Subject: Wife (or Husband) Swap for Guitar?
You are getting this e-mail because you subscribed to it on www.learn-to-play-rock-guitar.com. If you don't want to receive these e-mails any longer, go to the bottom of this message and click on "unsubscribe." Hey there Friend, On a few occasions here I've written about falling into a rut in your guitar playing and what to do about it. If you've only recently signed up for the newsletter, you may not have had the opportunity to read those previous articles. so I thought today I'd bring it up. Besides, it's always a good idea to review information that could be helpful to you at any time during your journey.
We humans like to be comfortable, and trying new things can take us out of that comfort zone. But sometimes doing just that - breaking out of your comfortable playing style and shocking your system with some new style of music could be just what you need to break you out of that rut. And it could provide you with new sources of inspiration that can really grow your musical skills. We're all rockers here (I assume, since you signed up for Learn To Play Rock Guitar). Since there are all sorts of different styles (or genres) of rock music, you could start simply exploring another style of rock that's unrelated to what you like and listen to primarily. But we won't stop there. Rock music got it's start in the Blues and Country genres, with many of our guitar heroes citing early Blues and Country artists as their main inspirations. Maybe that's a good place for you to start hunting for a new source of inspiration, too. Here's an idea... Research your favorite band or guitar player and look for references to the players that inspire your heroes. Here, I'll go first. I'm a big fan of Joe Walsh's playing. I've always loved his work with The Eagles, The James Gang and even his solo stuff. As I've come across interviews and videos of him, I've learned that when he started playing guitar back in the 60s, The Beatles were a huge influence on him (like just about every other musician wannabe in the world). He said in an interview he would learn the guitar parts for every Beatles song that came out, note for note. That in itself could be enough to kick-start your creativity - just learning the entire catalog of songs by your favorite artist, note-for-note, as perfectly as you can. But then you could go even further and look at who influenced the Beatles. For example, they were all inspired by Carl Perkins, an American Rockabilly professional who is best known for writing the Elvis Presley hit "Blue Suede Shoes." The Beatles really studied his playing style and even went on to cover his songs in their shows. You can dive even deeper by researching the influences of the influencers... say that three times fast! Who did Carl Perkins study as he was learning guitar? You can really begin to see where a player started developing their unique style, and even more interesting, you can begin to see how different genres evolved. Another approach, perhaps a bit more radical, is to completely switch genres for a period of time. Make a decision to step away from your favorite music and listen to something altogether contrasting sounds into your primary style of playing. This is one way new musical styles are created - mixing it up until two styles are merged together to create something unique. An extreme example might be dropping your Blues rock for a period of time and changing to neo-classical metal. This would introduce a severe change to your approach to guitar as well as some techniques and tone. I'm not saying to make a permanent shift to this new style of music. You're merely giving your ears new stimuli and your fingers some different patterns to learn. You might even find you can appreciate the new style more than you considered before, and it may lead you into incorporating what you learn into your chosen genre. There are plenty of examples of artists trying out new musical territories. Bon Jovi went from 80s hard rock to trying his hand at Country with the album "Lost Highway." Paul McCartney put out a classical, choral album in 1991 called "Liverpool Oratorio." Even John 5, who made his musical mark playing guitar with metal shock rockers Marilyn Manson and Rob Zombie, mixes it up with country riffs and chickin' pickin' techniques. When you have some spare time (I like to do this over my lunch breaks), I recommend studying the history of different bands and Rock music in general. When you understand some of the history and where the music came from, you can get some insight into the musical influences that shaped the songs we love. I highly recommend the History of Rock series from John Kovatch at the University of Rochester. He has also done series on the Music of The Beatles and Music of The Rolling Stones. These courses are free to take online at Coursera.org. John knows his Rock history and it's clear he's invested a lot of time researching this material. You can also find many episodes of the VH1 series "Behind The Music" on Youtube. These are both entertaining and insightful as you learn how the huge hit-makers got their start and how the music business and lifestyle affected their lives. A lot of cautionary tales for you aspiring pros as well! There you have it. If you feel like you need to take a break from your guitar, maybe you just need to try out a different style of music for a while. Don't worry, it's not like cheating... more like Wife Swap for guitar, just not as cheesy or grimy... Peace~ Dave Dave "Eddie" Vance is a rock guitar enthusiast and gear nut. He has been playing guitar for over 30 years and enjoys tormenting the neighbors every chance he gets. When he's not slaving for the man, you can find him rocking out with his B.C. Rich Bich guitar, a cold beer and some sweet tunes. He also runs Learn-To-Play-Rock-Guitar.com, but you knew that already! Follow Learn To Play Rock Guitar:I welcome your feedback! Did you like today's message? What other topics would you like to see covered in my e-mails? Please let me know at: dave@learn-to-play-rock-guitar.com As always, please feel free to forward this email to a friend! I review products before recommending them. If you buy a product based on my recommendation, I will receive a commission. 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