Okay, I've got some quite good ideas for records now, but I've got myself stuck because I record one riff, one or two sets of chords, maybe a small solo, and then I find I can develop it.....I try jamming for a bit over a drum track, changing keys, scales, modes, playing things an octve higher....but I'm never happy with it because it ends up being just me wanking on a guitar and not a composition that communicates anything. I can think of hundreds of different ways to change a record, but it would be much appreciated if some of you guys suggested things to me as well.

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'There's no such thing as bad weather, there's only the wrong clothes...'

maybe you should listen more closely to compositions that - as you call it - communicate something. Try to find the difference.

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Holiness is in right action and courage on behalf of those who cannot defend themselves. What you decide to do every day makes you a good person... or not.
Azrael´s Tricks

Before you can develop a theme, you have to have a theme, try putting the guitar down, forget about the solo and guitaristic devices, what is your melody? Can you hum it or sing it, does it sound complete, what does it need? Does it resolve or just wander off into the unknown, think of the musical idea as like writing a complete sentence, until you have a complete musical sentence, don't pick up the guitar. I kind of anaylized what I do, and normally I pick up the guitar and play the basic chords out first, I realized that I do this because I already have the melody in my head and am just plugging in the chords, give it a try and don't worry if it sounds simple at first try.......

Thanks Pstring, that makes a lot of sense. I'm a classically trained pianist and I've studied some relevant music theory....I've passed grade 6 music theory with the Trinity College of Music London (if that makes sense to you) and I've never really thought of applying that phrasing and melodic resolution thing to guitar playing, although it was sorta in the back of my head.....will give it a go

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'There's no such thing as bad weather, there's only the wrong clothes...'

It may be unbelieveable to some folks, but the untrained and the highly trained musican use basically the same technique when composing, when I was learning theory, I was amazed at how the master composers could take such small themes and use them to write such complex music, but simple or complex, it all starts with a melody.........