Who is lesson for? Intermediate to advanced players who want to develop their own ‘sound’. In other words, if you want your playing to have a unique sound and style that will make you stand out of the crowd, this lesson is for you.
Introduction
At some stage of your development you might start to think about how you want to sound as a guitarist and what sounds and techniques you enjoy and want to focus on. Most players start off wanting to sound like somebody else (eg: want to sound like Steve Vai, or Jimi Hendrix or Slash, etc.). But eventually some players decide that they don’t want to sound like somebody else, instead they want to have their own unique sound that everybody can recognize is their own. In this lesson I will explain a way you can try to discover your own sound and how to develop it.
What Gives A Player Their Sound?
Have you ever noticed when a famous guitarist covers a song by somebody else that the guitar playing can sound completely different even know it’s the same part? When you hear a recording of Jimi Hendrix, you will probably straight away recognize it as Hendrix even if you don’t know the song. This isn’t just because of the guitar and amp he used, but also because of the chords and note choices, the way he played certain techniques and which techniques he didn’t use. This is the same when you hear Slash play a melody or solo or any other unique sounding guitarist. It isn’t just the Les Paul and the Marshall that gives the sound, but everything else combined.
Listen To Your Playing Now
Record yourself improvising and playing whatever you normally play. Listen to the recording and try to hear your own unique qualities. You may notice that you palm mute a lot of single notes when playing a run and like how it sounds or you may do a lot of soft legato. You may notice that you pick the notes really hard which gives a rapid fire sound. Just listen and write down everything you like and don’t like about how you sound now. You may like the way you play legato runs but notice that you don’t like the sound of the pinch harmonics you play. Record yourself improvising as much as you can and come up with a list of things you do you want to develop and things you do that you don’t like and want to stop. Just take a piece of paper with two columns – likes and dislikes. The more you can fill this list the better.
Many people don’t like to criticize their own playing this way but if you want to improve as a player it’s better to criticize your own playing then listen to somebody else criticize it for you!
What Do You Want To Sound Like?
After you listen to your playing and discover what you like about it and more importantly – what you don’t like about it, you can think about what you want to sound like. What type of guitarist do you want to become and what would you want to be known for if you were to become famous? Some people may say they want to be a super fast – sweep picking demon or they want to be known for ultra-heavy riffs and accurate picking. Whatever you come up with write it down. Now think of what you need to do to get there and where you’re at now.
Let’s say you ambition is to be known as a really fast sweep picker, but when you listen to your playing you realize that although you’re already really fast and accurate, it sounds like every other sweep picker you hear. This is when you need to look at how you can develop your playing to sound different to the thousands of other sweep picker experts out there. There are plenty of ways you can do this. You can try finding arpeggio shapes that you’ve never seen anybody else use or use an exotic scale that makes it hard to find decent shapes to sweep across. The idea is to try something you haven’t been doing. For example Yngwie Malmsteen is well known to love using the Harmonic Minor scale. It gives his playing a certain sound. Maybe you love the sound of the Spanish scale or the Oriental scale and that can be your specialty. Try as many different ideas as you can and again record them. Listen to the ideas and find the ideas you like and want to include in your sound.
The basic idea is to listen to how you sound now and figure out what ingredients (scales, chords, techniques, equipment) you need to get the sound you want. This may sound obvious but not many people actually do it. Try to come up with a list of ideas you can include in your playing that will improve your sound.
The End Result?
After all this you should have a very detailed list of things you want to include or keep in your playing as well as things you don’t want in your playing. From here the task is simple: work to develop your list of ‘wants’ and eliminate your list of ‘don’t wants’ from your playing. This may sound tedious, but if you are working towards a sound you like better than you have now, you will definitely enjoy it. You will develop into a unique sounding guitarist regardless if you follow this advice or not, but following these tips will speed up the process and will hopefully help you become the player you want to be sooner.
If you work at all these suggestions above, I guarantee you will develop a unique sound and people will start to recognize when you are playing rather than ‘just another guitarist’.
I’d love to hear how this has helped your playing and other ways you have tried to shape your playing. Feel free to leave a comment so other players can learn from your experiences.
