Conference napalm::guitar

    
    *Lots* of playing time helps me more than anything else.  If I don't
    put in enough time, when I go to pick up the beast again, my fingers
    don't want to move.  On the other hand, if I've been putting in my time
    and I get to a gig and the drummer is happening and the crowd is
    happening and the tenors start going wild, everything clicks and I'm
    flying...until I think about what I'm doing  8^)  8^)  8^)
    
    A funny thing that helps me quite a bit is being well exercised, I mean
    physical exercise away from the beast, like going bicycling.  If I
    spend a day on the road on my bike, when I get to the gig, I'm ready to
    roll.  You figger it out.....
    
    							Brian

    
    
    
    			Get plenty of sleep and eat you wheaties!!

    I find I work better under pressure. If I show up at a gig or a rehearsal, 
    and have to come up with some respectable chops to "get the job done", I 
    generally play consistantly well. At home, with no pressure on me my 
    playing is often times quite random and without any clear direction.
    
    For example, I am not an experienced bass player. I bought a bass last 
    July, and at home my bass lines seem pretty lame. I have had two occasions 
    where I was asked to play bass with an established band. In both cases, 
    I managed to pull off some solid bass lines that worked. Go figure !!
    
    Another thing I have noticed is that when tape reels are spinning, my
    chops just don't seem to be happening. When the tape reels are not
    spinning, I seem to come up with lot's of great licks and ideas.
    I have the worst time trying to get anything on tape worth keeping.
    
    Mark
    

    1. Playing a lot
    2. Pressure, especially playing with superior musicians
    3. Oat Bran, in the colloquial sense :-)
    4. NOT having an exceptionally stressful day (hard to do these
       days!)
    
    even with that, it's still a hit-or-miss proposition a lot of
    times.

>     What I would like to hear from you, dear noters, is what do YOU do to
>    keep your inspiration? Do anybody have some smart tricks?

	Inspiration in my case comes from within and is influenced by out
side experiances,however practice,playing and writing are very important.
	I find new "toys" do very little to inspire me,however I listen to 
a lot of music daily. As much as you may practice 4 hours a day it's 
equally important to listen. I do alot of this in my car on the way to 
work. The way you listen to music is also important,having an over view
of what something sounds like is typical,but to go beyond this to visualize
what some one is playin is important. I believe to get to this point a
certain level of proficiency is needed. I can become inspired from hearing
an array of tones which seem to glisten when you play them. I can become 
inspired from hearing someone  play dynamically within a group of musicians
whether it on a recording or a live situation.	I can be inspired by other 
musicians or ensemble I'm playing with at the time.
	I can guarantee to myself that when I have an off night that it's
a challenge to make a comeback. I've been known to take on this challenge
and turn things around,but I have also learned to put down my instrument and 
pickup something else and later comeback to the instrument. Afterwards when
-ever I have had an off night I think through the events or psyche that occured
prior to playing. I almost always listen to music before I play and BTW 
it's usually never anything I will be playing that night.
	In a job situation draw inspiration from other people in the band 
or crowd but in an studio situations it's a mindset,at best,repetative till
it's completed.
	I guess if I think back to when I had been playing for 10 years,I
remember reaching a limit or a plateau in my playing. In order to make the 
next level,I essentially relearned the instrument and it's playing techniques. 

	No real tricks,but hardwork,concentration,expression and desire....
the rewards for me have been worth the effort.

I remember quite disticntly, reading an article some years back with
Ritchie Blackmore (Guitar Player doing the interview)

When asked about accomplisphments, and memorable nights, Blackmore sidetracked
a bit, and mentioned that the first thing to realize was that everyday
is different from the next when you analyize your playing.  He called
it a 10 days ahead, 4 days back syndrome/theory..   And as hung up on himself 
as Blackmore had always been, I thought it was interesting to hear him say
in not so many words, that some days, he felt he sucked out loud..

He mentioned a few solo tracks on albums that I had, saying "I wish I'd
never-ever let that one go without redoing the solo".. I  was amazed, some
of the work he said he'd trash, I thought was brilliant... (Most of the
stuff on "Who do we Think we Are" he dismissed as so much rubbish..)

