead. Go from a funk timing, to a rock timing to reggae etc. Kind of like playing drums but using your guitar to create these rhythms instead. Do this for as long as you can every day. One more thing.... Find 2 or 3 chords that blend well together and create music with just those chords. I prefer using only 2 chords, much more challenging but the rewards are incredible. Let it flow, experiment with alternate picking, timings and so forth. You'll be surprised with what you can come up with
Members Nick Layton Posted April 11, 2006 Members Posted April 11, 2006 For even more new ideas for chords check out Jamie Findlay's book called Creative Chord Shapes.
Members TehSuperFox Posted April 16, 2006 Members Posted April 16, 2006 Originally posted by virtuohno another cool chord substitute I discovered...and it sounds cool at the end of a progression, ...gives it a sorta 'hanging' feel, which could lead to any number of new things (chords , progressions, licks, etc)....----------------------8-------------7-------------5-------------6---------------------also moveable! Yeah, that's just a Maj7 chord.
Members Rocinante Posted April 16, 2006 Members Posted April 16, 2006 Get Rikky Rooksby's Songwriting Sourcebook. Every modulation technique covered.
Members tocs100 Posted April 16, 2006 Members Posted April 16, 2006 Plugged in and dirty, play a single note from palm muted to loudest maybe with a bit of finger vibrato. Is the sound of that one note enough to give you chills? If not, even a brilliant chord progression will sound bland too. Do a search for dynamic overdrive and see what amps and pedals are recommended.
Members d0zerz Posted April 18, 2006 Members Posted April 18, 2006 Try putting major chords where they don't belong (in terms of a diatonic progression) .....hey joe's a great example of this (C G D A E)....I guess it works so well cause he's just going through fifths so each transition sounds natural, despite not meshing with the 'older' chords. ...if you're doing something bluesy or rock(ey?), building major chords from the minor penatonic scale notes works as well.. In E that'e E,G,A,B,D ...all those major chords work together in some capacity. A C thrown in never hurt nobody neither
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.