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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

        How to add expression and emotion to your guitar solos
        The Guitar Blog
        How to Add Expression to your Guitar Solo? 3 Effective & Simple Solutions

        The guitar expression struggle

        “How do I add more expression to my guitar solos? I feel like I’m just playing notes, not saying anything.”

        I saw this question online and thought I’d do a live session answering it and sharing some of my ideas that I hope can help you! Here’s the guitar video lesson:

        Causes for emotional expression struggle

        Music is the language of emotions. So, how come people struggle with the emotional side of it?

        This is partly related to how music is usually being taught. Here are two common ways:

        1. Playing other people’s music. This method is useful to learn, but it’s more about copying and less about feeling emotions or understanding the ideas behind the music.
        2. Music theory. This approach is about learning guidelines, patterns, and shapes, which are essential tools, but they activate the logical part of the brain more than the emotional.

        Unfortunately, not many guitar mentors teach how to feel.

        Another reason relates to how music is usually being practised. Here are two common ways:

        1. Playing over backing tracks. This is a fun way to improvise, like playing with a live band. But it’s in a specific mood. What if you’re in a different mood? Also, it’s more about reacting to something and not creating. You can’t interact with the other musicians like in a live band. Your space to express yourself is limited.
        2. Playing exercises. Playing guitar exercises is important to make progress, but especially with the boring ones like the famous spider exercise, you’re working on the mechanical and technical side of music, not on the emotional side.

        Problematic solutions

        Some offer solutions to this problem by saying something abstract, like “Feel the music”. But how does this general advice help? What does it mean to feel the music, and how do you feel it?

        Others suggest a solution by describing what you can play: “various bends, staccato and control of volume”. However, does bending a string and staccato guarantee emotional expression?

        My simple solution

        In a way, emotional expression has nothing to do with music or the guitar. It’s more about being in touch with your feelings and if there’s an emotional block.

        Ask yourself: What are you feeling when you play? If the answer is “I don’t feel anything,” you will probably reflect that in your playing, and you can’t expect your playing to change how you feel.

        In this case, the simple solution is to feel something when you’re about to play, and your playing will reflect that. Easier said than done, I know. Let’s talk next about “how”.

        3 ways to enhance your emotional expression on the guitar

        When you think about emotional expression in your daily life, you have three natural and common ways to express yourself:

        1. Facial expressions (and micro-expressions)
        2. Hand gestures
        3. Voice

        Let’s explore how you can translate these to your guitar solos.

        How to add expression and emotion to your guitar solos facial

        Solution #1: Use facial expressions

        Studies have shown that facial expressions, even if they’re fake, can change your mood. For example, this study has shown that even when people put a fake smile on their faces, they feel happier.

        This means your facial expression will change your mood, transforming the way you play. Try making faces, even micro-expressions, while playing. It will help you connect emotionally to your guitar.

        Not sure if it makes a difference? Compare it to playing with a blank face. Record yourself and hear the differences. Seeing guitarists and musicians making facial expressions while playing can strongly deliver their emotions. But this works even without the visual aspect. Try it!

        How to add expression and emotion to your guitar playing hands
        How to Add Expression to your Guitar Solo? 3 Effective & Simple Solutions 7

        Solution #2: Apply hand Gestures

        When you think about how actors express emotions, they use facial expressions of course, and other effective expression tools like body language, and specifically hand gestures.

        Since your hands are obviously occupied with playing the guitar, you can be aware of how you’re using them. Do you see and feel that they are like typing on a computer keyboard? Then, it means you’re focusing on the technical and mechanical aspects more than the emotional ones.

        The solution is to use your hands to express the music and connect to it. That’s why techniques like string bending can bring you some emotion as you squeeze the guitar neck as if you’re squeezing the hand of someone you love.

        Vibration is another great expressive technique. When you think about other situations where your hands shake, like when you’re anxious, that’s its emotional potential. Slow vibrato can make you feel calm, but fast and wide vibrato can make you feel angst.

        Not to mention the excessive hand gestures you see from classical musicians that help them and the audience connect emotionally with their playing and music.

        How to add expression and emotion to your guitar solos find your voice 2

        Solution #3: Find your voice

        How do you use your voice to express emotions? How do you speak or sing when feeling calm or angry? Answering these kinds of questions can help you find and deliver your own voice on the guitar. Yes, your actual speaking or singing voice is what can make you sound unique when you play the guitar!

        For example, your voice is likely slow and quiet if you feel calm. When you’re feeling angry, it’s probably loud and fast. Taking even this simple idea to your guitar can massively transform your expression. Moving between these two extremes creates dynamics, which is an important tool for emotional expression on the guitar.

