I have been composing more lately (as opposed to making arrangements). One way I will compose is by improvising on an idea in order to generate ideas for the piece. I’d like to make a solo guitar arrangement of a piece I improvised using the program Max/MSP. The piece is called, Gentle Waves…
I like the melody and the basic idea but I would like to play it on guitar without using Max/MSP. I just did this improvisation using some of the basic ideas of the piece…
Passion is everything to me. When I am completely absorbed in playing music I feel it throughout my body. It’s like explosions going off in my body. When I listen to music I love, the hair on my arm still stands up. Even if it is a song I have heard thousands of times. When I was in middle school I heard Sweet Child O’ Mine for the first time and the solo was a hair raising experience for me. Still is. I was listening to it in the car the other day and almost crashed my car because I was focusing on the solo.
That is why I hate hearing people argue about music. This band sucks, this guitarists sucks and so on. Maybe that band or artist creates a hair raising experience for somebody. That artist/band is important to that person. That is a great thing.
Music is a beautiful thing. This world needs beautiful things.
I took the picture a few years ago. I was playing guitar outside which is something I love doing.
Don’t worry what other people think about your music and don’t ask for their opinion. If you are happy that is all that matters. It doesn’t matter if it sounds like Mozart, Berg, or whomever. Don’t follow what other people are doing. Write music that you are happy with. Make yourself happy. Sounds selfish, I know.
I think everybody should create art. Ok, let me rephrase that….IF you have the desire to create art….CREATE ART. Write a song, paint a painting, write a poem, do some performance art (stand by the bus stop downtown, take off your clothes, paint a purple B on your stomach and then run like hell from the cops….just an idea).
So many people I know (students, friends, family) TALK about creating something but never get to it. How sad is that? Don’t you realize that you aren’t gonna live forever? Do you want to be on your death bed and think, “Dang, I never wrote that novel!” There are so many reasons not to do it (gotta clean the house, pay bills, watch tv) that it is easy to put it aside. I have a theory….there is a reason why you have a desire to create art. It’s in you for a reason. You were meant to create something.
Now there is a difference between thinking, “boy, it would be cool to write a song” and having a real pull to create something. What holds people back?
Not enough time.
Me: Everyone has the same amount of time. If you need more time get up 1/2 hour earlier. Skip a tv show and create. You don’t need a huge amount of free time. You can do a lot in 15 min.
I have no training.
Me: You want to write music but you have zero training? Check out this guy (short version…records a jazz album without ever learning how to play the piano)….
I might suck
Me: You probably will. Everyone creates really bad art at some point. Look at early Mozart. Not good. Try this….write the worst song ever written. My guess is you will have a lot of fun doing that. Here is something I created that absolutely sucks. I know, many people have told me (I made a techno-remix of a beloved classical guitar piece)…
Final thoughts… Focus on the experience. HAVE FUN
Don’t try to create a masterpiece. That’s too much pressure.
Don’t take it too seriously. Taking it seriously is a great way to make your art REALLY BORING
-Rob
Rob's Guitar Blog 