Welcome to a new Monday post with 3 random thoughts on all things guitar, music, and life, including thoughts on a creativity tip, the magazine Mojo, and more.
#1 – Mojo
Me and Archie were in the magazine aisle of the local supermarket last week.
We were there to pick up his weekly copy of the Beano comic.
It’s a great read and I love the fact the Beano comic has stood the test of time (starting in 1938!).
While we were there, I grabbed me a copy of Mojo magazine.
As a bonus gift with the magazine, there was a CD featuring rare live performances from the band Pearl Jam.
I’ve always been a big fan of Pearl Jam and they are one of the bands I first loved.
For me, they have always had a great mix of both a modern and a classic sound.
Plus, Pearl Jam is the band that got me into Neil Young.
Anyway, as I’m a little old school and love music that is not played on an “Alexa” speaker… I grabbed the magazine.
All week, I’ve been enjoying listening to the CD and cranking it up in the car.
I actually don’t have a CD player in the house, so the car is like my sanctuary for music in many ways.
…At least when I am purely listening to music.
Guess what, listening to one of my old favourite bands has inspired me.
Just another reason to dust off the music that means a lot to you if you haven’t heard it in a while.
It really can get the juices flowing.
#2 – Beware!
I was scrolling around mindlessly on Instagram the other day.
I logged in to see some notifications on my channel.
Big mistake.
…Within moments, I forgot what I was on there for.
I got sucked into a vortex of random videos that ranged from the bizarre to the brilliant to the barmy.
Most of these were targeted at me and were therefore music and guitar-related videos.
Well, later I came out of that void (I’m sure I had grown stubble by that point!).
…But I was free, haha.
That’s the downside of social media I find.
It can really hook us and drag us into places we don’t want to go if we’re not careful.
It has its upsides though, for sure.
For instance, YouTube is good for finding specific things, there are great groups for learning on Facebook (e.g. the Fingerstyle 101 group)… and you can find some useful and inspiring videos on most social media sites.
…But just like I talk about with guitar practice, it’s good to be focused.
…And when practising or when scrolling social media, don’t let the randomness win!
#3 – Creativity trick
Do you ever put your fingers on the fretboard on random strings and in random positions?
…Just to see what you can create.
It’s something I actually used to do a lot.
But then I stopped doing so for some reason.
I don’t know why, but when I picked up my guitar last night, I had the urge just to try something.
So, I placed my fretting hand fingers in random places and started picking.
I liked the dreamy sound I got when picking the notes.
Me being geeky, I started to work out what it was I was playing, and I realised it was a slightly unusual C chord with an F# note added.
I don’t think I’d ever played this chord voicing in this way before.
Then I switched right after it into a G chord and that had a lovely resolve to it.
Anyway, it’s not what I played that is the point.
It’s that sometimes it’s good to be completely random.
Try things out you’ve never tried before and see what you can create.
Sometimes it will sound bad, other times it will sound great.
…But it gets you thinking, it gets you being creative, and it can open up new little ways to have more fun.
…And that, of course, is always a good thing.
Anyway, if you want to have more fun, I think the blues is a great way to do so.
I haven’t mentioned it much for a bit, but if you enjoy the blues, then it’s well worth checking this out…
The Beginner 12-Bar Blues Mini Masterclass
Have a great Monday and thanks for reading!
Dan Thorpe
Guitar Domination
P.S. This post was originally taken from Dan Thorpe’s private email list. To get blog posts like this sent to you which are full of great tips to make fingerpicking, strumming, and learning guitar more enjoyable (especially if you are over 40) join Dan’s list. It’s 100% free, HERE.
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