Guitar teacher north London

creative guitar practice
The Guitar Blog
Creative Guitar Practice: The Art of Embracing the Unknown

This is for you if you feel stuck playing the same things on your guitar. There are common ways to get unstuck, like learning new things. A new guitar composition, a new technique, a new music theory idea, etc. I want to show you a new creative guitar practice: embracing the unknown. This approach helps you be more creative on the guitar and more present and attentive.

Here are three ways you can explore this approach.

Creative guitar practice #1: Expand your fretboard knowledge

If you feel comfortable playing a scale, like the C major scale, you can use it as a basis for new knowledge. Let’s say you know this C major scale pattern:

What you can do is transpose it to another key. For example, C# major – a key that guitarists rarely play. All the notes are sharp! C#, D#, E#, F#, G#, A#, B#.

A straightforward option is to move the shape half a step up and play the pattern by muscle memory. But that’s just a shortcut, and you won’t understand this scale on a deeper level. Instead, name and acknowledge the notes you play.

After playing them up and down, create something with them. Why? Because “What I cannot create, I do not understand” (-Richard Feynman).

After improvising around the scale, the next step is to play the chord C# and connect it to the notes. Follow my demonstration in the video below.

Creative Guitar Practice
Thanks for this comment on my video!

Creative guitar practice #2: Break old habits

How do you usually play with your fretting hand? Do you begin with your 1st finger (index finger)? You can easily break that habit by being aware of it and changing it completely.

For example, restrict yourself from playing with that finger. Yes, you now have only three fingers to play with. That game changer will likely revolutionise how you sound, even when playing the same old minor pentatonic scale.

You’ll experience a learning curve, adapting to a new way to finger this scale. You might want to do more slides and use your 4th finger (the little finger) more often. This can also strengthen all three other fingers and lead to new lead guitar ideas.

Here’s a demonstration.

Creative guitar practice #3: Create the unknown

Here’s a top-level type of embracing the unknown approach: play something you never played before. Don’t use any shape, scale or chord you played before. It has to be something fresh that you feel uncomfortable with.

You don’t even have to know what notes you’re playing. What you do need is your ears. Listen to every note you play and the relationships between them. To turn this from feeling strange into familiar, build it step by step, organically. One note, another note, and another.

If one note doesn’t sound fitting, you can change it. But like a memory game (which it is), you want to build a sequence of notes you can repeat. Otherwise, it’ll be meaningless. The more times you play it, the more familiar it’ll sound and therefore, more likeable to you and anyone who listens to it.

Here’s a demonstration.

Also, I’d love to know what you think about this creative guitar practice! Comment in the videos or here below!

Want to learn more ways to be creative on the guitar? How about learning how you can play the 12-bar blues as a solo guitar composition?

Solo guitar composition: Create it by mastering the 12-bar blues
May 10, 2025

how to finish your guitar composition ideas
Creative Guitar Challenge  ·  The Guitar Blog
How To Finish Your Guitar Composition Ideas

Do you have great ideas for the music you want to compose on the guitar, but get stuck somewhere along the way? This article (and video) is exactly for you!

I asked my guitar composition group (you’re welcome to join here if you haven’t yet) which topic they want me to do a live session on next. The poll’s winner was “finishing your guitar composition ideas”. 

One of the members’ suggestions, “Modal playing,” came in close second place. So, in my next video, I’ll cover how to use modes for guitar composition! Subscribe here not to miss it.

I’ll share below three secrets that help my guitar composition students and me, secrets I have never seen anyone talk about.

1. Where did it come from?

    Knowing where the music originated will help you find a way to finish it. Let me explain. When my students ask my advice on finishing their guitar compositions, we discuss the meaning behind their initial idea. I’d ask them questions like:

    • What were you thinking/feeling when you created it?
    • What is this music about?
    • What are you trying to say with it?

    Then we go deeper and deeper into the emotional ingredients of their ideas. Once the meaning becomes clear, any question on how to finish their music becomes almost irrelevant. The story behind the notes dictates what should come next.

    For example, I created a musical Haiku on the Guitar (listen to it below), where the ideas behind it were already set and intentional. These include the emotional and visual contexts and the structure, similar to having a template of the 12-bar blues for creating a guitar composition.

    2. Make a decision

      I’m sure you already have ideas for continuing and finishing your music. But perhaps these ideas don’t sound good to you, or you have too many to choose from. 

      Imagine a tree seed. At every moment of its growth, there is a decision to make: extend upwards, to the left, to the right, etc. A tree doesn’t stop growing; it grows and flows.  

