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Old 06-23-2011, 03:12 PM
emirate25 emirate25 is offline
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Default Making original music improves my guitar skills...

Good Afternoon. I've noticed that when I making my own original music, I am able to learn how to play the guitar and other tricks faster than if I am reading material on the web.

Do you any of you have similar experiences like these?

I feel a greater level of accomplisment and my skills do get better especially when I try to play a cover of a song that I at one point found difficult.
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Old 06-23-2011, 03:21 PM
Dru Edwards Dru Edwards is offline
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Glad to hear it's working for you emirate25. I love writing original music. Sometimes it's cowboy chords and other times I'm moving up the neck or fingerpicking or something complicated.

The important thing is that if you enjoy what you're doing and you're learning.

You mentioned "reading material on the web". Have you ever tried to learn songs by ear? You can learn a lot doing that, not just guitar playing but tuning your ear.
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Old 06-23-2011, 03:25 PM
emirate25 emirate25 is offline
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Originally Posted by Dru Edwards View Post
Glad to hear it's working for you emirate25. I love writing original music. Sometimes it's cowboy chords and other times I'm moving up the neck or fingerpicking or something complicated.

The important thing is that if you enjoy what you're doing and you're learning.

You mentioned "reading material on the web". Have you ever tried to learn songs by ear? You can learn a lot doing that, not just guitar playing but tuning your ear.

That's one thing that I still can't do. I am amaze on how some guitarists can hear another musician playing and then they join in smoothly to the tune and jam with them.

I want to learn how to do that some day...
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Old 06-23-2011, 03:42 PM
grampa grampa is offline
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Yes. It frees you from the constraints of the song you're trying to learn. When you play your own stuff you are not stopped by "mistakes" like you would be if you're playing someone else's song.
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Old 06-23-2011, 03:57 PM
bacchus bacchus is offline
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For me, writing my own music was the primary goal I set out with when learning guitar (~ 5 years ago ). Working with that in mind has affected me greatly, for better and worse, in the way that I have developed. On one hand, I get a tremendous sense of accomplishment and pride, and this has kept guitar very interesting to me. On the other hand, my focus was and still is so heavily on writing my own music that I sometimes regret that I haven't spent more time building a portfolio of popular tunes that everyone can enjoy. Because of this, I have a small repertoire of maybe 15 - 20 songs which are, admittedly, not epic pieces of musical genius, but they are mine.

Ultimately, writing your own music can give not only a unique perspective, and maintained drive to play, but, as you said, it can teach you a lot about the instrument you have chosen.
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Old 06-23-2011, 05:52 PM
Rick Jones Rick Jones is offline
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I've always made the biggest leaps when working on my own songs also, I believe it's partly the desire to make my own stuff as good as it can be...there's no ceiling on the effort you can apply....if that makes sense.

Guitar, and acoustic guitar in particular, to me, represents the perfect vehicle for personal musical expression.....you can almost take it anywhere, and it fills a wide-ish frequency spread. To only use it to mimic others would seem like a travesty.
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Old 06-23-2011, 08:27 PM
ewalling ewalling is offline
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Originally Posted by Rick Jones View Post
I've always made the biggest leaps when working on my own songs also, I believe it's partly the desire to make my own stuff as good as it can be...there's no ceiling on the effort you can apply....if that makes sense.

Guitar, and acoustic guitar in particular, to me, represents the perfect vehicle for personal musical expression.....you can almost take it anywhere, and it fills a wide-ish frequency spread. To only use it to mimic others would seem like a travesty.
I couldn't disagree with you more. In fact, I think one of the negatives surrounding acoustic guitar playing is that scores of people with little songwriting ability develop aspirations to be the next Paul McCartney or Bob Dylan. In my view, guitar playing and songwriting are two very different skills. Occasionally, very occasionally, they cross, but I think this is the exception rather than the rule, and there's an awful lot of utterly disposable pap on the media written by bands and musicians who, in my opinion, would have been far better off to use their musical talents to interpret some of the great music there is around.

I've often heard people complain that when they perform live, the audience will frequently want them to play covers. This, I believe, is not because the audience is philistine or unimaginative, it's because many of the covers they want to hear are great songs that are great to hear played well. In many cases, I think their misgivings about sitting through a relentless programme of the performer's material are justified.