And as I thought about, I realized, he'd hit on something that has always
bugged me..   

I have times when I feel like I could do just about anything I wanted.
If I heard something in my head, I could instantly get it done to my fingers,
"click" it was there.  Other times, I didn't feel it was there so I layed 
back and cruised.  When I was working pretty regularly, I'd sometimes
let it get to me, kinda draw up inside, and take the easy route out..
play safe...  The end result was even though I personnaly felt I wasn't
giving much or sounding like I should, noone but me ever knew.  

I'm pretty sure it wasn't painfully obvious becaused I'd always talk
to our sound man.  He was really good at hearing things like that, and
rarely had a comment.  (I remember I had Broncitus last year, one of the
nights we worked I had a fever around 101...  He says to me after first set,
"You should get sick more often, you're on fire!"  I was, I was burning
up to be sure, but of course, he meant it the other way..  I must admit
though, signing was OUT that weekend..) 

So in the long run, either I covered my tracks very well,,, or the preceptive 
drop in  performance was more in the mind than real. 

Can't say for sure, but my guess is a combination of both.  Who knew
I was just cruisin, not commiting to anything ?  Who knew that when
the thought for something came into my head, the split second before,
on a good day, I'd rifle it off, was being dismissed as quick as
it came ?  Me!  As long as I played what I was supposed to play,
what made it obvious ?  That didn't make it any easier to accept but did
I make it harder for myself on the situation ?  That's a good question aint it ?


I know now, that I'm not playing in a band anymore, "Inspiration" has 
_mysteriously_ returned to me, as have a bunch of chops that I up until
recently, didn't realized I wasn't using during the last 'band days'

I think part of my problem was being in somewhat of a rut, with
no new challenges to get the juices flowing. (Being in the same band
for 10 years, covering the same basic venue of material could do that!)

To sum it all up, I think what we truly precieve about our playing as
we listen to what were doing inside ourselves, and what really comes out, 
even on some of our worst days, may not be as bad as we chastise ourselves 
for. Plus, the simple fact that one cares, usually leads to improvement, 
shows self motivation, and that really is inspiring.

And besides that, if you want to really get a good chuckle, lace me
up with about five shots a Tequila and ask me to play a few diddies
for you!  {:^0  ("Ye-Old Factory Worker Tequila,, two blasts and you're done
for the day...)

re: Comment about taping..  I hear ya Mark...  happens to me once in
a while too.

    
      "Life is a sinusoidal wave."
    
        There are going to be ups and downs and I'm not sure you can
    prevent it but maybe the swing can be less.
    
       It's funny that the base note talks about the times when nothing
    is working (amp, fingers, etc.). I've had this very conversation with
    a noter particularly about how things sound. I wonder whether anything 
    has *really* changed or that you're hearing it differently. You know..
    your amp is set to the same settings and the next day you spend a lot 
    of time trying to 'fix it' and still aren't happy with it. Then the 
    next time you don't like the new settings and set it back to the original 
    settings and like it! But I digress....
    
       In the band I was recently a member of, we played almost every
    weekend. Here's what I would do:
    
       Leading up to the gig I'd put my 'game face on'. I'd mentally focus 
    on what fun it would be and how much I was looking forward to playing. 
    I would run through the material (play along with cassette) and pay 
    particular attention to tunes I wasn't very confident of.
    
       On the way to the gig I would try to relax as much as possible. I'd
    pop a cassette into the player of the band that first inspired me to
    start playing: the Beatles. I'd sing along to warm up my voice and just
    generally get into it.
    
       I'm not going to say that things always went smoothly...very rarely.
    There are other band members playing along with you (usually).
    I did find that after playing the same tunes for a while I didn't even
    think about it...my fingers just knew where to go next. As a matter of
    fact sometimes when the tune was called off for a split second I'd blank
    but those fingers always knew where to even if I didn't 'know'.
    
       Playing music is an emotional thing. Humans are emotional beings so
    there's got to be an effect on your playing. Work on knowing the tunes
    and getting yourself ready emotionally.
    
    
      Just my opinion,
    
          Bob
       

    This is an interesting topic.  I started a very similar note in here a
    couple of years ago and was pleased with the response I got.
    