This article is for intermediate to advanced players who want to develop their own ‘sound’. In other words, if you want to have a unique sound and style that will make you stand out, this lesson is for you. Before you read this article. In this part we will look at how other players influence you and how you can use that to shape your playing.
What Do You Like About Your Influences?
Most people probably have an iPod or similar with thousands and thousands of songs. That means you have plenty of influences to shape your playing. Take a piece of paper or make a playlist on your iPod and choose your top 20-30 guitar songs. Choose songs that really make you feel inspired when you hear the guitar parts. Don’t choose songs just because they’re popular or because other people think it’s good playing. This must be 100% your choice. Listen to those 20-30 songs over the next few days and narrow the list down to under 20 that you would like to really influence your playing. The further you can narrow the list down the better; it’ll give you something to focus on. It’s pretty hard to focus on 50 different styles and sounds so narrow the list down to sounds you feel you must have in your playing. You should be asking yourself “would I like my playing to sound like that?”.
What Do You Like About These Songs?
From your list of less than 20 songs, listen to each one and try to narrow down which guitar parts speak to you the most. If you can, try to narrow a song down to one single technique or lick the guitarist plays. You might like the entire song but try to focus on small sections that you love the sound of. After you narrow the song down to sections or parts, really look at those parts and try to find out why you like them. Try to find out things like:
1. What scale is being played?
2. What chords are used?
3. Are there any techniques that cause the part to sound special to me?
4. Are any effects being used or special hardware?
The more questions you can answer about the parts the better. Write down what you like about them and also what you don’t like. You probably won’t like everything about another player’s playing so write down what you don’t like about it. Repeat this process for all the songs in your list. Don’t be fooled – this is a long and challenging process. If you just write down “has a cool legato lick” or “super fast picking” you’re not going to get anything out of it. The more detail the better. Once you do this go through the list and try to see any techniques, scales or anything else that is common between some of the parts.
For example: say you’re a Joe Satriani fan and narrowed a large list down to a couple licks and ideas. You may notice that most of the licks you like use the Lydian mode and the licks you don’t like use the Pentatonic Scale. Now you have something you can focus on and try to use in your playing. Now you know to try to use the Lydian mode more in your playing and avoid using Pentatonic Scales. This may make you sound a little bit more like Satriani, but it won’t be the same. By deciding not to use Pentatonic Scales in your improvising, you will straight away sound different.
That is a pretty basic example and if the notes you write down are detailed you will have a lot more things to focus on. Don’t be afraid that by following this method you will end up as a copy-cat guitarist. It won’t happen. In fact, by following this method you are more likely to create a unique sound that will only sound like you. There will always be something you don’t like about another guitarist’s sound so by eliminating that from your playing you will sound different.
Develop And Eliminate
After all this you should have a very detailed list of things you want in your playing as well as things you don’t want in your playing. From here the task is simple: work to develop your list of ‘wants’ and eliminate your list of ‘don’t wants’ from your playing. For example if you really like how a player in your list uses sweep picking, listen to the player sweep as much as you can and focus on getting the sound you want out of your sweep picking. On the other hand say the number one technique you don’t want in your playing is pinch harmonics, work as much as you can to stop playing them and if you’re playing a cover that uses them, try playing something else instead that you will enjoy playing.
Why Do All This?
Have you ever been in a guitar shop and heard a player jam away on a guitar and think to yourself, “that sounds pretty bland/boring”? Have a think why that player might sound bland. Do you think that the player spent the time and effort to figure out what sounds and techniques they want in their playing? Do you think the player records and listens to their own playing in the attempt to improve? I doubt they would even consider doing anything like that. Make sure you don’t fall into the same trap. The more you think about how you sound the more control you will have over your sound. The more you control you have over your sound the more you will enjoy playing. What really separates a great player from an average one? It’s the effort they put in.
The End Result?
Well to be honest, there isn’t an end result because no matter how good you are now you can always improve. Some players are afraid of sounding too much like somebody else and other players want to sound like somebody else. It’s your choice what path you take. It takes an honest person to listen to their own playing and point out the positives and negatives. Be honest with your playing and you will improve at a much higher rate than the type of person who criticizes everybody else but himself.