      Apply this simple principle to your guitar music, and decide where the music should flow next until completion. For example, your choices are:

      • Should I repeat it an octave higher?
      • Should I make a variation?
      • Should I move to something completely different?

      The idea is not to get stuck and decide on only one way so that you can move on to your next section. If you have too many options, use your gut feeling. If some are equally good, test it out with one of them.

      You can also add the other options later as a variation or redo it. The point is to finish a draft, which is an overall structure. 

      For example, my track “To a New Home” from the album “Love Blue Electric” (listen below) begins with my initial idea. Then, I decided to repeat it with a variation, and it felt right to move it from A to D (something called sequential modulation to the subdominant). Finally, it made sense to return to the opening phrase and move on from there. This was a series of decision-making after every phrase, playing it and listening to where it wants to go.

      3. Don’t start with the background 

      A common way to compose guitar music and how others try to teach how to write is to start with the background material. The two standard options are a chord progression or a guitar riff. If your idea is also based on background material, this might be why you get stuck.

      Here’s an example. Tom (see below) told me he gets stuck when moving on to the second guitar part. When I asked what he meant by “guitar part,” he replied that it was a chord progression or a riff. In short, background material.

      finish guitar composition ideas
      How To Finish Your Guitar Composition Ideas 4
      finish guitar composition ideas
      How To Finish Your Guitar Composition Ideas 5

        Yes, giving yourself a framework to work with is helpful. Then, it’s “just” creating the lead guitar parts. But if you get stuck, consider these points:

        • Because this is a common way, it will likely sound too familiar, and you will think it’s not good enough. 
        • What’s more important: the plot of a story or where it happens? If you agree that the plot is more meaningful, does it make more sense to focus on it first?
        • From a technical perspective, if you’re occupied with playing chords or a riff, you’d need to create the lead parts with your voice and then find the notes on the guitar. Or you’d need to loop or record it. This affects the natural flow you could’ve had when doing everything on one guitar.

        That’s why my composing method (which I teach) begins with creating the lead part. Then, either afterwards or simultaneously, I add the background elements using fingerstyle on solo guitar.

        Below is a track from my latest album (Winter Guitarscapes) that began with this opening melody. I added the bassline and everything else later.

        One Time Offer

        Reading articles and watching videos about guitar composition is not enough. For example, I work with my guitar composition students in real time, guiding them through the creative process to avoid the pitfalls and challenges, decisions to make, meaning to uncover, etc. Also, every guitar composer and every piece differ in style, genre, and intent. 

        Nothing beats working with an experienced guitar composition teacher who mentors others to create beautiful and touching compositions. If you want to explore this option, I invite you to book a free trial session here at no cost or obligation here (it’s a direct link to my calendar). I’ll help you find ways to take your ideas to the next level.

        May 2, 2025

        Solo Guitar Composition
        The Guitar Blog
        Solo guitar composition: Create it by mastering the 12-bar blues

        I just uploaded this video, which provides 12 mini-lessons on using the 12-bar blues framework to create a solo guitar composition or a stand-alone guitar instrumental piece. It takes you step by step, from being a complete beginner to becoming an original, creative and advanced guitarist.

        You can watch and learn from it below.

        Then, something interesting happened! YouTube found a copyright issue!

        I disputed it, of course, explaining that: “This is a general lesson about the 12-bar blues on the guitar (electric). It cannot be copyrighted with millions of songs using the same chord progression and swing rhythm as I play it here.”

        This raises a valid point. If you play the blues, in its basic form (or anything common for that matter), there’s a high chance that you’ll sound like someone else.

        I made this video to provide a framework for creating a solo guitar piece based on the common 12-bar blues template. So I had to go through the basics, like that specific chord progression in the key of E. That song “Only Blues”, which I allegedly copied (that I had never heard before ), apparently uses the same progression.

        Solo guitar composition: How to make it original?

        The good news is that it didn’t flag anything towards the end, where I demonstrate more creative and original ideas.

        This brings another crucial point: even with the most common and basic music patterns, you can still find your unique way of expressing your voice, sound and style.

        That’s why working on your creativity and expression is so important. It will boost your self-esteem, confidence, and general sense of fullness and peace in life.

        And if you’d like to work with an experienced guitar mentor to fulfil your musical aspirations, let’s talk to see if I can help you. Book a guitar chat with me here or message me here on Messenger: https://m.me/udiglaser

        April 18, 2025

        guitarist playing guitar emotionally
        Guitar blog posts  ·  The Guitar Blog  ·  Tips for guitarists / guitar students
        How guitar music creation helps you with life’s hardships

        Guitarists,

        Whatever you’re going through, remember that music, especially music creation, is an incredible way to cope with life’s hardships.

