Zzzzzzzz!

I neeeeeed sleep, I don't need a lot, I'm not greedy but I need SOME.  That however is not going to stop me I will just have to practice in a dazed state looking like the walking dead.  Today is ... can you guess, I'm sure you know by now??  Yep  lesson day which means no sleep again tonight but as always I don't care.

I want to talk about ideas.  I get frustrated a lot, have you figured that out by now!  It's not surprising, what probably is a bit surprising is that despite me hitting a wall every five seconds and getting incredibly stressed I keep on pushing forward harder and harder.  That's me, perfectly nuts in every regard and solidly predictable until I'm not then I'll throw a REAL curve ball - keeps it fresh!

So ideas, the thing that probably causes me the most stress is having a head full of things I want to do that my hands and feet won't oblige with.  I get frustrated that I can hear things I want to play in my head, I hear other people play things I want to play, I have ideas I can't work out and it's infuriating.  And I know that it's just a matter of time and hard work and it will come, that rewards need to be earned but I want it NOW!

But in truth the thing is I do have ideas, a million a minute (not literally but I do have a lot), many are variations on others, some are not that good but they come thick and fast.  Sometimes just hearing a chord progression or a couple of notes will send my brain off thinking of the possibilities, then I'll accidentally introduce a different note or chord and there is a whole bunch of new directions I could go.  That's probably my number one love and why I want to write so badly, I want to tell my 'stories' as I call them although I'm not sure anyone else knows what I'm on about!

Playing other peoples music is wonderful, it's a gift and a joy and an honour but writing music, telling your tales to people, sharing your emotions that's something else.  That's special.  I didn't mean to end up on this path at all and while I am so grateful and believe everyone would benefit from this I'm also surrounded by several other family members learning instruments and I understand that this just doesn't appeal to everyone.  Some people just want to chill and relax and play something familiar.  That's cool too!  It's not as cool but it's still cool.

It's not hard to have ideas, at least I don't think it is.  It's often the case when you can do something you assume everyone else can.  Technically I find the guitar a nightmare to master and I don't think most people appreciate that when they see me play.  But ideas don't need to come in epiphany moments although they can.  Ideas can be teased, nurtured and pulled out from random noodles.  What you need to do is recognise the bits that are connecting and then build on that, trust your head to lead you through the melody.  Let your fingers do the work and use your ear then take it slow and the idea will form.  In this regard I would absolutely recommend listing to as much music as you can, I think it's vital for a musician because it's where ideas come from.  The more you listen to, genres not just bands, the more ideas you can have, the more you can borrow, the more you can mix things, the less predicable you will be, the more fun you'll have and the list goes on.  If you want to play then fill your head with endless possibilities you can tap in to.  Then learn what they're doing so you know the 'science' behind the sound and when you suddenly find yourself in recognisable territory while noodling you can pull it out and build on it.  The fun part comes when you start mixing, I'm a long way from that but looking forward to it!

That's my advice on that anyway.  It's one of those things as I continue to learn I'll update but for now this is what helps me and I hope it will help you to.  Always make time to noodle, the more often you do it the more used you'll get to pulling ideas out.

My problem is turning those ideas into full songs, I'm ebbing closer but there is still a long way to go till I can just turn on the tap so to speak.