I'd also contest the inflated term "original" as a way of describing so many of the songs that are churned out. Most of it seems to be the same old, same old but reshuffled a bit to distinguish it a bit from something else that reshuffled something else to distinguish it a bit from something else, ad infinitum. I do appreciate that some songs can make some claim to a degree of originality (only a degree), but as I see it, the vast majority seem on very thin ice in the originality stakes.

Perhaps I'm misinterpreting you here, but playing a great song does not mean that we are simply "mimicking" someone else. I've heard various renditions of Scott Joplin's Maple Leaf Rag, and they all have something different. And even if we try to copy exactly one of those versions, I've found that if we play it long enough we will inevitably change it to something that just feels "more right" to us. We're not machines - when we play someone else's music we are channeling it through what we are, and that's bound to personalize it.

I'm not saying we shouldn't have a go at writing music if we feel the urge, and if, as in the OP's case, it inspires him to play better, then it's all to the good. And who knows, we may be one of the very few that can write a good song! However, I do think that if there's any "travesty" in any of this, it's the idea of a "pecking order" for acoustic guitarists, with composers proudly seated at the top.
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Old 06-23-2011, 09:23 PM
Glennwillow Glennwillow is offline
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I have spent a lot of time writing songs and I have also spent a lot of time learning other people's music over my 47 years of playing. I think doing both helps to develop a person's abilities, but in different ways.

Whether a person learns anything new about how to play the guitar depends very much on what a person's songwriting approach is. There is a common tendency to make up music that repeats familiar patterns that we get used to playing on the guitar, and consequently there is a great tendency for original music to sound highly derivative of other works. I am guessing that this is what Ewalling is referring to, above.

Some people, however, are capable of making up music in their heads, so the music can get freed up from the familiar playing patterns on the guitar with this approach. If you are able to make up music in your head, then find it on the guitar, that could result in some new guitar ideas, though not always, of course.

I have spent the last 10 years concentrating on learning other people's music and learning as much as I can. I think I have advanced a lot over this last decade because of that effort. And I think if I were to go back to songwriting now, after the last 10 years' of effort, I think I would have a lot more fertile ground for building more interesting, more original songs.

Then again, the most original songs are not necessarily what appeals most to people. I particularly like James Taylor's song, "Something In The Way She Moves" from his very first album. I think he was 17 years old when he wrote that song. You never know what people will like... You just have to keep churning out your best music and figure out what people do like, keep that, move away from the other stuff that didn't work, and keep writing more.

I don't blame people for liking music that is familiar to them, however. The great songs are the ones that survive over time. Most of us songwriters will never write a song that will survive us in the public's memory. But we keep trying, even if it's just to find a way to express ourselves and make some sense out of life.