        It helps with:

        – Dealing with your feelings and emotions by expressing them through the guitar and understand yourself better.

        – Taking breaks from physical or mental struggles by immersing yourself in a world of sounds.

        – Adding more meaning and a sense of purpose by connecting yourself to something bigger than the daily grind.

        If you need any help with your guitar journey – I’m here for you. Message me; https://m.me/udiglaser.

        Yours,
        Udi

        January 24, 2025

        Guitar composition and musical creativity - are we creative by nature.
        Guitar blog posts  ·  The Guitar Blog
        Are we creative by nature?

        Guitar composition is something anyone can (and should) create. But some think they don’t “have it” or lack imagination and can’t compose guitar music.

        In this post, I’d like to show you that you are already creative and can easily compose original music on the guitar.

        When you do simple things in your everyday life, you create. For example, let’s say you commented on this post: “Thank you! I feel more confident in my creativity and can compose original music without the guitar”.

        No one has put together this string of words in that specific way. Don’t believe me? Try to google my comment example with quotation marks. It’s original! The result says: “Your search did not match any documents.” (Although, when this post is published, it might lead to this page…).

        However, I’m sure your comment will be much more interesting than my example, and you can then Google your comment and test your originality yourself.

        Like writing, communicating with others using language is also based on your creativity. You’re creating sequences of words in your unique way.

        Even when you speak, you improvise in the moment, like improvising music on your guitar. Bassist and author Victor Wooten beautifully explained this point in his TED talk.

        Guitar Creativity & the “Four C Model”

        In psychology, the “Four C Model” differentiates between four levels of creativity. The first level, “mini-c,” concerns novel and personally meaningful interpretations of experiences, actions, and events. 

        It means, for example, that when you played a few notes on the guitar as a beginner, you may have experienced a feeling you created something new and different to you. 

        According to this concept, “mini-c” inherently exists in a learning process that we can foster and nurture to move on to the next level of creativity. 

        Creativity from a biological perspective

        But psychology can’t provide definitive proof for our creative nature. So perhaps we can get evidence from a biological perspective. This quote describes it nicely: 

        “One of the defining features of humanity is the ability to be creative. This ability is exhibited throughout human society and is a fundamental force in the development of humankind. However, the concept of creativity itself is shrouded in imprecision and subjectivity, making it difficult to address from a scientific perspective. One approach to the rational study of creativity in humans is to consider it from an evolutionary perspective, aiming to identify related behaviours in other species that can be studied without the cloud of human subjectivity that the word creativity entails.” (Wiggins, 2015; doi: 10.1098/rstb.2014.0099).

        I’d add that it’s also very difficult to compare creativity levels between people. What are the parameters and who decides them? 

        I’d add that it’s also challenging to compare creativity levels between people. What are the parameters, and who decides on them? 

        That’s why the term creativity can be open to interpretation and tricky to measure scientifically, although there are efforts to research specific aspects of it.

        My conclusion and guitar composition

        We still need more research to understand creativity. But despite its subjectivity, there seems to be a broad agreement that being creative is an essential part of being human, even if it’s on a fundamental level. 

        It happens when we learn something new and begin our learning process as babies and even in the womb.

        The cool thing is that this long post results from a comment I received on a different post. It is a chain reaction of inspiration and creation; you can choose to be part of it. 

        To be more creative is your choice, whether you believe it’s in your nature. How? Commenting on this post is a simple way! Learning guitar to enhance your creativity is another. 

        Enhancing guitar players’ creativity is what I’m trying to promote through my guitar composition group, Solo Guitar Composition Artistry Group, where I share free resources and videos.

        I also opened a new venture called The Art of Guitar Composition Academy. This programme gives a holistic overview of music as an art form. We explore there all the elements of music practically and experiment with compositional tools that will help you through every stage of the creative process.

        To learn more about it and to see if it’s the right thing for you, schedule a guitar chat with me – https://udiguitar.com/contact-udiguitar/

        May 22, 2023

        Kirk Hammett guitar solo songwriting composition improvisation
        Guitar blog posts  ·  The Guitar Blog
        Guitarists criticise Kirk Hammett, but who needs fancy guitar solos?

        I recently read an interview with Kirk Hammett in Total Guitar and discovered that there’s an ongoing online debate about his guitar solo in Lux Aeterna. 😮 I felt I needed to address it

        As someone who grew up in the 80s, Metallica has been a significant influence on my musical upbringing. I learned a lot from their guitar transcription books before even knowing what I was playing.

