How can i be creative?read plz if you are a guitarist?

Question

I'm 16 and have been playing guitar for years and im quite good at it.i can shred,sweep,play lots of scalese etc...i have made 100s of covers and now i wanna start to write my own solo and try.but whatever i do,ends with shred which i hate cuz there is no soul in shred and speed playing.i wanna be more creative and make better "enjoyable" music.how can i do it?what shoud i do?

Answer 1

Been playing guitar over 25 years .I have been there , you might want to sing the scales as you practice them . As you sing the notes , you will start to hear what you want to play in your head (a-tonal memory), it takes some time , but your experience with the scales will be beneficial as you sing the notes . It is a jazz musicians practice technique that Dizzie Gillespie did , Herbie Hancock , Stevie Wonder and Steve Vai do this ...also forget about everything you have learned , another words ,clear your mind , and dont think about playing as you play . Go to a place in your mind that makes you comfortable ...these things help me , you will find that all the technical expertise has bogged you down, this will allow the energy to flow out of your fingers .It sounds hippyish , but it will help .Listen to some of Steve Vai's solos ...check out Allan Holdsworth too ...Hope this helps .

Answer 2

I've always found that I am most creative when I'm jamming with other musicians. I get a drummer and a base player together and we just start playing some simple jams that we make up. Then, when I really have a good feeling on what the jam sounds like, and how it feels, I start to go off on tangents and do some cool solo work. Some of it will sound good and some of it bad. The more I do it, the better I get at knowing what to do during certain parts of the jam.

Answer 3

I've been playing guitar for 35 years, although I'm not much of a lead player. But I like to play familiar stuff until something new pops into my mind and I go with that. This has led me to some really nice original instrumental stuff. Listen to different things and try to copy a melody from something unusual. Then experiment with it to see what other notes work. Figure out the chords for the notes and you now have something new.

Good luck... I hope you have a hit!

Answer 4

Warren Haynes, because: Warren Haynes fronts both The Allman Brothers Band and Gov't Mule. He played guitar on the 2009 Dead tour and has played with Umphrey’s McGee, Tea Leaf Green, Les Claypool, Jack Bruce, Marc Ford, Jimmy Herring, Widespread Panic, Mike Gordon & Page McConnell from Phish, Roger Glover, John Entwhistle, John Scofield, Bernie Worell, Dirty Dozen Brass Band, Flea (RHCP), Jack Cassady, Victor Wooten, David Hildago, Bootsy Collins, John Popper and Blues Traveler, Colonel Bruce Hampton, Chris Squire, Audley Freed, Larry Graham, The Bottle Rockets, Susan Tedeschi, David Allen Coe, Jeff Austin, The Dave Matthews Band, Sonny Landreth, Karl Denson, Trey Anastasio, Bela Fleck, Ivan Neville, George Porter, Jr., Billy Gibbons, Living Colour, Jorma Kaukonan, Little Feat, Ani DeFranco, Counting Crows, Bruce Hornsby, Phil Lesh & Friends, Coheed & Cambria, Ben Harper, John Paul Jones, Joan Osborne, Steve Earle, William Bell, Travis Tritt, Johnny Winter, Robben Ford, Tal Wilkenfeld, Jerry Joseph, Peter Frampton, Don Michael Sampson, Marty Stuart, Taj Mahal, Joe Bonamassa, Galactic, Steve Kimmock, Grace Potter, Pat Travers, Levon Helm, Glenn Tilbrook, Matisyahu, The Disco Biscuits, Citizen Cope, Toots Hebert, Robert Randolph, Jackie Greene, Ray Lamontagne, Hill Country Review and Taylor Hicks.

Answer 5

i'm 16 also and have been writing my own music for like 3 years now. just try keeping it simple to start, untill you find the kind of song you are really attracted to playing. a few chords, nothing fancy then when you've got the something started, heat it up. you'll get more comfortable with it as you progress. song writing is so fun and it gives you something to pat yourself on the back for. anyways, i hope you have fun and happy shredding, or not

peace

Answer 6

This may sound crude, but some top musicians have a strategy that says you should try to focus on sexual energy. Some describe it as "playing with your crotch". I'm not kidding. This strategy deals with one of the most basic aspects of nature, and one that all audiences can relate to. Some guitarists, for example, pretend that their instrument is a woman and try to play "her" as such. It's a strategy that serves the dual purpose of affecting technique and resonating with audiences.

Answer 7

well, first off, can you read music?
if the answer is yes, start off with listening to basic spanish-syle acoustic...
once you begin to get the hang of the chord progressions and the style of it, it will be easier to incorporate that kind of art into your own music.
second, get music that you wouldnt normally listen to... classical and salsa and spanish, stuff like that... once you see the different styles out there, your range of "what you know" grows, making the creative range for your own music wider.

and if the answer is no, then its easy.. learn how to read music....
get some of those "basic guitar" books and then once you know how to read music, take the steps above.

hope that helps.