Question: Making Music!?
For some reason, I can make good tunes on the guitar!. That I know!.!.the problem is, how I make them come alive!. Instead of playing the guitar the "traditional" way I guess you can say, I only use two or three cords!. I usually go side to side, I have played for quite some people!. Mostly strangers!. Family will maybe lie to you, strangers just wouldnt care!. So what I want to know is, does it matter how you play the guitar, (right or wrong) as long as it sounds good!? My guitar teacher says I have good rythm, but I have to learn the cords!. I dont play cords!. I just have my certain way of playing the guitar i guess!. Please, anyones insight would be very greatful!. Thank you!.
p!.s I've made about 7 good tunes doing this!.Www@QuestionHome@Com
Best Answer - Chosen by Asker:
Its great that you have an ear for writing good tunes on the guitar!. And there's nothing "wrong" with having your own way of playing the guitar!. But if I were you, I would be interested in learning as much as possible about music, and about guitar playing, in order to expand my possibilities of what I could write!.
Look at it this way: the more you know about how music is constructed -- stuff like chords, and scales, and keys, and different styles of music, and WHY certain notes and chords sound good together while others don't, and all the rest of it -- the more aware you are of different possibilities that you can use in your songwriting!. And the more you know about how to play the guitar, the more you're able to use the guitar to create the sounds you hear in your head!. The more you know, the more tools you have in your musical toolkit, so to speak!. Why wouldn't you want to increase your knowledge so that you can write better tunes and play them better!?!?
Even if you learn to play the guitar the "traditional" way, you can always do things "your way" if the musical situation calls for it -- but at least you have the option of being able to use traditional guitar techniques if the song you're writing calls for that!.
And consider this: if you limit yourself to only doing things "your way", that makes it a lot harder to play with other people!. Even if you think you ONLY want to play your own music and never play anything written by anyone else, maybe someday you might want to get other musicians to play your songs with you -- and if you know stuff like chords and keys and music theory, it makes it a LOT easier to communicate with other musicians about your music and describe what you would like them to do!.
So -- as I said, why wouldn't you want to learn as much as possible to make yourself a better and more versatile songwriter and musician!?!?Www@QuestionHome@Com
I would love to hear your work, I'd give you an honest opinion!.
I say, who cares how you get the sound as long as it sounds good!? That's innovators like Hendrix were born! You may be starting a new sound man!.Www@QuestionHome@Com
Dude, keep doing what you are doing, but make sure you are aways LEARNING!. Your ear may be good, but people before you have been making music for centuries and you always want to learn form your elders!. Robert Johnson, the Beatles, Rush , Frank Zappa, Parliament Funckadelic, Motzart, Slayer etc!.!.!.!. all have lessons to teach!. You can NEVER learn too much!Www@QuestionHome@Com