        I understand that there’s some expectation from guitarists to evolve artistically, and it’s safe to say that Hammett’s solos were more diverse in their earlier albums, which he admits in the interview. 

        Nowadays, and from what I could hear in their latest album “72 Seasons”, their music still primarily relies on the minor pentatonic/Blues scale, and Hammett is content with mainly using the minor pentatonic scale for his guitar solos. So Lux Aeterna’s solo is a bit more interesting, as he uses some chromatic runs. 🙂

        Personally, I love this guitar solo as it brings the energy the song requires. I listened to a few other guitarists’ alternate solos to the song, and I didn’t feel it at all. They might be excellent technically, but there wasn’t any musical connection to the song.

        Some of the criticism regarding the solo is that it jumps from one idea to another with “no logic”. But doesn’t it create a sense of hastiness that’s related to the feel and meaning of the song?

        In the creative process, it might be true that these bits were glued together from different takes. Hammett said he’s now very much into improvisation and left the editing stage to Lars Ulrich and the producer Greg Fidelman.

        This leads to an interesting topic, what is the purpose of a guitar solo? 

        Is it for lead guitarists to showcase their shredding skills, like in those alternate solos? Or is it for adding a part that melodically expresses the song’s feel, energy or meaning without lyrics?

        There are other approaches to incorporating a guitar solo, like using it to tell a story. But in this case, it seems that those other two answers are the main schools of thought.

        I support the latter. To me, if the song needs a guitar solo (which is not a must). It’s a break from the vocal parts into a more abstract expressionism that doesn’t have to follow any rules. It exists because it adds some value to the song.

        Also, I think it’s essential to have a flow into the guitar solo, so it doesn’t feel like it was forced into the song. In Lux Aeterna, specifically, I love how the band clears the stage for it by literally stepping down (chromatically).

        Personally, I’m more into solo guitar than guitar solo. 🙂 On my latest instrumental guitar album, I had only one “traditional” guitar solo that goes into a blurry cloud of sounds. In another track, I used sweep picking to add an extra layer behind eight other guitar layers. 😀

        What are your thoughts on this? Where do you stand?

        Read more articles about guitar composition on my guitar blog!

        Photo of Kirk Hammett by Raph_PH.

        ​​

        April 18, 2023

        A robot AI is a guitarist - CREATIVE GUITAR PROMPTS for songwriting composition and improvisation
        Creative Guitar Challenge  ·  Guitar blog posts  ·  The Guitar Blog  ·  Tips for guitarists / guitar students
        5 Creative Guitar Prompts to Improvise and Compose New Music

        Looking for creative guitar prompts?

        The word “prompts” became common these days because of chatGPT and other AI apps. But instead of outsourcing intelligence, how about using and upgrading NI? 

        The good things about NI are that its creative capacity is unlimited, it can search for the most updated information on the web, and can even connect and have meaningful chats with humans. 🙃

        NI can also create beautiful music by using the smart algorithms of MI and mainly because of its extraordinary emotional expression capabilities. 

        So here are 5 creative guitar prompts you can challenge your mind with to improvise, write songs and compose new musical creations…

        1. Write the next release of your favourite musician.
        2. Your middle two strings broke. Use the other four to write a song.
        3. Compose a monophonic guitar piece.
        4. Write a soundtrack to the last video on your phone.
        5. Play a famous guitar riff but with different notes.
        CREATIVE GUITAR PROMPTS for songwriting composition and improvisation
        5 creative guitar prompts

        It’d be great to hear your variations on these creative guitar prompts! Would you like to share your attempts on my Electric Fingerstyle Improvisation Guitar Group on Facebook?

        Prompt the Promt

        Then I thought, what if you write “creative guitar prompts” as a prompt into an AI app? I did, and chatGPT gave me these 10 ideas:

        1. Play a piece in a different time signature, such as 7/8 or 5/4.
        2. Write a song that tells a story, and create a guitar riff to go along with it.
        3. Try playing a piece of music in a different genre, such as rock music played with a classical fingerstyle approach.
        4. Use alternate tunings, such as Drop D or Open G, to create a unique sound.
        5. Incorporate percussive elements, such as slapping and tapping, into your playing.
        6. Create a medley of your favourite songs, blending them together into one piece.
        7. Write a piece using only one chord, exploring the different melody and rhythm possibilities.
        8. Play a piece in reverse, starting with the last chord and working your way backwards.
        9. Experiment with different guitar effects, such as reverb, delay, or distortion, to create new sounds.
        10. Improvise a piece based on a specific emotion, such as joy, sadness, or anger.