Introduction
At some stage of your development you might start to think about how you want to sound as a guitarist and what sounds and techniques you enjoy and want to focus on. Most players start off wanting to sound like somebody else (eg: want to sound like Steve Vai, or Jimi Hendrix or Slash, etc.). But eventually some players decide that they don’t want to sound like somebody else, instead they want to have their own unique sound that everybody can recognize is their own. In this lesson I will explain a way you can try to discover your own sound and how to develop it.
What Gives A Player Their Sound?
Have you ever noticed when a famous guitarist covers a song by somebody else that the guitar playing can sound completely different even know it’s the same part? When you hear a recording of Jimi Hendrix, you will probably straight away recognize it as Hendrix even if you don’t know the song. This isn’t just because of the guitar and amp he used, but also because of the chords and note choices, the way he played certain techniques and which techniques he didn’t use. This is the same when you hear Slash play a melody or solo or any other unique sounding guitarist. It isn’t just the Les Paul and the Marshall that gives the sound, but everything else combined.
Listen To Your Playing Now
Record yourself improvising and playing whatever you normally play. Listen to the recording and try to hear your own unique qualities. You may notice that you palm mute a lot of single notes when playing a run and like how it sounds or you may do a lot of soft legato. You may notice that you pick the notes really hard which gives a rapid fire sound. Just listen and write down everything you like and don’t like about how you sound now. You may like the way you play legato runs but notice that you don’t like the sound of the pinch harmonics you play. Record yourself improvising as much as you can and come up with a list of things you do you want to develop and things you do that you don’t like and want to stop. Just take a piece of paper with two columns – likes and dislikes. The more you can fill this list the better.
Many people don’t like to criticize their own playing this way but if you want to improve as a player it’s better to criticize your own playing then listen to somebody else criticize it for you!
What Do You Want To Sound Like?
After you listen to your playing and discover what you like about it and more importantly – what you don’t like about it, you can think about what you want to sound like. What type of guitarist do you want to become and what would you want to be known for if you were to become famous? Some people may say they want to be a super fast – sweep picking demon or they want to be known for ultra-heavy riffs and accurate picking. Whatever you come up with write it down. Now think of what you need to do to get there and where you’re at now.
Let’s say you ambition is to be known as a really fast sweep picker, but when you listen to your playing you realize that although you’re already really fast and accurate, it sounds like every other sweep picker you hear. This is when you need to look at how you can develop your playing to sound different to the thousands of other sweep picker experts out there. There are plenty of ways you can do this. You can try finding arpeggio shapes that you’ve never seen anybody else use or use an exotic scale that makes it hard to find decent shapes to sweep across. The idea is to try something you haven’t been doing. For example Yngwie Malmsteen is well known to love using the Harmonic Minor scale. It gives his playing a certain sound. Maybe you love the sound of the Spanish scale or the Oriental scale and that can be your specialty. Try as many different ideas as you can and again record them. Listen to the ideas and find the ideas you like and want to include in your sound.
The basic idea is to listen to how you sound now and figure out what ingredients (scales, chords, techniques, equipment) you need to get the sound you want. This may sound obvious but not many people actually do it. Try to come up with a list of ideas you can include in your playing that will improve your sound.
The End Result?
After all this you should have a very detailed list of things you want to include or keep in your playing as well as things you don’t want in your playing. From here the task is simple: work to develop your list of ‘wants’ and eliminate your list of ‘don’t wants’ from your playing. This may sound tedious, but if you are working towards a sound you like better than you have now, you will definitely enjoy it. You will develop into a unique sounding guitarist regardless if you follow this advice or not, but following these tips will speed up the process and will hopefully help you become the player you want to be sooner.
If you work at all these suggestions above, I guarantee you will develop a unique sound and people will start to recognize when you are playing rather than ‘just another guitarist’.
I’d love to hear how this has helped your playing and other ways you have tried to shape your playing. Feel free to leave a comment so other players can learn from your experiences.