Regards, Glenn
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Old 06-23-2011, 09:56 PM
MissouriPicker MissouriPicker is offline
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I agree with Rick Jones and ewalling. I think both of you are tending to say similar things, but from different perspectives. As we often see on the internet: text doesn't allow us to see and hear the other person. .........I believe when I'm writing my own material that I'm open to all the possibilities that my personal guitar skills, writing skills make available to me. Certainly, I play covers, and I am influenced by those songs. What the heck, maybe I'm one of those folks who thinks he's a songwriter, but instead is a pap writer...lol...And I'm not being sarcasitic. Nor am I offended by anyone who might think my writing is no good. I'm serious. Still, I like to write, even if I'm not a good writer. I agree that there is a lot of crappy music being written and it is on the radio, BUT, it might not be crappy music to some people. To some people, Dylan, Cash, Springsteen, Prine are simply not that good. I just figure that when I'm writing and playing my music that I'm either at or working-toward my highest level of talent (however high or low that level may be). I might not be real good, but I enjoy it and much of my admittedly small audience and little gang of groupies comes out to hear me. Another point---I don't believe that I'm simply mimicking others when I do their songs. I think I'm adding my own feeling to it. One of Johnny Cash's reknowned talents was doing someone else's song his way and "making the song his own." I'm no "Cash," but I do try to express my own interpretation in any song I do. Likewise, I like doing covers as well as my own material. Hey, I'm not stupid. I don't want to sit through 40 of my own songs, so how can I expect someone else to do it...lol...I'd much rather do a cover every-other-song, or even almost all covers. People like the covers, because the songs are good memories for them, they like humming-along. If the venue allows covers, I ALWAYS PLAY MANY OF THEM...............Yet, I will continue to write my own songs (and I know that no one has said I shouldn't) and many of them I'll play for audiences. I personally don't think I'm a pap writer (but I might be...no kidding). Anyway, I'm starting to meander.....kind of like my songwriting.
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Old 06-23-2011, 10:33 PM
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rick-slo rick-slo is offline
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I do not believe writing your own music makes you a better guitar player than learning music composed by others. If anything less so in most cases if you start out doing this as a beginner, or even intermediate, player. A lot of time should be spent on what’s already out there, practicing, absorbing, and emulating the better music available. Eventually you may be doing mostly your own stuff but for the vast majority it is not a good way to start out. Writing is somewhat a separate skill set and if practiced thoughtfully can, among other things, make you a more discerning listener. It has its advantages and pluses but is not for everyone. One good middle ground is to make up your own arrangements of existing tunes.
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Old 06-24-2011, 01:03 AM
Ivob Ivob is offline
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definitely my attitutude...i've never had intentions or mood to play someone's else songs. a few years ago i felt that i had the potential to write my own songs so i started to do so and i was surprised how well it works. playing my original songs is the biggest satisfaction for me. in the course of time, i've developed certain technique of playing which i feel is really mine and i'm happy with it. but for those who have or feel the need to learn some known songs learning them surely help them in some way...those who have the ambitions to write their own music - there's one advice from me - keep away from learning other musicians' songs, might have deteriorative influence on your own musical ideas
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Old 06-24-2011, 07:29 AM
bacchus bacchus is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by rick-slo View Post
... if you start out doing this as a beginner, or even intermediate, player. A lot of time should be spent on what’s already out there, practicing, absorbing, and emulating the better music available. Eventually you may be doing mostly your own stuff but for the vast majority it is not a good way to start out. Writing is somewhat a separate skill set...
This has, in large part, been my experience. I have probably done myself a bit of a disservice by focusing mostly on my own music. This is not to say that I don't learn other peoples songs, but I find that I don't do so with the same fervor as my own music. Learning lots and lots of others' music can give you the insights into what makes a great guitar player, and in turn, can give you insights into what makes a songwriter as well.

So I guess I don't recommend doing things the way that I do them, focusing mostly on writing "original" music, but that isn't to say that I totally regret the way I have done it. I took on guitar for it's capabilities as a songwriting device, but to OP's original statement, it seems to really learn guitar and get the most out of your instrument, it would be ideal to spend time doing it all: writing, learning, and just playing.
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Old 06-24-2011, 08:02 AM
emirate25 emirate25 is offline
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This has, in large part, been my experience. I have probably done myself a bit of a disservice by focusing mostly on my own music. This is not to say that I don't learn other peoples songs, but I find that I don't do so with the same fervor as my own music. Learning lots and lots of others' music can give you the insights into what makes a great guitar player, and in turn, can give you insights into what makes a songwriter as well.

So I guess I don't recommend doing things the way that I do them, focusing mostly on writing "original" music, but that isn't to say that I totally regret the way I have done it. I took on guitar for it's capabilities as a songwriting device, but to OP's original statement, it seems to really learn guitar and get the most out of your instrument, it would be ideal to spend time doing it all: writing, learning, and just playing.

Oh I also learn my favorite songs on guitars and I feel accomplished learning them too but I also like to be creative in creating my music. I tend to do both right now and there are some riffs that I get from other's people songs and add more to it to make it my own.

Playing guitar in general is my escape
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Old 06-24-2011, 08:51 AM
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Oh I also learn my favorite songs on guitars and I feel accomplished learning them too but I also like to be creative in creating my music. I tend to do both right now and there are some riffs that I get from other's people songs and add more to it to make it my own.
That's sounds about right. I find that when I'm composing new pieces (a fancy way of saying I'm noodling), or variations on old ones, that I tend to use chords, runs, rhythms that I'm already comfortable with. It's good to rigorously play tabs of music by others to get new tricks, styles that can then be incorporated into new music.

It's good to keep forcing yourself to do new things that are initially difficult -- otherwise you'll get into a rut.
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Old 06-24-2011, 08:58 AM
ewalling ewalling is offline
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That's sounds about right. I find that when I'm composing new pieces (a fancy way of saying I'm noodling), or variations on old ones, that I tend to use chords, runs, rhythms that I'm already comfortable with. It's good to rigorously play tabs of music by others to get new tricks, styles that can then be incorporated into new music.

It's good to keep forcing yourself to do new things that are initially difficult -- otherwise you'll get into a rut.
I'm glad you didn't say "original" there!
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