So after my three years of playing guitar non stop, I have found something... It comes to a startling shock to me but all the same, I feel like smacking myself in the forehead for not knowing this earlier.
Have you ever been inspired by amazingly fast licks and crazy solos, and just been amazingly awe struck. Then you grab your guitar, and set a goal for yourself to learn that lick/solo. And then before you know it, it becomes your style.
While this may be good and all, at the same time, you kind of set that as your barrier. That is what you play, and only what you play. You constantly strive to be a better guitarist, and work yourself to utter frustration if you dont get it imediatly. Then you finally get a piece of it, and you go crazy, you cant stop, cant calm down.
Well, I have been there for 2 years...
And recently creating a band, and looking at my influences and all the music that I just plain enjoy, I realized something.
The best parts of the music are the melodic, slow, uncomplex parts. The parts that you sit back, and are able to relax to. Those are the parts that you buy the music for. The parts that make you think about who you are.
So now, tomorrow, I am going to slow down, and stop thinking if my music is something that as soon as someone listens to it they will want to mosh and kill things, because deep down, when I think about it, is that what I want my music to convey? Do I just blatently want people to get inspired to go out and kill things? Probably not.
I'm going to see if it works or not. But if my mind set is right, I should be able to walk away after one of my two hour sessions with a song writen and pretty much in the book, and be happy about it at the same time. A song that I wont have to worry about, should I practice this sweep a little more? Or should I add an extra flat to this run?
I want something simple, but yet complex all at the same time.
I want to be able to write with feeling and soul, and not decibel ratings, speed crunches, and other things that just make me want to run out and rip the head off of a chipmunk.
Because inside, thats not who I am, and not really what I want to express in my music. Unless of coarse thats what I'm feeling at the point and time, lol.
But if you are one of those guitarists like myself that basis everything off of that awesome solo, and you automatically want to be a good guitarist, so you think you should be able to play fast, I have some advice for you.
Slow down, and work gradually. Base your work off of your emotions, your experience in life, and just basically a point that you need to express. Because if you base what you play off of what you hear from others, you wont get very far. I have done this for two out of the three years that I have played guitar, and I may have gotten to the point where I can lay down a solid lick accuratly (which im not saying that is a bad thing, its actually a good thing) but am I happy with it?
No.
The reason? There is no soul. No spirit. No feeling. No emotion. Just fingers flying.
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