        Another important aspect of using your voice is playing the guitar like you’re speaking or singing, for example, using rests between phrases, questions and answers, etc.

        Last notes

        We barely scratched the surface, but hope this article and the video were valuable and helpful for your emotional expression on the guitar.

        Reading and watching videos about it can help, but I can’t see you and help you personally, and that’s the best way to progress! Nothing beats a live interaction with a pro guitar mentor who can address your specific needs and issues.

        So, if you’d like to go deeper and explore your emotional depths and how to express them through the guitar and your own music, I’d like to invite you to book a guitar chat with me about it. If you’d like to, you see if I can help you become the guitarist you want to be.

        Expression is at the heart of my guitar composition academy and what I mostly help my students with. It is crucial for creating melodies, which are the basis for compelling and memorable guitar solos.

        I teach how to transform emotions into melodies and how the sounds you make transform back into emotions. This creates a feedback loop that feeds itself and can help you feel the music on a deep level, getting into a state of flow where you feel connected to the magical powers of music.

        Ready to elevate your emotional expression with your guitar playing? Book a guitar chat with me here.

        April 11, 2025

        How do you improvise over chord progressions
        The Guitar Blog
        How do you improvise over chord progressions: 6+ ways to success

        “How do you improvise over chord progressions?” is a common question I hear often from guitar players.

        Have you wondered about this too?

        In this video lesson, I explain one of my simple methods step by step to answer this question.

        Many guitarists think knowing a scale or a few to improvise is enough. While only using guitar scales might work, there are a few problems:

        • Your improvisation might sound too scaley and mechanical.
        • You may hit the right spots but without knowing why they work.
        • You’re limiting yourself
        • Most importantly, you miss the main point.

        Hint: the answer is already in the question…

        That’s right – chords! Or, more specifically, chord tones (the notes that construct the chord).

        How do you improvise over chord progressions? Answer: chord tones awareness

        In this video, “How do you improvise over chord progressions”, I discuss what I call “chord tones awareness.”

        Simply put, when you’re aware of the chord tones, your improvisation will match the chords in the background if you’re playing to a backing track.

        The result will make you sound like you confidently know exactly what you’re doing.

        You can use this to improvise over a backing track, but I demonstrated it using just a solo guitar in the video.

        As I shared in a previous video, backing tracks have their own limitations. But with the “chord tones awareness” approach, you can learn better and create using just one guitar!

        Yes, you can even compose your own solo guitar piece by combining two of the main elements of music: harmony (chords) and melody (scales).

        I quickly reviewed the fundamental scales in the video, such as the major and minor pentatonic scales, before moving on to more complex concepts.

        So, if you feel this is advanced, you should probably spend more time mastering these scales first. If you need any help with that – email me,

        Oh, and if you’d like the PDF I show there with the diagrams – email me, and I’ll send it over!

        You can watch the video here below. I’d love to know what you think – it would mean the world to me if you could leave your comments:​

        To your success!
        – Udi

        PS
        Ready to make fast progress with your guitar and music? Book a guitar chat with me here.

        March 21, 2025

        guitar composition FAQ - a person holding a pencil and writing on a notebook
        Guitar blog posts  ·  The Guitar Blog
        Unlock the Secrets of Emotional Guitar Composition: Essential FAQs

        “Guitar composition”, “guitar composing”, “composing on guitar” – you’re probably here because you searched these terms and want to learn more about them. You’ve come to the right place! In this FAQ, I’ll try to answer everything I can based on my experience as a guitar composer and guitar composition teacher. If you have any more questions – comment below, and I’ll update this article with my answers!

        What is guitar composition?

        Guitar composition is the art and process of creating original music on the guitar. The term can mean composing music for the guitar or using the guitar as the primary instrument for composition. The term composition suggests that it’s mainly for classical guitar and classical music. But in modern times, it doesn’t have to be restricted and can apply to any type of guitar and in any genre.

        Do compositions must be notated with software or written on paper?

        While you can notate your music, it’s not a must. Moreover, you don’t even have to read music to compose! Some guitar composers don’t know which notes they are playing, especially when using alternate tunings, where every tuning is like re-learning the fretboard. In this guitar composition approach, you let your ear and intuition guide you instead.

        Do you have to learn music theory to compose on the guitar?

        Learning music theory helps you understand what you play and how to take it further. But it’s not a must! Sometimes, focusing on theory can even slow the creative process by letting our logical and rational minds take the lead. The result might be too structured and predictable music based on formulas. If you agree that creating music is about conveying emotions and feelings, then leading with that can bring more exciting results.

