I’m sick of practicing. I’m in a rut. Nothing I do is original. I’ve played this a million times already. I don’t seem to be getting better. Where...
I’m sick of practicing. I’m in a rut. Nothing I do is original. I’ve played this a million times already. I don’t seem to be getting better. Where do “THEY” get all those good ideas, anyway?
Welcome back to the “Art of the Practice” series of articles, where we seek to interject your practice with some much-needed variety, novelty and fun. Which is exactly the way it should be.
Today we’re going to talk about the simple act of playing instruments other than your guitar.
1. First off, No, it doesn’t matter if you know how to play them or not. Knowing how to play an instrument other than the guitar is not my point at all. If you can play multiple instruments, good for you, straight-A student. The beauty of not knowing how to play them is that you're going into this exercise without any prior knowledge, constraints or theory. Embrace this.
2. Make noise. I’m an absolutely world-class suck on the drums. Terrible. On a good day, I can play the opening to “Paradise City,” and that’s being generous. Still, the experience of fumbling around on the drums periodically alters my guitar playing when I pick it up again. It’s hard to put my fingers exactly on how it’s changed; perhaps it’s a bit more overt concern with how I’m playing rhythmically. As guitar players, we tend to innately lock into the guitar sounds when we play or are listening to others play. Spending some time on another instrument helps spread out that focus.
3. Make noise, continued. There are a million ways to make noise these days. Electronic instruments are especially fun because they can cover such an insane multitude of different sounds and textures—especially those far different from any guitar