# Weird Writing



## Adcandour (Apr 21, 2013)

I really enjoy playing over music I put together on my rc-3 looper. It turns out okay despite using keyboard drums and a Morpheus droptune for bass. 

The thing is this:

My music is GARBAGE. 

I just naturally write the poop. But I LOVE it. They become my crappy little babies. I don't get it. Why can't I write good music that I enjoy?

Anyone else? I'm not talking about skill here - I'm an okay guitar player (kinda). 

Can u guys post stuff, if you're in the same boat? I guess I can too. No insults though - making fun of music can get kinda personal.


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## HaydenMusic (May 2, 2013)

Hey adcandour, 

Let me help you. Have your tried diatonically? Do you know diatonic is? 
You might know this already - so apologizes for the long explanation if you do - so here's how it works.

Every major scale or minor scale is made up by the same sequence of Whole steps and half steps. A whole step on the guitar is two frets apart, and a half step is one fret apart. 

Let's say I want to play a F major scale. I can do that horizontally on one string, (such as F on the 6th string) and move up in the following sequence. (Note: W = whole, H = half).
W, W, H, W, W, W, H. (This should equal out to F, G, A, Bb, C, D, E). 

When you play diatonically, all the notes will work well with each other. You can also play this same sequence with chords:
Maj, Min, Min, Maj, Maj, Min, Dim
W W H W W W H

Here's some links that might help you:

Major Scale: http://www.musictheory.net/lessons/21
Diatonic Triads: http://www.musictheory.net/lessons/43

I could go into more detail, but I'd rather see if anything above helps you first, before typing up more information. 
Keep me posted on your progress and we'll see if we can get you moving in the right direction. I'm more than happy to help!

Talk soon!


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## Adcandour (Apr 21, 2013)

Thanks for that. I can play scales and stuff, so the notes match up fine (mind you I slip up sometimes).

Is there anyone that I can send you a clip I recorded on my iPhone? It was mic'd, but its still a bit jumbled, cause there's a lot going on. You'll totally get what I mean though. 

I can also put it on YouTube, but would prefer not to.


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## HaydenMusic (May 2, 2013)

adcandour said:


> Thanks for that. I can play scales and stuff, so the notes match up fine (mind you I slip up sometimes).
> 
> Is there anyone that I can send you a clip I recorded on my iPhone? It was mic'd, but its still a bit jumbled, cause there's a lot going on. You'll totally get what I mean though.
> 
> I can also put it on YouTube, but would prefer not to.


Send it to my email address: [email protected]

I'll take a listen when I have the chance : )

Cheers!

_
http://hayden-music.com_


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## Adcandour (Apr 21, 2013)

Email sent. Thanks.


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## jeremy_green (Nov 10, 2010)

I am a bit confused by your thread... first you say:
"...write the poop. But I LOVE it."

then you say:
"Why can't I write good music that I enjoy?"

So do you love it or not?

Typically these types of issues have more to do with a person's effort and investment of time they have put into it. Goes like this (usually): person writes two or three tunes... maybe as many as 10... then gets impatient that they aren't mind blowing and figures "I must not have it" or "I write the poop". Truth is, most musicians who write decent material (not even great but decent) have likely written 50-70 pieces. The greats have literally done numerous hundreds of pieces. 

I suspect your "poop" is simply the seeds of what may form into something given time and effort. Crops don't grow over night and a harvest can be years away. But every long journey worth taking starts with small steps. OR don't take the journey and give up.

Zappa wrote some pretty weird poop too.
Didn't stop him from changing the musical landscape.
He wrote pretty much continuously right up to his passing.

Dig deeper.


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## Adcandour (Apr 21, 2013)

jeremy_green said:


> I am a bit confused by your thread... first you say:
> "...write the poop. But I LOVE it."
> 
> then you say:
> ...


Sorry, after re-reading indefinitely see how it can be confusing. 

To make it clear (sort of):

The music I write is laughable and uninteresting. It's something that would suit the movie top gun (not saying that its a bad movie). It's dated and cheesy, but I love playing it and listening to it. 

I questioned why I can't make music that would make people say, "holy shit, that's amazing". Why can't it be a newer, more current and cutting edge style that comes naturally. 

Since the rc-3 allows 99 recordings, I have a bunch of weird little instrumentals (around 33) and they all fit the former description. 

I hope that helped clear things up a bit.


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## kat_ (Jan 11, 2007)

adcandour said:


> The music I write is laughable and uninteresting. It's something that would suit the movie top gun (not saying that its a bad movie). It's dated and cheesy, but I love playing it and listening to it.
> 
> I questioned why I can't make music that would make people say, "holy shit, that's amazing". Why can't it be a newer, more current and cutting edge style that comes naturally.


We tend to play music that's like what we're used to playing. It sounds like you're rehashing some of the music you grew up on and learned to play on. What do you listen to now? What do you learn to play when you're not writing your own music?


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## dcole (Oct 8, 2008)

The trick to breaking out of the mold is to try playing something new or learning a different technique. Playing with others can help this. They may be able to show you something that is easy for you to play but very different from what you normally play.


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## Adcandour (Apr 21, 2013)

kat_ said:


> We tend to play music that's like what we're used to playing. It sounds like you're rehashing some of the music you grew up on and learned to play on. What do you listen to now? What do you learn to play when you're not writing your own music?


