Breaking the mould!


Axl_Rose
Registered User
Joined: 04/08/01
Posts: 1,258
Axl_Rose
Registered User
Joined: 04/08/01
Posts: 1,258
12/18/2004 11:59 pm
God if you threw a guitar at me and said play, I know what Id do. Ive somehow engrained a bunch of licks in my head and I play them to death!

Take this, the most cliched pentatonic lick ever,

---------------------12-------
----15p12--------------------
--------------14b-------------
------------------------------
------------------------------
------------------------------
------------------------------REpeatedly!

I just fall into those cliched moves and I cant seem to play a unique set of notes. It feels hard to play fast and run through notes without falling intot he same pattern.

How do i stop this madness!!
# 1
noticingthemistake
Crime Fighter
Joined: 08/04/02
Posts: 1,518
noticingthemistake
Crime Fighter
Joined: 08/04/02
Posts: 1,518
12/19/2004 11:25 pm
This is very common because when playing fast, your fingers want to resort back to something familar. A good way to break this chain is to think melody before licks. If you force yourself into trying to come up with something melodic, you won't resort back to the same licks. If you listen to a solo, take Slash. He goes back and forth between fast licks, and melodic ideas all the time. That's pretty much the art of soloing, showing off your licks and tricks but also putting something melodic in too. Also, learn different styles of playing, pick up some jazz and maybe some classical. Both these styles emphasize melody and will also give you new licks. Shredding jazz licks in my opinion sounds really cool. :D It's a different throw from the standard, arps, and up and down scale shredding licks. Funk is also a good one if you want to mix up your rhythms.
"My whole life is a dark room...ONE BIG DARK ROOM" - a.f.i.
# 2
SLY
Un-Registered User
Joined: 08/08/02
Posts: 1,613
SLY
Un-Registered User
Joined: 08/08/02
Posts: 1,613
12/25/2004 9:01 am
That's a sign that you've been soloing and listening to standard rock pentatonics too much .
Whenever you improvise , you don't usualy have to come up with something entirely new , you just connect some pieces and tricks you know in some order that fits the progression to form musical lines.
Try to get yourself into different styles to add more tricks into your arsenal ... Even if you don't want to get out of pentatonics , you can try old blues and stuff , there are many ways to play pentatonics and still sound unique and cool.
# 3

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