total-recoil
Well-Known Member
I had a fling with music when I was in my early twenties and tried both guitar as well as keyboards. My best friend back then (who was later diagnosed with Aspergers) actually taught lead guitar and had been on T.V. with a rock group. I remember he was actually an awesome lead guitarist. One comment he made that stayed in my mind was he felt I was better on keyboards than on guitar which I feel is actually the case. Anyway, basically at some point my fling with active participation in music sort of fizzled out as I'd concluded I wasn't particularly gifted with song-writing ability. Thus, I became a passive listener, following obscure bands and musicians such as Pat Metheny/Lyle Mays, Stanley Clarke (also got into John Denver).
Anyway to get to the point.....
Lately I've been re-thinking my whole thoughts on music and have concluded that, in actual fact, song-writing ability isn't as beyond my reach as I had assumed in the past. I've actually started not just to enjoy music but question its construction as I hear it every day on stereo or even in films. Have you ever noticed how incredibly simple some of it is? I don't refer specifically to really great songs as a whole but more to melodies and harmonies that sound good. I mean you hear something and think, "That sounds really cool!" and, in actual fact, what you hear is maybe a simple three chord transition but played just right. I suppose you could go so far as to say many riffs are like that. I recall once somebody asked one of the Rolling Stones back in the sixties how did they write their material and the answer was Keith Richards would basically just mess around with his guitar, come up with a catchy riff and then Mick jagger would start to sing along. Apparently that was the way they did it!
Conclusion: What sounds good doesn't necessarily demand complexity. No dire need to master the Grand Piano or play guitar like Jimmy Hendrix or Santana. Some of the greatest musicians merely dabbled with instruments, some of which they later developed expertise and others fairly basic skills. Take Paul McCartney: An amazing bass guitarist but fairly average on piano or guitar and drums. However, a world class musician of legendary status and evidently wrote Yesterday in his sleep!!
Another point is sometimes musical ability may take time to develop. George Harrison started out as way behind Lennon and McCartney but then gradually started to develop. Something, Here Comes The Sun and My Sweet Lord remain classics - all Harrison songs. Maybe sometimes we just get times of inspiration when suddenly we can be creative?
So, to get to the point: I have been writing material fairly late at night and have been thinking a lot about what I hear on the radio and starting to analyse a lot more. This has been going on now for some months off and on. Sometimes I get a bit depressed over what I try to put together but other times I like what I hear. I also had to try and fathom out what my actual music is in my soul and what instrument I'd be able to progress on. I eventually concluded that I think a mix of Progressive Jazz and New Age. is the direction I should be heading so all I do now involves synths and hopefully later mixing. Pointless trying to sing as I know I simply can't do it so feel led towards purely instrumental.
Here is specifically the kind of sound that I find inspiring - few people probably ever heard this but the chord sequences are unusual and beat kind of "off-temp".
Leopard Tree Dream - YouTube
Anyway to get to the point.....
Lately I've been re-thinking my whole thoughts on music and have concluded that, in actual fact, song-writing ability isn't as beyond my reach as I had assumed in the past. I've actually started not just to enjoy music but question its construction as I hear it every day on stereo or even in films. Have you ever noticed how incredibly simple some of it is? I don't refer specifically to really great songs as a whole but more to melodies and harmonies that sound good. I mean you hear something and think, "That sounds really cool!" and, in actual fact, what you hear is maybe a simple three chord transition but played just right. I suppose you could go so far as to say many riffs are like that. I recall once somebody asked one of the Rolling Stones back in the sixties how did they write their material and the answer was Keith Richards would basically just mess around with his guitar, come up with a catchy riff and then Mick jagger would start to sing along. Apparently that was the way they did it!
Conclusion: What sounds good doesn't necessarily demand complexity. No dire need to master the Grand Piano or play guitar like Jimmy Hendrix or Santana. Some of the greatest musicians merely dabbled with instruments, some of which they later developed expertise and others fairly basic skills. Take Paul McCartney: An amazing bass guitarist but fairly average on piano or guitar and drums. However, a world class musician of legendary status and evidently wrote Yesterday in his sleep!!
Another point is sometimes musical ability may take time to develop. George Harrison started out as way behind Lennon and McCartney but then gradually started to develop. Something, Here Comes The Sun and My Sweet Lord remain classics - all Harrison songs. Maybe sometimes we just get times of inspiration when suddenly we can be creative?
So, to get to the point: I have been writing material fairly late at night and have been thinking a lot about what I hear on the radio and starting to analyse a lot more. This has been going on now for some months off and on. Sometimes I get a bit depressed over what I try to put together but other times I like what I hear. I also had to try and fathom out what my actual music is in my soul and what instrument I'd be able to progress on. I eventually concluded that I think a mix of Progressive Jazz and New Age. is the direction I should be heading so all I do now involves synths and hopefully later mixing. Pointless trying to sing as I know I simply can't do it so feel led towards purely instrumental.
Here is specifically the kind of sound that I find inspiring - few people probably ever heard this but the chord sequences are unusual and beat kind of "off-temp".
Leopard Tree Dream - YouTube