        I asked it to regenerate and got 10 more creative guitar prompts, and some are quite similar and variations to the first 10.

        1. Write a song using only three chords
        2. Create a soundscape by playing with different textures and effects pedals
        3. Write a piece in a different time signature than you are used to
        4. Use a specific emotion as inspiration for your playing
        5. Write a piece in the style of a genre or artist you admire, but put your own spin on it
        6. Experiment with alternate tunings
        7. Write a song with a narrative structure, like a story
        8. Improvise a solo over a chord progression you’ve never played before
        9. Collaborate with another musician and write a piece together
        10. Create a medley of different songs, seamlessly blending them together.

        But this time, it also added an important closing sentence. “Remember, these prompts are meant to inspire and challenge you, not limit you. Feel free to interpret them in your own way and let your creativity guide your playing.”

        Conclusion

        This was a great experiment, which I believe proves my initial point. AI is based on common knowledge and on the information we know so far. It cannot yet generate ideas that haven’t been thought of. When I thought of producing 5 prompts of my own, I wanted to come up with new ideas and skipped the ones the chatGPT suggested. I thought they were a bit obvious and predictable.

        For example, writing the next release of your favourite musician is an idea I for from the visual arts, to draw the next painting by Picasso and so on.

        The conclusion is: feel free to experiment with all of these 25 creative guitar prompts. And here’s another challenge: create your own prompts!

        February 15, 2023

        Musical expression on the guitar - Guitarist Gary Moore RIP
        Creative Guitar Challenge  ·  Guitar blog posts  ·  Music  ·  The Guitar Blog  ·  Tips for guitarists / guitar students
        How to enhance musical expression in your guitar playing

        For improvisation, songwriting, and composition on the guitar in particular, these five ideas can help you be more expressive

        The idea for this “musical expression on the guitar” article began with an answer I gave to a question in a guitar Facebook group. The question was, “How do you improvise on the guitar in a more musical way?”

        My reply was: “The key is to develop your inner voice and ear and make it a whole-body experience, which is more than just “thinking” with your fingers. It’s about connecting all the different elements and components of a musical experience.”

        Then, as I gave the question some more thought (and discussed it in my group “Guitar Songwriting & Composition”), I became aware of its problematic wording. What does “more musical” mean? The intent behind the original question was probably “how to be more expressive on the guitar” or “how to play the guitar with more musical expression.”

        So I thought I’d break down my answer into five effective concepts that help me and my guitar students. 

        Five Ways to Improve Musical Expression on the Guitar

        1) Get Up, Stand Up

        Most of us sit while playing the guitar. But standing up can already make a big difference. You can then move more freely by, for example, swaying your hips and gesturing with your hands and head. This also helps you get into the rhythm and immerse yourself in your playing. This is what I meant by making it a whole-body experience. It’s like the difference between practising and performing. When you stand up, it can feel like a live gig, even if the crowd is the furniture around you. Also, sitting too much is not very healthy.

        • If you play classical / flamenco guitar, you can still move while sitting. But you can also try to stand and rest your foot on a high stool.

        2) Sing

        Using your voice—either your inner or actual voice—can help a lot with being more expressive on the guitar. For example, when you “scat” (sing what you play at the same time), your playing can sound more human. In other words, you will use speech-like phrases. It’s because when we speak, we say a few words, pause or take a breath, and say a few more words, and so on. When you do that with the guitar, the result can be similar. You’ll play and sing a few notes on the guitar, breathe and rest, then play and sing a few more notes, and so on.

        • If that’s tricky, you can also play something and then sing it, or the other way around, such as singing something and then playing it. 

        Watch these two short videos about guitar scatting:

        Guitar scatting part 1
        Guitar scatting part 2

        3) Listen to the Music

        Playing the guitar expressively is not just about playing one phrase, the next one, and then another. Instead, think about it as a conversation between you and the guitar. It’s bi-directional. So after playing a phrase, listen to what you’ve just played before automatically playing the next one. Ask yourself, “Where does this phrase want to go?” This way, your phrases will stimulate you to respond and create other related phrases. 

        • This concept is particularly crucial when playing with other live musicians. The ability to listen to those around you is probably the most important aspect of music expression and creation. 

        4) Surprise Yourself

        If you “think” too much with your fingers, your playing might sound too mechanical. For example, it can happen when you automatically play over a scale you know, like the pentatonic minor scale. Especially when repeating previously practised exercises, like scale sequences. It can be much more exciting to improvise and come up with new note combinations you’ve never tried before. 

        • To break the patterns, pay attention to how you play. Are you mostly using the same order of fingers? Mix it up.