    I'm no expert on getting inspiration happening, I have my good and bad
    days like everyone else.  However I will say that what seems to happen
    with me is that I listen to practice tapes from days I thought I really
    sucked and days I thought I was really happening after the fact and I
    can't hear that much difference.  For me, it seems that a LOT of it's
    just in my mind.  In a way, realizing that makes the off days a little
    easier to take. 
    
    As far as actual inspiration goes, it's really hard to say what
    triggers the creative mind.  Sometimes I come up with ideas when I've
    been practicing a lot and sometimes I come up with ideas after I've had
    a few days off.  A couple of things that seem to trigger me is being in
    a little different environment, and being happy.  
    
    Some of my best ideas come to me in the shower on Saturday morning
    after a good nights sleep.  I don't know what it is about the shower,
    but I seem to think a lot about music while I'm in there (makes my wife
    mad though, 'cause I get to thinking in there and use up all the hot
    water)  :-)
    
    The stress thing seems to be a real issue for me too.  My current band
    practices on Sunday afternoons and Monday evenings and I consistantly
    play better on Sundays then I do on Mondays after I've been at work all
    day.  I don't know if it's stress or being tired, but there's a real
    tangible difference.  If I don't work on Monday, I'll play better that
    night.
    
    re: Dave Clarks comment on oat bran
    
    Yeah, a good dose of the old super-colon-blow really helps with my
    inspiration, since it give me a lot of time on the toilet to think
    about music...   ;^)
    
    Greg

    
    Now, now Greg.  Fess up and tell us what you're REALLY doing in the
    shower!  8*)
    
    Seriously, I try to channel my own emotions into inspirations.  If I'm 
    p*ssed of about something, I tend to play a lot more aggressive.  If
    it's a mellower song or sad song, I close my eyes, try to conjure up 
    an image of time that the song would relate to, and try to channel 
    that energy into notes.
    
    Personally, I think I play a lot better when I'm "tuned" into ANY 
    emotion, and can turn that emotion into another.  Only hard part is
    turning negative emotion into positive inpiration.  The other way is 
    not that difficult, I don't think...
    
    J.

    I often get the lack of inspiration feeling,but the two main ways out
    (they don't always work!!) for me are either to stick on a drum machine
    and let yourself go,or call up a musician friend,anyone who plays a
    different style/instrument,and jam with THEIR music.
    	The drum machine trick stops you being bound up with chords/modes
    etc.dictated by someone else,as playing along with an album would....
    	The other method means you get some inspiration from the other
    guys,and fire ideas back and forth.
    	As I say,these methods work for me,maybe not everyone else.
    

    
    If I want inspiration,all I have to do is watch the last 10 minutes of
    the movie "Crossroads"and thats me all fired up and ready to
    go...ALSO....catching Big Jimock..re-1..giving it some wellie on his
    mates' Strat.
    
    
    
                                          STAYNZ
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    

I saw someone on TV a long time ago talking about inspiration (can't
remember who it was, think it was a famous jazz instrumentalist). He
said his trick was to try and do something completely different just before
the gig/session; the key was having a new experience of some sort (even
if it was only something stupid like going in the alley and rolling around
amongst the trash cans... {not recommended in your stage outfit �^) }).
I haven't played live for a long time, but I used to find this approach
helpful.

BTW, he also said that he ALWAYS played better when NOT under the influence
of any drinks/drugs (although at the time of playing he might not have thought
so subjectively due to pressure/stress).

*DC

     Well that was some good notes about the subject.

     We all seem to agree that inspiration itself is something you cannot
     really control. We also like it very much, when it is there. I like
     the replies that describe various techniques how to stimulate one's
     inspiration...very valuable!

     I like to compare _inspiration_ with another unmeasureable phenome-
     non, which I think is connected, namely _intuition_. I think if you
     have lots of intuition, you also have lots of inspiration, and then
     helps your playing (my theory).

     Now, I'm reading a book about some ying/yang theory (no religion in-
     volved here), that helps you to use more of your intuition (everybody 
     has got one), so stay tuned for an *inspired* input about this!

     Poul

Super Colin Blow!!

