Take Your Playing to the Next Level

In the previous post (called “Are You Achieving Your Full Potential” I addressed the symptoms and causes of “Musical Burnout”- a condition that could stop you playing guitar forever! After assessing what “Musical Burnout” is, we worked out that, together with a lack of rest, the main cause is a kind of “Tunnel Vision” that can cast a shadow over our valiant practise efforts.

In this article I will help you to break out of our “Tunnel Vision”, or even avoid entering the tunnel in the first place, by expanding your horizons on the musical world, and taking your playing to the next level.

Breaking Out of the Tunnel

I write a post a while back which discussed my “Top Ten Guitarists of All Time“, and if you look at the majority of guitarists in that list, what do you notice? Well, to be honest you might not see it right away, but there is a connection- even to guitarists that didn’t make it but came very close. Look at, say, Jimi Hendrix. Going by the sound that Jimi conjured from his guitar he was influenced by everything from Blues guitarists, such as Muddy Waters to Alien Spacecraft (if you don’t believe me, listen to the guitar noises on “Third Stone from the Sun” especially the part where the spaceship lands…).

So Jimi had a crazy selection of musical influences, but he was a genius, right? Maybe that explains it, but I think it goes further than that. Look higher up in the list and you will see the name of Metallica legend James Hettfield. The thing about Metallica (and James Hettfield by logical extension) is that the main sound has stayed roughly the same, but (for better or for worse) the style of the band has actually evolved with the times- and although they have lost fans from the change, they are arguabley the most famous Heavy Metal band in existence. This success is due to their wide musical influences and ability to evolve- the same thing happened with The Beatles (compare the sound of “I Feel Fine” from 1964, to the Sgt Pepper Album from nearer the end of that decade to see what I mean). Two of the most successful bands ever, both having evolving over a wide musical spectrum- coincidence? I think not.

Musical Grounding

One person that nearly made it onto the list, but didn’t quite, was Eddie Van Halen (a huge influence of mine all the same). Eddie is a good example of this diversity, and how you can apply it to your own playing. When he started, Eddie Van Halen only played Piano, but didn’t find it interesting enough so he moved on to the drums. Then, after hearing his brother (then a guitarist) play drums and being annoyed that his sibling had overtaken him in ability, he learnt the guitar. Being so capable (even winning competitions) on many different instruments must have had something to do with his being cited by many as the most influential guitarist ever!

If you’ve read my post “Why Playing Bass Helps My Guitar Playing…“, you’ll already know that I’m a fan of giving yourself a musical grounding in many different instruments and techniques. Why do I say “…and techniques”? Because this is one of the main things that you should hope to improve and benefit from- a varied selection of techniques (the other is an increased sense of musicality).

Becoming an All Round Musician

The truth is that in order to get that “extra edge” as a musician, you need a wide selection of influences- whatever your overall aim. Sure, you can get by just playing songs from one genre- even one band- that is…if you want to end your musical career as a “Bedroom Guitarist”! It’s your choice, do you want to just sit there, noodling away in your room, or do you want to have legions of adoring fans?

I couldn’t work as a guitarist and musician, as I do now, unless I at least listened to many different bands from totally different genres. Of course, I still have a favourite- just as Eddie Van Halen had a favourite instrument in the guitar, but I’ve learned to appreciate and (at least try) to understand lots of other styles.

The key to your success as a musician is opening your mind to new ideas, this will not only prevent your own boredom, but it will increase not only your creative potential and ideas, but the techniques at your disposal with which to express those ideas! All of these techniques will eventually lead to you finding your own style- I mean, you could even steal one lick from rock, another from country, and another from funk, put them in the same key and you’ve created a unique solo!

Selecting What You Like

I’m not saying that you should just rip off every guitarist you know, but I am saying you should “steal” the things you like about them to create a unique “you”. It’s not really stealing, though, because (just as I am not Jimi Hendrix, as we discovered in this post) you will end up playing these licks in your own way, and you may even create your own from scratch!

The “Rockstar” Mentality

The one big hurdle that will hold you back in the music business is the wrong mentality, and the worst mentality you can have is what I call the “Rockstar” mentality. This mentality can be described with the following phrase:

“I’m going to make it because I deserve it, I don’t even need to try. Someone just needs to realise my brilliance”

This attitude leads to genre bias, and is essentially you putting all of your eggs into one basket- which is the worst tactic to use if you want to succeed in such a competitive industry. No, what you really need to do is find a balance between self-belief and the musical diversity I talked about above.

I think one of the best things you can do to find this balance is to get a teacher- someone who has been through the process before and who should already know a wide diversity of styles. A teacher can also act as a role model, which is an important way to develop your ideas and expectations about what being a musician is about…

…and having the right idea of what being a musician is all about will decrease your chances of becoming disillusioned with the guitar and suffering from musical burnout. Of course, if you don’t have a teacher, another way would be subscribing to this blog, where I’m always talking about music and what its like to be a musician.

So What Have We Learnt?

In conclusion, if you want to take your playing to the next level, you should actively seek out new life and new inspirations, to boldly…er…I mean, to boldly become yourself- and not just another “clone”?

So who are you? What will you become? The next unique guitarist, ready to become the inspiration and influence to others? Or just another Jimi Hendrix clone, only ever playing to your bedroom?

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October 8, 2009 at 10:37 am | Practicing and Practice Routine | No comments