Home | Community | Message Board
You are not signed in.
Sign In New Account
Forum Index Search Posts Trusted Vendors Highlights Galleries FAQ User List Chat Store Random Growery

Sporeworks
This site includes paid links. Please support our sponsors.

General Interest > Music, Art, and Media
Threaded Mode Threaded  Previous topic Previous  View all topics Index  Next topic Next 

Welcome to the Shroomery Message Board! You are experiencing a small sample of what the site has to offer. Please login or register to post messages and view our exclusive members-only content. You'll gain access to additional forums, file attachments, board customizations, encrypted private messages, and much more!

Shop: Unfolding Nature Unfolding Nature: Being in the Implicate Order   Myyco.com Golden Teacher Liquid Culture For Sale

Jump to first unread post Pages: 1
Creating Original, Self Expressive Music
    #9677790 -

When it comes to playing guitar, I can't say that I know much in the way of covers. I just recently got Blackbird by The Beatles roughly down and know many bits and pieces to other songs but when it comes to having the instrument in hand I generally strive to make things up on my own. It is generally a slow process for me, but I have definitely come up with some material that makes me happy and it has, in my opinion, a certain measure of artistic merit. My question for you guys is, how do you yourselves go about creating your own original music?

In one way, I may find a few chords that I feel have potential for something but those chords are in a very primitive stage. I have recently come to realize that the basic chords to me are very much akin to a lump of clay. It is only through the working of these 'clay-chords' (if I may make a dumb word up :P) that I am able to produce something that I can call my own. Sometimes, the music I am searching for is born out of a sort of trial-and-error; by mistake and repetition I come to something that sounds good to me. Other times, less frequently, I will hear what I want in my head whilst strumming and tinker around with the progression until it fits.

Lately, I have been putting more time into finger style/finger picking and it seems to be opening up another world in terms of what I thought I could do on my guitar. The changing of a single note or two in a picking pattern can give, obviously, the music another dimension and feel but even with this I feel there is a gap between myself and the instrument.. which brings me to the main reason I made this thread.

After playing for a while, usually with the same piece of music, I seem to 'forget' that I am mentally playing and it just happens. I feel that in these moments, the separation I referred to disappears and that my spirit is finally coming out in my fingers and strings. In this time the music that I make feels like me, as strange as that may sound. It ceases to be only a collection of harmonious notes and evolves into an expression of how I feeling at that present time. I have experienced this far fewer times than I would like and was hoping someone could relate, maybe even advice me how to get to it more often.


--------------------

Extras: Filter Print Post Top
Re: Creating Original, Self Expressive Music [Re: WScott]
    #9677921 -

WScottsdale said:
Lately, I have been putting more time into finger style/finger picking and it seems to be opening up another world in terms of what I thought I could do on my guitar. The changing of a single note or two in a picking pattern can give, obviously, the music another dimension and feel but even with this I feel there is a gap between myself and the instrument.. which brings me to the main reason I made this thread.


:yesnod:

Well, to be a successful musician you have to be dedicated. Dedicated enough to put more than a few hours a day into playing. Just play and play; learning songs is your base. Learn songs, learn them good. The more you learn the more experience you get, the wider your scope of chords and styles of playing that you have been introduced to.

If you are tired of playing covers, (we all do at some point) you just have to play and play. I like to get down an idea and then poke a little smot and finish it up with some nifty baked licks. Works every time, but by now I have a set way of going about things like these.

You aren't playing enough if the skin on your fingers is still there. I play till my hands cramp, it's a great work out and you can play more the next time you come in contact with an instrument..

The key word for writing your own music or bettering yourself as a musician is play.


--------------------
the greatest use of life is to spend it on something that will outlast it

Extras: Filter Print Post Top
Re: Creating Original, Self Expressive Music [Re: tempingasashaman]
    #9678353 -

Quote:
The key word for writing your own music or bettering yourself as a musician is practice.



--------------------

Extras: Filter Print Post Top
Re: Creating Original, Self Expressive Music [Re: tempingasashaman]
    #9729792 -

Quote:
underaroof said:The key word for writing your own music or bettering yourself as a musician is play.


Are you fretting the notes with your bones at this point? :grin:

How do you feel about scales and theory?


--------------------

Edited by WScott (02/03/09 05:20 PM)

Extras: Filter Print Post Top
Re: Creating Original, Self Expressive Music [Re: WScott]
    #9730295 -

I have very nice callouses built up from guitar and bass. Playing till you bleed can be an adventure sometimes, but usually not. It's pretty cool to have blood on your instrument though..

Scales and theory are a great way to practice your technique, especially if you have a way to incorporate it into your playing. If you are playing with other people and they know their theory too and you jam in G minor, you're golden. When I jam with people though we don't know what key we are in but we still know what notes we need to hit, so anything beyond fundamental theory isn't a necessity. (we have set parts to improvise over)

When I was a child I was taught piano & sax and learned all I needed to know about theory. I haven't applied what I've learned to guitar/bass but I can use it if I need to which is very rarely. I can read sheet music but not specifically for guitar. I could read the note and figure it out on the guitar, but it would be slow and tedious and I guess with practice it could only become smoother.

