10 Things Guaranteed to Make You a Better Musician

Now, I’m not saying that every on of these points will help you as much as they’ve helped me- but the title is accurate. I have compiled a list of 10 things that WILL make you a better musician. How do I know this? Because everything on this list is something that has helped me personally to attain the musical ability and success that I now have. So, if you want to improve your musical ability, look no further!

One: Learn More Than One Instrument

If you’ve been keeping up with my blog posts, you might remember a while back when I wrote this post explaining why playing the bass has helped me to play the guitar. If you’ve read that then you’ll see what I’m saying here also: playing many different instruments helps you understand what each instrumentalist is doing in a band situation- and also what they’re supposed to be doing. This, in turn, will allow you to be more “musically aware”- I.E. you will be able to pay more attention to the sound of the music you create, rather than the techniques you use to get there.

For example, imagine you learnt a guitar technique that allowed you to play the riff to “Smoke on the Water” by Deep Purple by tapping the fingers of your picking hand on to the strings (yes, this can be done- before you ask!). Now, as a guitar player, you may have spent hours figuring out and perfecting this, but what difference does this make? Put yourself into the position of the average guy on the street. You go to see some live music and the band plays some Deep Purple covers. “Great!” you think, so you sit there watching the opening riff, and the guitarist is playing with the “wrong” hand. Whats your reaction? Really. If you were the guitarist, you’re probably expecting a huge intake of breath from the audience shock at your skills- but it doesn’t happen. Why not? because the guy on the street has come to listen to the music, not watch how you play it. The only people that pay great attention to your technique will be other guitarists- normal punters are more impressed by costumes, flashing lights…oh and good sounding music!

Two: Learn to Sing

I’m not talking about being the next Pavarotti, but what I am talking about is at least being able to hum a tune. Singing a tune along to what you’re playing allows you to, again, think of things in a more musical context- this is because you are using the parts of your brain that deal with listening AND “composing” or “improvising”. Therefore, it makes it so much easier to think of and write original melodies this way. This is how I write the vocal melodies for much of my band’s stuff, and I demonstrate this here: How to Solo

Three: Listen to Many Styles of Music

Again, this one comes under the heading “ways to make yourself more musically aware”. Listening to different styles of music- even ones you might not, at first, like- will open up your mind to new influences. I mean, there’s bound to be at least one song of another genre that you like- even if you only like one riff, or one chord! Also, once you’ve found something you like in another genre, chances are that learning to play it will require new techniques that you’ll need to learn. This is also a great way to find “your voice” as a musician.

Four: Play with Other Musicians

I think you’re getting the idea of this now, these are all ways in which you can broaden your musical horizons and become more involved. Improvising, or “jamming”, with other musicians will allow you to share ideas and gain insight from their way of playing. This also links in to the second way above, it engages your brain because it requires you to listen to them while playing you own instrument…and if those reasons aren’t good enough for you, its also great fun

Five: Forget your Ego

This one is the killer for many a band. Never forget that this is all about the music, and that’s what you should be playing for. Nobody likes an egotistical musician, especially not the people who have to play with (read: suffer) him. So please, leave your ego at home, playing music should be about having fun and making great tunes!

Six: Join a Online Forum

The Internet is a great thing- if used properly! So why not do yourself a favour and join an online community? There are many of places that you can join, ask questions, and read up on different techniques- really all the resources you need to teach yourself (at least a bit). They are also a great way to socialize and connect with other musicians. Here are some to get you started:

Ultimate Guitar
Newgrounds
I Breathe Music
Music Radar

…and there are lots more if you look!

Seven: Subscribe to My Blog

Hehe, you knew that was coming, right? But seriously, that’s the whole reason this blog is here- to help people like you! I’m constantly publishing new posts and I’m happy to answer any musical questions that you might have. If you get in contact with me (see my website for details) you can email me about anything you would like to see a blog post, article or video about. I do take requests and I can, and will help!

Eight: Keep an Open Mind

This point is more about inspiration. I’ve already mentioned listening to different musical genres, but I want to expand that into “listen to anything that could be used musically”. Yes, there are samples, synth noises etc… but there are also the noises that birds make (I mean, that’s their version of music, right?) or insects. Then there are the rhythms made by traffic, or water (without meaning to sound like a hippie!). If these things are good enough to inspire Ludwig van Beethoven, they should be good enough for you (remember the ego thing earlier? ).

Nine: Music Tuition

Once again, you probably expected this one in there somewhere- me being a teacher! Hehe, I’m not telling you this as a teacher though, but as someone who used to be a student and it really did help me. Learning from someone will give you all the benefit of their experience and previous knowledge. Stuff that you would otherwise spend hours “discovering” for yourself has already been understood by someone else- and then they can tell you what you need to know. It’s almost like using them as a leg up, or a boost, for your own musical development.

Ten: Have Fun

Without doubt, the most important point! There is no point in playing music at all if you don’t enjoy it! It will also come through in your music because you will have less tension when playing (read here for why that’s good). I don’t really need to explain this one further, and this has been a long post (by my standards at least!). So I think I’ll leave it there for today

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August 27, 2009 at 7:33 am | Practicing and Practice Routine | 2 comments

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