        In addition, music theory is usually used to analyse and explain passively. However, “music composition theory” is a more fitting term that focuses on the creative application of theory. This includes uncovering how to use composition tools created by great composers and guitarists, such as permutations, as well as showing how any theoretical concept, like intervals, can be used to create guitar pieces.

        Can anybody learn how to compose guitar music?

        Absolutely! It doesn’t matter what level, age, and style you’re into or what you believe or think – you can learn how to compose guitar music! There’s a misconception that some people are born with a natural talent to compose or as creatives. Some are indeed born with perfect pitch (not me…), which definitely helps with anything to do with music, including composing. But even Beethoven and the great classical composers learned how to compose!

        There are mainly two ways to learn guitar composition:

        1. Self study: researching the right resources, like YouTube videos, online courses and books.
        2. Working with a mentor: getting professional help and a structured plan to overcome mental, emotional, technical, musical and creative challenges.

        When I first picked up the guitar, I immediately composed music on it. Yes, it was mainly based on open strings and probably wasn’t very interesting to listen to, but the act of composing the guitar is that easy and simple. It’s like giving your child a pen and a piece of paper, and you’ll get a piece of art that you’ll hang on the wall with pride.

        Even guitar composition students with a strong disbelief manage to do so. Here’s an example:

        Where and how to learn guitar composition?

        Quite a few teachers and educational institutions teach “guitar” and “composition” as the main subjects, mainly by learning other people’s music and methods.

        According to my research, there are very few programmes that teach the guitar as the main compositional instrument that’s not restricted to a specific genre (classical or jazz). Berklee College of Music, for example, offers a course titled “Guitar Composition Techniques for Performers/Composers” (here’s the link), which is part of a wider composition programme.

        This gap is the reason for opening my only guitar composition academy, which focuses on artistry more than the techniques, for example, by showing how to be in tune with the guitar and transform emotions into music through it.

        What’s the difference between guitar composition and improvisation?

        Composition and improvisation are two approaches to creating music on the guitar. A common difference people think is that composition is planned and pre-written, and improvisation is created spontaneously at the moment.

        But the lines can be blurry. For example, you can compose on the fly by playing and recording random notes on the guitar. Similarly, you can base your improvised music on musical ideas you have already practised and played in the past. Additionally, sometimes aimlessly improvising music on the guitar (known as “noodling”) can lead to structured compositions at any stage of the creative process.

        One more approach is to enable moments of improvisation within a composition. This way, there is a general structure with flexible, non-definitive parts. Here’s an example for a guitar composition with improvised bits:

        How to compose music on the guitar?

        There are many ways to compose music on the guitar, from how to get inspiration to finding the right structure for your music. A simple way of looking at the creative process is to break it down into 3 steps.

        1. Inspiration and ideation: getting inspired and creating a musical idea.
        2. Development: expanding and enriching that musical idea.
        3. Completion: adding related parts if needed and deciding on the final structure.

        Of course, this is a general overview of the process of guitar composition, and each step includes multiple mini-steps.

        How to start and get better as a guitar composer?

        Like anything in life, to start and get better at guitar composition, you also need to:

        1. Learn what to practise.
        2. Practise what you learned.

        Imagine guitar composition as a muscle you need to train and make it stronger. It can be difficult to compose something instantly as a beginner composer, but the more you hone your compositional skills, the better you’ll be able to compose on the spot!

        Nothing should stop you from picking up the guitar right now and creating something new that you never played before. For more inspiration and guidance – check out these guitar composition lessons.

        Isn’t it better to compose on a piano?

        For many composers, the piano and keyboards are the main instruments for creating music. They have a wider range of octaves (7 plus a few keys), and you can play 10 notes at the same time. The guitar is more limited in that respect, about 3-4 octaves and mostly 6 notes at the same time. But the guitar has other advantages. Here are some of them:

        1. If you’re a guitarist, you can compose straight away on your instrument.
        2. The guitar has a few positions for the same pitch, giving it richer tone and colour options.
        3. The open strings enable diverse and unique combinations of notes, for example Campanelle.
        4. The guitar can be very expressive with, for example, string bends, slides, and other creative manipulations.

        Is composing music hard?

        Composing music can be an easy or hard task, depending on where you are in the creative process. Some guitarists have a lot of self-doubt, so it’s hard for them to begin. Others start but are overwhelmed with too many options to develop their ideas. There are also guitar players who find it easy to create and develop their ideas but struggle with finishing them.

        Do you have any more questions? Comment below, and I’ll update this article with my answers!

        January 26, 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

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