Learning new scales, licks, runs and progressions on the guitar typically requires a lot of focus. Sometimes, intense thought is needed to “teach” the fingers to learn something new. Developing the motor skills to play new techniques effortlessly is often a matter of deep concentration.
And while learning new things on the guitar is a matter of focus – successfully “creating” music is often the opposite, and requires the ability to “de-focus”, or simply “let go”.
When you sit down, alone in a room, to work out a new lick on the guitar, you typically spend time “thinking” about every note and how to execute them. In these times you are in the “learning” mode.
But it’s important to keep in mind, that the learning mode is only a preparation area that we travel through on our way to the “creating” mode – which is what playing music is all about.
In order to cross the threshold from the learning mode to the creating mode, it’s imperative that we release ourselves from the shackles of “thought”.
Over-thinking is the absolute enemy of pure creation. We only allow ourselves to truly create music when we tuck away the learning mode and put all the techniques, scales, chords, licks and riffs into a vault, and allow them to be pulled out as needed by the creative mind, naturally.
I have seen this in my own playing on many occasions. There are times on stage where I will find myself “thinking” about what lick, run or riff I will play next. Trying to hear “in advance” what would sound “cool” to the audience.
Invariably in these moments, my leads come out sounding “contrived”, sterile or planned, and my playing suffers.
But on the other hand, when I allow myself to simply flow with the music, to close my eyes and get lost in the melody, to “turn off the editor” and just let my fingers do the talking – it is in these moments that the “magic” happens.
Try this for yourself, work on crossing the line from executing to “creating”. Don’t force it. Truth is, it can’t be forced.
The only way to really go from executing to creating, is to practice the fine art of “letting go”.
Enjoy!