I'm dying,,,  

    
    Anyone that can express any form of emotions in one form or another, 
    is an artist in my book.  
    
    J.

For the past couple weeks, I have been in a real rut musically - not into
band practice, not really wanting to pick up the guitar (and when I do,
I feel like I'm playing the same old s***), just no motivation.

Its even tougher on me, as I'm not a 'dedicated' musician. I play guitar for 
fun, and if its not fun, I don't bother to work on it. So mood affects my
playing a lot.

What am I doing to combat it? Two things (don't know if they'll work):

 - first, I bought the Yamaha GEP50. Hopefully some of the new tones I'm
   discovering will inspire me a bit to want to play.

 - second, I'm playing my acoustic more. I notice that I really hear the 
   various note when playing the acoustic, and I play around and 'find' 
   chords that I've never played before. Just something different from what
   I usually do...

 - oh, and a third thing - I wait! These moods hit every once in a while, and
   they eventually pass. I'm not worried about it....

alan

    
    Well, I guess lately(last couple of weeks or so), I really haven't 
    had much in me that wanted to be let out.  I don't think it's really 
    serious, yet.  I'm pretty sure that it will pass soon as it always 
    has.  Usually just takes something to trip my wire and I'm soon 
    playing/writing like crazy again.  
    
    Meanwhile, I just wait for that hunger to appear again and try to 
    preoccupy myself with other interests.  Anticipation can be just as
    sweet as the rush of inpiration...
    
    J.

	For me, lately, my inspiration has undoubtedly come from three
	things - a strong desire to do something that has been in me
	for a long time, second, the excitement of hearing the fruits
	fruits of my efforts, and last but not least, fellow musicians.

	I've always been interested in hearing how the music sounds 
	by listening to it afterwards on tape.  Hearing my mistakes
	has always led to improvement and inspiration.  Suprisingly 
	to me, many people don't seem to recognize or have the interest
	in the benefits of this approach.  

	My new project has inspired me in many ways.  I'm now pretty
	good at programming drums, my keyboard playing is adequate,
	my vocal harmonies have developed, and I've finally turned
	into something more than a "guitarist who can play bass".

	I've also recently learned *tons* about constructing a song,
	something that I thought I was ok with already.  I also now
	have a method to my madness in getting my songs to tape.

	I've been working *very* hard at this lately but I've certainly
	experience uninspired days.  But then I'll put in 10 hours on
	a saturday and another 10 on sunday and then go back and listen 
	to what I've just accomplished.  

	For me, it's amazing at how much inspiration I get through the
	satisfaction of hearing the results of hard work.  It just plain
	old brings a big smile to the old kisser, ya know?

	Another thing that inspires me to no end is my seemingly 
	endless discussions with two very smart and experienced 
	friends of mine - Ron Ross and Mark Hastings.  To say that I'd
	be struggling thru the muck without them is an understatement.
	And I do feel that I inspire them in return.

	And you know what else feels great and leads to inspiration?
	The off-line free advice, help, and direction I've received
	from many different noters.  There's a strong feeling out there
	of "we're all in this together" as opposed to "don't help out
	the potential competition".  I've contacted several of you noters
	out there and I must say that each and every person has been
	more than helpful and in a very positive way besides!!  

	Thanks - Tom

    Re: last few
    
    When I get in a rut, one/all of the following help me out:
    
    - new piece of gear
    - an excellent tape
    - an awesome concert
    
    It is no coincidence that I'm inspired by one of the above as well as:
    
    - working with musician friends
    - going for walk or run (it is amazing how this gets ideas rolling)
    - inspiration from Above (spiritually speaking)
    
    Mike

A few observation..



<< - first, I bought the Yamaha GEP50. Hopefully some of the new tones I'm
<<   discovering will inspire me a bit to want to play.

Help for a few weeks but the same old Alan will return when the chrome
wears off the new toy.  (not that that's bad)

<< - second, I'm playing my acoustic more. I notice that I really hear the 
<<   various note when playing the acoustic, and I play around and 'find' 
<<   chords that I've never played before. Just something different from what
<<   I usually do...

Not too mention it's good to scuff up the calouses on your fingertips
as often as possible :^)

No really, of course, it's obvious, acoustics compared to electrics
are night and day, and such is your style of play when going from one
to the other.  Good cure.  