This article is for intermediate to advanced players who want to develop their own ‘sound’. In other words, if you want to have a unique sound and style that will make you stand out, this lesson is for you. Before you read this article. In this part we will look at how other players influence you and how you can use that to shape your playing.
What Do You Like About Your Influences?
Most people probably have an iPod or similar with thousands and thousands of songs. That means you have plenty of influences to shape your playing. Take a piece of paper or make a playlist on your iPod and choose your top 20-30 guitar songs. Choose songs that really make you feel inspired when you hear the guitar parts. Don’t choose songs just because they’re popular or because other people think it’s good playing. This must be 100% your choice. Listen to those 20-30 songs over the next few days and narrow the list down to under 20 that you would like to really influence your playing. The further you can narrow the list down the better; it’ll give you something to focus on. It’s pretty hard to focus on 50 different styles and sounds so narrow the list down to sounds you feel you must have in your playing. You should be asking yourself “would I like my playing to sound like that?”.
What Do You Like About These Songs?
From your list of less than 20 songs, listen to each one and try to narrow down which guitar parts speak to you the most. If you can, try to narrow a song down to one single technique or lick the guitarist plays. You might like the entire song but try to focus on small sections that you love the sound of. After you narrow the song down to sections or parts, really look at those parts and try to find out why you like them. Try to find out things like:
1. What scale is being played?
2. What chords are used?
3. Are there any techniques that cause the part to sound special to me?
4. Are any effects being used or special hardware?
The more questions you can answer about the parts the better. Write down what you like about them and also what you don’t like. You probably won’t like everything about another player’s playing so write down what you don’t like about it. Repeat this process for all the songs in your list. Don’t be fooled – this is a long and challenging process. If you just write down “has a cool legato lick” or “super fast picking” you’re not going to get anything out of it. The more detail the better. Once you do this go through the list and try to see any techniques, scales or anything else that is common between some of the parts.
For example: say you’re a Joe Satriani fan and narrowed a large list down to a couple licks and ideas. You may notice that most of the licks you like use the Lydian mode and the licks you don’t like use the Pentatonic Scale. Now you have something you can focus on and try to use in your playing. Now you know to try to use the Lydian mode more in your playing and avoid using Pentatonic Scales. This may make you sound a little bit more like Satriani, but it won’t be the same. By deciding not to use Pentatonic Scales in your improvising, you will straight away sound different.
That is a pretty basic example and if the notes you write down are detailed you will have a lot more things to focus on. Don’t be afraid that by following this method you will end up as a copy-cat guitarist. It won’t happen. In fact, by following this method you are more likely to create a unique sound that will only sound like you. There will always be something you don’t like about another guitarist’s sound so by eliminating that from your playing you will sound different.
Develop And Eliminate
After all this you should have a very detailed list of things you want in your playing as well as things you don’t want in your playing. From here the task is simple: work to develop your list of ‘wants’ and eliminate your list of ‘don’t wants’ from your playing. For example if you really like how a player in your list uses sweep picking, listen to the player sweep as much as you can and focus on getting the sound you want out of your sweep picking. On the other hand say the number one technique you don’t want in your playing is pinch harmonics, work as much as you can to stop playing them and if you’re playing a cover that uses them, try playing something else instead that you will enjoy playing.
Why Do All This?
Have you ever been in a guitar shop and heard a player jam away on a guitar and think to yourself, “that sounds pretty bland/boring”? Have a think why that player might sound bland. Do you think that the player spent the time and effort to figure out what sounds and techniques they want in their playing? Do you think the player records and listens to their own playing in the attempt to improve? I doubt they would even consider doing anything like that. Make sure you don’t fall into the same trap. The more you think about how you sound the more control you will have over your sound. The more you control you have over your sound the more you will enjoy playing. What really separates a great player from an average one? It’s the effort they put in.
The End Result?
Well to be honest, there isn’t an end result because no matter how good you are now you can always improve. Some players are afraid of sounding too much like somebody else and other players want to sound like somebody else. It’s your choice what path you take. It takes an honest person to listen to their own playing and point out the positives and negatives. Be honest with your playing and you will improve at a much higher rate than the type of person who criticizes everybody else but himself.
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