Guitar Shape Shifter Curse!

You know when you play guitar too much when you’re reading something totally unrelated to guitar playing and it reminds you about guitar technique. Well, not that I believe you can play guitar too much! Either way, this happened to me recently.

I was reading through a blog post by Yaro Starak called “Do Your Belief Structures And Behavior Patterns Block Your Success?“, which is actually a blog about business and blogging but I realised that the very same concepts apply to us musicians. Yaro talks about the need to be open-minded and how we all have almost instinctual, learnt behaviours and routines that we default to when we have to think fast.

Yaro puts it so well:

“Unless you are willing to change how you see things…how you do things and ultimately, how you think, you are going to repeat the same patterns and earn the same results.”

Throughout life we are faced with the same problems, and if all we do is come to the same conclusions then we’re just going to get the same results. Logical, right? Yes, this sounds like a wise life-lesson to learn, but what is it to do with music? Look at the above quote. It could so easily be written about playing guitar, with only a few word changes. Don’t see it? Well, what if it was put like this:

“Unless you are willing to change how you see things, how you play things and ultimately, how you listen, you are going to repeat the same patterns and make the same sounds.”

Guitar Patterns and Shapes

We all rely on shapes and patterns when we begin to learn to play guitar. It’s the only chance we have of learning all the scales and notes combinations available to us, but sometimes we forget to look beyond them. For instance, a favourite of beginner guitarists is the minor pentatonic scale. Some of us have played this scale so much it is almost an instinctual behaviour, some even stick rigidly to this scale. You know who you are, and if you’re truly honest with yourself you’ll see why this is a trap you need to get out of if you want to improve as a musician.

Now, I could write pages on why I love the pentatonic scale, or why it’s not wrong at all to only play this scale- so don’t think I’m one of those people who finds the pentatonic scale boring. The truth is, this can apply to any scale, any genre, or any favourite licks that you may have. If you start to realise you’re playing the same old stuff, sounding the same old way, it’s time you found something new to play. No matter how long you’ve been playing the same way, finding something new can always inspire you and break you out of that rut you’re stuck in.

Learn Something New

You really have to remember that what you’re playing here is the music, not the shapes, not the technique. Don’t think that if you learn too many scales or techniques it’ll change who you are as a musician. People who play complicated, fast scales without any real soul didn’t start off as tasteful blues players and slowly “learn” their way out of it; they were like that from the start. So learning new scales shouldn’t steal you of your “feeling” and emotion.

If you play the blues, I’m sure you’re a great fan of the pentatonic scale- maybe even occasionally adding in the flat fifth for that bluesy sound? Have you ever thought about learning the Dorian Mode? I know, I know, the idea of “Modes” does sound really “Shred”, but it’s really not like that at all. In fact, you can get the sound of the Dorian mode into the pentatonic by adding the major sixth instead of that flat fifth- and it’s a very “Jazzy” or “Bluesy” sound. What about the Mixolydian mode? Just swap the minor third in the pentatonic scale with a major one. Don’t think of modes as scales for “clever” people, or “show-offs”, think of them more like colours or shades. Using only one scale is like painting a picture in only black and white- which is fine, but that doesn’t mean that using colour can’t add anything.

Stay tuned for part two, where I reveal more ways to broaden your musical horizons and get unstuck from that rut!

December 11, 2009 at 12:00 pm | Guitar Technique and Exercises, Practicing and Practice Routine | 1 comment

One Response to “Guitar Shape Shifter Curse!”

1. Chainsaw Guitar Tuition » Guitar Shape Shifter Curse (Part 2) says:

   12/12/2009 at 12:46 pm

   [...] Guitar Shape Shifter Curse part one we discussed why it’s a good idea to break away from our “safe zone” in music, [...]