        5) Silent Notes

        We tend to focus too much on what notes to play. But it’s equally (or even more) important to focus on how we play these notes. For instance, adding interesting dynamics and tone can be much more expressive than a constant stream of notes. This way, you can repeat the same phrase while diversifying it by playing with other elements of music. 

        • Learning the power of the elements of music also helps with finding your sound and your own style on the guitar. It can make your music and your playing more unique and original. 

        Musical Expression on the Guitar – Summary

        To sum up, to play the guitar with more musical expression, think about it as a whole-body experience by standing and moving your body, singing, listening to your playing, surprising yourself with new note combinations, and focusing on other elements of music.

        I’d love to hear your thoughts on this article! Comment below. Also, if you’ve implemented these concepts, it’d be great to hear how they helped you!

        After Note

        While working on demonstrating these ideas in a video, a new guitar tune came out. So, instead of a video that explains and shows these concepts, here’s that tune that I came up with. I thought it was important because, ultimately, the idea of musical expression on the guitar is about creating new music that excites you. Need help applying these principles to your music? Let’s have a guitar chat!

        https://youtu.be/O_oVVk7Fp60

        Photo of Gary Moore: Jan Reif

        Did you like this article about musical expression on the guitar? Comment below.

        January 24, 2023

        creative guitar mindset for guitarists
        Creative Guitar Challenge  ·  Guitar blog posts  ·  The Guitar Blog  ·  Tips for guitarists / guitar students
        5 easy ways to adopt a creative guitar mindset

        Why guitarists focus more on the technical side of guitar playing while struggling with the creative aspect + 5 easy and proven ways to enhance your creativity on the guitar

        Creative guitar mindset: why do we need it? It may be trivial, but I think it’s important to stress the impact that our mindset has on our guitar playing and music creation. Out of the different types, I’m going to focus here on the creative mindset, which is fundamental for music as a creative art form.

        Although this is quite a simple concept, I don’t think that many guitarists think this way. But I can understand why. One of the reasons is related to the way we begin learning guitar. The first thing we do is treat guitar playing as a physical activity. It’s understandable because controlling our fingers to do something they’ve never done before is a challenge. We weren’t born to play the guitar. 

        So our initial focus is to see the guitar as a tool for finger exercises. This way, we might get the wrong impression that this is what the guitar is about. We may adopt a sports-like mindset, believing that we should focus primarily on techniques. This is heightened when we want to sound like the great, technically incredible shred guitarists.

        Guitarist’s creative mindset

        Don’t get me wrong. I have nothing against honing our technical skills on the guitar. But my guitar philosophy is that music is about conveying emotions, and the guitar is the best tool to achieve that. So in a creative mindset, guitar skills are meant to help us express the music we hear in our heads to create meaningful songs and compositions. This is my definition of a creative mindset in this context. A more general definition can be “think like an artist”. 

        “Arts and crafts” is a good analogy for these two types of mindsets (sports and creative). “Arts” represents the artistic and creative side of music, and “crafts” is the technical and craftsmanship part of playing music. Each one relies on the other and complements it. To convey our emotions on the guitar, we need to be able to execute them well. To give meaning to our finger movements and guitar skills, we need emotional content. So there’s some balance we can maintain between the “arts and crafts”. 

        There’s no shortage of resources for improving technical guitar skills, but it seems that guitar lessons on creativity are scarce. I can understand why. It’s much more difficult to teach guitar creativity! But because this is my true passion and purpose in life, I’ve spent a lot of time, effort, and energy finding ways to teach guitarists to be more creative and expressive. I’ve learned it from my guitar teachers, researched it academically, and tested it in the real world on myself, my fellow musicians, and my guitar students. 

        After discussing the importance of adopting a creative mindset on the guitar, let’s go over ways of achieving it.

        5 tips on adopting a creative mindset on the guitar

        1) Embrace this daily habit

        Enhancing a creative mindset is like adopting a good habit. Like any habit, daily repetition is the key to success. So you can simply allocate time every day to practising it. This kind of practice is about picking up the guitar and playing something you’ve never played before. You can improvise, jam, noodle, and explore the guitar from a new angle. Allow yourself to experiment with it. This can be even just 10 minutes a day, and you can treat it like your daily meditation or your “me time.” 

        • Choosing the right time of day and place can help with incorporating it into your routine and life. For example, I practice mainly at night time when the house is quiet while laying on the living room couch. 