That sounds pretty accurate. I grew up listening to 80s metal (everything from glam to thrash to death), I transitioned from guns n roses to grunge afterward. 

When I learn songs now (which isn't too often), its jack white or some sort of classic rock. I learn the odd Beatles tune for my son as well. 

The newer stuff I listen to like take impala or arcade fire among others isn't guitar laden. Very unobtrusive and tasteful guitar parts are found here and there, but nothin over the top.


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## Adcandour (Apr 21, 2013)

dcole said:


> The trick to breaking out of the mold is to try playing something new or learning a different technique. Playing with others can help this. They may be able to show you something that is easy for you to play but very different from what you normally play.


It's funny - a friend of mine was showing me a finger picking technique, but I dismissed it. I wasn't too interested in the end result. I suppose I could keep an ear out for something new - not sure what though.


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## HaydenMusic (May 2, 2013)

adcandour said:


> Email sent. Thanks.


Hey adcandour,

Apologies for the belated reply - I've been traveling the past couple weeks. Currently still am, but I had a chance to sit down and listen to the track you sent me.

Few suggetions I can give you, in no particular order:

1.) Use a variety of sounds/tone on your guitar: In the recording you sent me, it sounds like the guitar is using the same programmed sound for every all the parts: rhythm, arpeggio melody, and solo, etc. Even some subtle differences in tones will really help give some sonic variance, and therefore make it easier on the ears, and easier to differentiate the parts. 

2.) Check your scale: the scale your using (could be an error or two though) is almost right. Make sure you check your key.

As whole, the changes you might be looking for are more subtle than huge. A general piece of anecdotal advice I give to songwriters is this - _in a field of cows, which one stands out the most? Simple, the purple one. _In other words, to have the wow factor, it doesn't necessarily need to be a whole other creature, it just a subtle but noticeable difference. It's still a cow, but the fact it's purple will make it stand out with very little effort.

Keep me posted on your results and let me know how else I can help at anytime. 

Talk soon!


_http://hayden-music.com_


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## kat_ (Jan 11, 2007)

adcandour said:


> The newer stuff I listen to like take impala or arcade fire among others isn't guitar laden. Very unobtrusive and tasteful guitar parts are found here and there, but nothin over the top.


I'll admit I'm not really familiar with either of those bands. I'm listening to Arcade Fire on youtube as I type this but not enough to say anything relevant about their music. In general though, I find that I get more from learning non-guitar parts lately. Have you tried figuring out any of their vocal lines on guitar? It's great fun to work out the vocal parts, work out the other instruments, then try to put as much of it as possible together on guitar. When you put it together don't even worry about getting everything in. Just get what you can and make it sound like it belongs on guitar. It'll take a while for that to filter through to your own writing, but it's a great exercise for getting out of a rut.


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## Adcandour (Apr 21, 2013)

kat_ said:


> I'll admit I'm not really familiar with either of those bands. I'm listening to Arcade Fire on youtube as I type this but not enough to say anything relevant about their music. In general though, I find that I get more from learning non-guitar parts lately. Have you tried figuring out any of their vocal lines on guitar? It's great fun to work out the vocal parts, work out the other instruments, then try to put as much of it as possible together on guitar. When you put it together don't even worry about getting everything in. Just get what you can and make it sound like it belongs on guitar. It'll take a while for that to filter through to your own writing, but it's a great exercise for getting out of a rut.


That is genius. Really. 

It's kinda like positive reinforcement, but with parts of great music instead of words. How did you come up with this?


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## Adcandour (Apr 21, 2013)

HaydenMusic said:


> Hey adcandour,
> 
> Apologies for the belated reply - I've been traveling the past couple weeks. Currently still am, but I had a chance to sit down and listen to the track you sent me.
> 
> ...


No worries - I was wondering what happened (am I beyond help) haha. 

I'm hopin it was just a few sour notes, since I was kinda freestyling some of that lead stuff. 

I actually have another version of the same song where I use a few different sounds, but I'm pretty embarrassed to show anyone, cause the soloing at the end is super weird. I was making it up as I went along. 

I definitely agree with you though - it does sound much more interesting when I mix it up. I even throw some kaosillator sounds in there (for better or worse).

Th bottom line is that I don't want to make that music better. It's a terrible style, but as I said before - its kinda my 'go to' style and I really enjoy playing and listening to it. I think if I follow kats advice, I'll slowly change my 'go to' over time, so that my music is pleasant to more people than just me. 

You should see the look on my wife's face when she hears that music I sent you. The poor woman.


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## kat_ (Jan 11, 2007)

It's standard practice for non-rock players. Every classical guitarist learns some of Scarlatti's harpsichord sonatas and various violin, cello, and lute music, even some opera transcriptions. Every jazzer learns some Coltrane and Miles Davis solos, regardless of instrument. It's only rock players who focus exclusively on only playing music from our own instrument. I think Derek Trucks is one of the best guitarists alive and he always talks about copying vocal lines and sitar lines. It's a lot of fun too. That's the best part.


adcandour said:


> That is genius. Really.
> 
> It's kinda like positive reinforcement, but with parts of great music instead of words. How did you come up with this?


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