So, scales are really good to practice your fingering and timing and theory is good to know about what music is all about. But as far as playing, neither is necessary but by all means encouraged. Learning them will do nothing but make you a better musician, even if you only know a little. It's really quite simple when you get the hang of it.


--------------------
the greatest use of life is to spend it on something that will outlast it

Extras: Filter Print Post Top
Re: Creating Original, Self Expressive Music [Re: WScott]
    #9736168 -

Well, I empathize with your creative process quite a bit. However, for compositional purposes, there is nothing that can improve your playing better then getting to know some music theory. Being able to play something is fine, being to play something and write it down is great, but being able to play something, write it down, and know exactly what you did and how it works, is amazing.

Part of what makes good song-writing, is knowing what goes with what.


Good luck and have fun making music man!

If you have any questions on Theory, I'll do my best to answer them, and if I don't someone else here will!


--------------------
WAFFLEZZ!!!11!!!1!!!1!!!!

Extras: Filter Print Post Top
Re: Creating Original, Self Expressive Music [Re: Sunny]
    #9742013 -

Three of my friends, a drummer, mandolinist and bassist have been in this band called Ol'Fish, Blo'Fish which is a heavy metal bluegrass band. Pretty much we just jam out. What I've come to terms with is, I'm tired of rock being the same formula, guitar, drums, bass. My true band: Entheogen is music at its best. I want a post-rock band that uses every instrument. Of course I've yet to get all the musicians I'll need for Entheogen but, thats how I want to create creative music. Music with no boundries, only those set by your own mind.


--------------------
"I dabble in all forms of art that show beauty in nature that in turn causes me to live in balance with mother nature, and to not tolerate anyone who opposes Gaia."

Extras: Filter Print Post Top
Re: Creating Original, Self Expressive Music [Re: Omegachrist]
    #9742608 -

I agree with you 100%, but it doesn't change the fact that you should know what your playing, and how it works. Hell that's half the fun!


--------------------
WAFFLEZZ!!!11!!!1!!!1!!!!

Extras: Filter Print Post Top
Re: Creating Original, Self Expressive Music [Re: Sunny]
    #9746058 -

when I get to keyboard its usually natural i just took a break from recording anything because while i can peice stuff together im trying to get my hands to do all the dirty work so as of late when ever i put something down it was too work up too snipped for me to really say well Im Proud of This! when I originally started a good four hour sesh would put me on the map but now I get over confident and go well Ill do that later, the main thing is if you have that idea to make something you better damn well do it all at once or have the idea in mind that the style of your song will progress rather then your self....

hard to explain.

/practice, practice, practice.


--------------------
http://bunkpolice.com/basic-test-kit/
Vienna Declaration
Salvia Divinorum The Docudrahma

Extras: Filter Print Post Top
Re: Creating Original, Self Expressive Music [Re: Konyap]
    #16616124 -

“A musician cannot move others unless he too is moved.”


― C.P.E. Bach


--------------------

Extras: Filter Print Post Top
Re: Creating Original, Self Expressive Music [Re: WScott]
    #16624381 -

Set a practice schedule of at least an hour EVERY NIGHT (more if you have the time to do so, 2-3 is what I aim for)

When you you play all the time it becomes second nature, and when playing is second nature it becomes infinitely easier to express yourself with your instrument. 

Scales, chords, and theory are all great things to learn and will improve your playing drastically.

Extras: Filter Print Post Top
Jump to top Pages: 1

Shop: Unfolding Nature Unfolding Nature: Being in the Implicate Order   Myyco.com Golden Teacher Liquid Culture For Sale

General Interest > Music, Art, and Media
Threaded Mode Threaded  Previous topic Previous  View all topics Index  Next topic Next 

Similar ThreadsPosterViewsRepliesLast post
* Real, Not Electric, Music..... beatlebangboy 3,323 19 11/18/03 09:35 PM
by guitarmon
* Your favorite trance, ambient, etc. type music? phEight 2,249 11 10/13/03 12:26 AM
by rommstein2001
* music knumb 1,065 6 01/16/04 09:12 AM
by knumb
* Im getting pissed off at the process of creating e-music MollyDolly 791 3 04/15/04 07:31 PM
by Middleman
* Creating Your Own Electronic Music ! Earth_Droid 1,973 15 05/17/02 10:50 PM
by Middleman
* First tune of Electronic Music? EVER!!!
( 1 2 all )		 Ayahuasca 8,850 22 03/16/10 12:19 PM
by SneezingPenis
* VST Instrument Listing
( 1 2 all )		 Blastrid 7,505 23 01/05/05 01:34 PM
by Anonymous
* Hardcore (Music)
( 1 2 all )		 Phobos 4,400 26 06/22/01 09:26 AM
by sparki68

Extra information
You cannot start new topics / You cannot reply to topics
HTML is disabled / BBCode is enabled
Moderator: Middleman, automan, DividedQuantum
981 topic views. 0 members, 67 guests and 3 web crawlers are browsing this forum.
[ Show Images Only | Sort by Score | Print Topic ]
Search this thread:

Copyright 1997-2026 Mind Media. Some rights reserved.

Generated in 0.026 seconds spending 0.007 seconds on 16 queries.