<< - oh, and a third thing - I wait! These moods hit every once in a while, 

Sure do, I'm just pullin out of one that lasted about a week.  happens
to all of us dude!
  

     Now, as for inspiration, I would do what so ever to keep it, or to
     get more. Everything what improves my playing must be good! So I
     started reading a book about the ying/yang theory in the hope that
     this might give me some advice. I'm afraid some of the following
     might seem a bit fantastic to some of you, but on the other hand,
     most of the guitarists that I've met through time have seemed to be
     rather openminded individuals, so here goes:

     As human beings, every man has got a female and a male side of him-
     self, and every woman has got that too. The female side is ying, the
     male side is yang.

     Ying represents feelings (emotions, _inspiration_, intuition, love).

     Yang represents the practical side of us (manual work, fighting, 
     heavy beerdrinking ;-) ).

     In order to bee a FULL satisfied human being, you must have your
     ying/yang in balance. As I see it, we're in 'ying mode' when we
     play our guitar. So when we suffer from loss of inspiration, it
     must be due to a ying/yang out of balance, or, in other words too
     less ying...

     So the question, how do we get more ying? Well, the book says:

     'Treat yourself like you would like a woman to treat you'.

     I guess it requires some thinking how to actually do this - I'm
     still not sure, but I feel there is something right about it...
     
     Women usually haven't got this problem (you know about women's in-
     tuition - they always know, when you've done something wrong...);
     but many of them have problems with too less yang - gained through
     experience from parents etc.; f.ex. 'every practical decision should
     be taken by a man, you just have to stay barefooted and pregnant
     in the kitchen'...For women, in order to get more yang, they must
     'Treat themselves like they want a man to treat them'.

     I don't know if this tells anybody anything, I just try to find out
     of something very difficult - what happens inside of us, what can we
     do to make progress, etc.

     Sorry if I have offended female readers, in that case I've expressed
     myself wrong!

     Poul

    
    	I have read in GP an article on "The Art of Improvisation" where 
    	about 4 guitar players discuss their approach.  A few spoke of 
    	technical approaches, while others were completely focused on 
    	'feel' or the "It Don't Mean a Thing, if It Don't Swing" theory.  
    	Also, if you have read any interviews with Carlos Santana, he is 
    	completely focused on the inner expression idea as his inspiration.
    	I would be happy to dig up these rags fo anyone who would like to
    	read the articles.
    
    	-pat

By far the greatest enemy to inspiration is stress. It locks up your
imagination. It defeats your self confidence. Moments of true inspiration are
when you are focussed completely on the music, what you are playing, not how
you are playing it. Your peripheral senses tell you unconsiously what to do
next and you only have to lay back and experience it. There are things you can
do to invoke this state of mind ( and it is a physiological state of mind ).
Some things I do:

1) Deep Breathing - this is by far the easiest to start with. Breath in time
with the music.

2) Dancing - this is a little tricky while playing guitar, but I would say it
is mandatory if you want to learn how to play TIGHT.

3) Clear your head - Some kind of meditation can help put you in a receptive
frame of mind.

4) Think good things about yourself - this may seem a little like the chicken
and the egg, and it is. Set achievable goals for yourself and pat yourself
on the back for a job well done.

     re .24:

     I think you're right. Also, contrary to feel stressed, when feeling
     _getting bored_, the inspiration goes right to hell. But, deeply,
     this is just another kind of stress!

     I think we all have the power and ability to become great musicians!

     The reason I think this, is that, if you think about it, now and 
     then some musical wonderchildren are born (Mozart, Beethoven..), and
     some of them play and even compose music from a few years of age!
     The reason they can do this is, IMHO, they're born with an open chan-
     nel to, what we can call 'power of the universe'; it LIES there, ready
     to get used, we just have to liston to ourselves to get it...I'm try-
     ing every day, but I must admit, with a limited success... but I still
     live in the hope ;^).

     Some of you think this sounds too fantastic? Well, think about it -
     it's all a matter of what YOU BELIEVE, what you can do. I think the
     majority of great musicians have a really big imagination.
 
     Poul