        2) Don’t think too much

        When you practice the above daily exercise (or when playing anything on the guitar), try not to think too much or at all. Mainly, don’t judge and critique yourself by thinking “it’s not good enough”, “it’s not original enough”, or “I don’t know what I’m playing”. We are our worst critics. Being critical is a great type of thinking for other tasks, like making progress and improving our guitar skills. But from an artistic point of view, it adds an unnecessary roadblock to the creative process. So decide that you’re going to clear your mind and enter a state of flow. The great drummer Vinnie Colaiut summarised it well with his mantra: “Thought is the enemy of flow”. 

        • If you ever tried meditation, you probably know that it’s hard to stop our brain from thinking. How can you stop its main function…? But you can enter a mind-wandering state, or daydream. Anything is fine as long as you allow yourself to explore the guitar with no judgment. 

        3) Shut your eyes

        What can help you with the previous tips is to shut your eyes while playing. This simple act can block some distractions and disruptions in your environment. Because music is mainly an auditory experience, shutting down one of your most active senses, sight, can help. You can then focus more on the most important skill for a guitarist or musician: the ability to listen. This type of listening skill allows you to hear the potential of what you’re trying to create and immerse yourself in this creative activity. Besides, playing without looking at your fingers is a great exercise that builds trust with your fingers and the sense of touch. 

        • Other ways to decrease your sight are by playing in a dark room (I even played in caves), or covering your eyes with a blindfold (maybe you have a travel eye mask from your latest flight…).

        4) Do a warm-up

        It can take some time to leave your thoughts behind, find something that excites you, or enter a flow state. So when practising the daily 10 minutes, it might take five minutes or even more to get into “the zone”. The zone is that state of mind where you feel comfortable and curious to explore new things after letting go of any annoying thoughts. This way, creativity is like a muscle that you need to stretch and warm up to exploit its full potential. So be patient with yourself and allow time for things to happen (and they will happen!).

        • You can also do “normal” warm-up exercises before your 10 minutes begin. These can even lead you to a great creative session. For instance, did you know that Guns N’ Roses’ hit “Sweet Child O’ Mine” began as an exercise that Slash practised on his guitar?

        5) Create a safe space

        If you still struggle to get into a creative mood, it might be related to your surroundings. A safe space is a time and place where you feel secure enough to explore the unknown. It’s like the “sandbox” concept in the software development world, where you can try things out, test them, and make mistakes. So finding or creating your own safe space in an encouraging environment can help.

        • I’ve found that these safe places can occur in the context of a lesson with my guitar students. Magic happens when you have trust and are encouraged to get your creative juices flowing. I’ve witnessed many a time students creating amazing music in front of my eyes and ears

        Want to get more creative guitar mindset tips?

        These five creative guitar mindset tips are just a few out of many! I write about them in more depth in my guitar book.

        If you’d like to know what they are and can’t wait for the book, I can show you what they are and, more importantly, how to implement them. Contact me here.

        I’m a guitar teacher in north London who mainly teaches online using a unique music education platform. If you’re looking into improving your guitar songwriting and composing skills – I’d love to hear from you. Use the link above or comment below to schedule a guitar chat with me.

        January 20, 2023

        Music theory for guitar songwriting
        Guitar blog posts  ·  The Guitar Blog  ·  Tips for guitarists / guitar students
        Unlock Guitar Songwriting Secrets with Easy Music Theory Methods

        Music theory is a great tool for writing songs on the guitar. In this article, I’ll show 5 ways to create music that will sound good and also give tips to make your songs less common and more original

        Before getting into guitar songwriting tips, I need to mention an important idea. Although music theory provides effective songwriting tools, you can ignore them all. It’s because being creative usually entails breaking the rules and finding a unique way of creating music. There’s a great quote accredited to the guitar legend Jeff Beck (RIP), who left us this week:

        Guitar legend Jeff Beck - "If I don't break the rules at least 10 times in every song, then I'm not doing my job properly."

        “If I don’t break the rules at least 10 times in every song, then I’m not doing my job properly.”

        — Jeff Beck

        Photo: Simon Fernandez Music Photographer

        Let’s first begin by defining what music theory and guitar songwriting are.

        What is music theory?

        Music theory is a… theory. As such, it’s open to interpretation. So I’ll propose a working definition for this article. Music theory is a compilation of methods and ideas to organise sound and explore and understand its various possibilities to create music.

        What is guitar songwriting?

        This is another blurry term, and I’ll define guitar songwriting as the process of creating popular music on the guitar. I also like to use the term “guitar composing.” Composing is more related to classical music, but guitar music can be instrumental, whereas songs are usually associated with lyrics.

        Here are the 5 simple methods and at the end of each method, there’s a guitar songwriting tip.

        1) Diatonic Harmony

        The term “diatonic” in music theory is such a great tool for songwriting. It allows you to turn the seven notes of a scale into music that will most likely sound great. It’s because these seven notes are connected by strong bonds.

        You can think of it as a family. Yes, there are sometimes disagreements and tensions, but “blood is thicker than water” and there is natural love. So the seven notes are like seven family members.

        One of the basic interpretations of diatonic in songwriting is “diatonic harmony,” which means chords and chord progressions based on the seven chords of a scale or key.

        Let’s start with the key of C major. There are 7 notes in C major: C, D, E, F, G, A, and B. From each note (also called a “degree”), we construct a related chord: C, Dm, Em, F, G, Am, and B-.

        If you choose a combination of some of these chords, you will create a chord progression, and it will likely sound good. For example, C, G, F, and Am.

        Guitar songwriting tip #1:

        These four chords are frequently used. So to create a less common chord progression, include some or all of the other three chords. For instance, C, B-, F, and Dm.

        2) Time Symmetry

        Music theory brought us the term “time signature” (also “metre”). It’s an effective way to organise beats. The most common time signature is 4/4, and because it’s so common, its synonym is a capital C. It means that music is divided into 4 beats, and these 4 beats are grouped in a block called a “bar” (or “measure”).

        So if you want your chord progression to sound good, you can use symmetry. If you look around, you’ll probably notice many symmetrical items, like furniture. We humans are very much into symmetrical shapes, and the same thing applies to music.

        You can create symmetry in music by allocating each chord to a 4-beat bar. For example:

        | C / / / | G / / / | F / / / | Am / / / |

        Guitar songwriting tip #2:

        To make your chord progression more original, break the pattern or stretch the symmetry. For example, you can create a chord progression with an odd number of bars, like:
        | C / / / | G / / / | Dm / / / | F / / / | Am / / / |

        3) Melodic Tones

        The next music theory concept is called “chord tones”, which are simply the notes of each chord. These are great for creating melodies around a chord progression. Every basic chord consists of 3 notes (a triad), and to add a melody that sounds good, you can sing (or play with another guitar) a note or more from the same chord.

        For example, chord C consists of the notes c, e, and g. If you sing or play one of these notes with the chord C, they will sound harmonious together. It’s a very simple idea… Let’s see it in action.

        Chords:
        | C / / / | G / / / | F / / / | Am / / / |
        Melody:
        | e | d | c | c |

        Guitar songwriting tip #3:

        To make it more original and interesting, use non-chord tones as well. Non-chord tones can be notes from the same scale that are not part of the chord. For example:
        Chords:
        | C / / / | G / / / | F / / / | Am / / / |
        Melody:
        | d | e | d | c |

        4) Functional Harmony

        Functional harmony is a music theory concept that presumes that each chord in a scale or key has a specific function. For example, the first chord is called the “tonic”. If all the chords are a family, then the tonic is considered the head of the family. It’s the first and main chord of the scale.

        The tonic functions like “home”, which means that it’s the chord you usually start and end with. It’s like starting the day at home, going to work, and then coming back home to your family. This means that you can think of the other chords as “outdoors”.

        In practical terms, it means that if you want to create a “homey feel”, you’re going to base a chord progression around C. For example:

        | C / / / | G / / / | F / / / | C / / / |

        Guitar songwriting tip #4:

        You can also create a chord progression that feels like the outdoors. For example:
        | Dm / / / | B- / / / | Em / / / | Em / / / |

        5) Final Form

        What you can do with the chord progressions and melodies is arrange them in a form. We sometimes take it for granted, but various forms have been developed for centuries. In popular music, there are a few common forms.

        For example, a popular form begins with two verses, a chorus, one verse, and then two choruses. In short, we can write it as AABABB. The A part is the verse, which can be one chord progression with one melody. The B part can be the chorus with different chord progressions and melodies:

        A: | C | G | F | C |
        A: | C | G | F | C |
        B: | Dm | B- | Em | Em |
        A: | C | G | F | C |
        B: | Dm | B- | Em | Em |
        B: | Dm | B- | Em | Em |

        Guitar songwriting tip #5:

        To make your song more complex and interesting, add more sections, like a C-part, which can be another chord progression and melody. For instance: | G | Dm | B- | Am |
        For guitarists, this can be our cue for the guitar solo.

        • Last tip: Even better, create your form and organise your music in a way that feels right to you.

        What did you think about these guitar songwriting tips and methods? Comment Below.

        If you’d like to advance your guitar songwriting skills – get in touch! I am a guitar teacher in north London and also have an online guitar school.

        January 13, 2023

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