Best way to branch out?

maddnotez

maddnotez

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My whole life has been focused on one thing (Brutal and/or technical). I'm really not into much of anything else so its hard to play anything different. I do enjoy a lot of classic rock, classical music and can usually find A band I dig from each genre.

I'm looking to broaden the horizons and have considered looking into commercial writing for film/TV/commercial.

Obviously the market for brutal metal is slim to none so what would you guys do to get good at writing in other genres that your not used to?
 
The best way I can think of off the top of my head is learn songs from bands you would not normally listen to, much less play their music. In terms of classical, maybe learn some transcribed to guitar pieces. It's a hell of a lot of work and it will help you branch out both in genre and technicality.
 
Pick a Brad Paisley song. Learn it. Get all the YT vids you can find.

I tried that as a way to branch out. I thought this redneck rock would be easy....

There is a bit to it. I even started looking for guitar instructors that were good at his style. Even those are hard to find. Check out his vid of him just noodling on a new Dr Z Amp. Z Wreck maybe? It has been posted on here before.
 
yea good ideas...the only good one I thought of I can not commit to. Is start listening to alot of it..lol...I like what I like and ehh it sounds dreadful to listen to brad paisley all day
 
No doubt the market for brutal metal is slim and different people use different way to get good writing in genres. The best way according to my opinion is to learn songs from bands lively. Also pick a classic and brad Paisley song and listen it again and again. Best of luck.
 
The best way to branch out, I think, is to actually understand "how" the other genres are written. What makes "pop" sound like "pop", what makes film score feel like a film score, etc. This, usually, will come by analyzing and learning new pieces from different genres.

Learning some Bach, on guitar, is a good way to acquire different chops. There are a lot of classical composers that will provide a good challenge for guitar adaptation, but Bach is one of the good places to start due to the sheer amount of available material there is for a solo guitarist.

Same goes for film score. Picking apart some music by, say, Howard Shore or Hans Zimmer will probably give you some insight on how this genre of music works. Asking yourself some questions like "How is this sing structured?" or "What are the different layers involved?" is a good starting point.

In the end, you want to try things diametrally opposed to the brutal/technical Death Metal you,ve been playing up to now. Blues, in itself, is probably as far from technical Death Metal as it gets. In one case, you're playing in very conventional structures, through a limited amount of scales, and in the other, you are confronted with odd meters and an over-abundance of chromatic and/or unconventional scales. And yet, playing blues is at least as much a challenge as technical DM, since the sheer amount of feeling you have to put in every single note has to be communicated to the listener, whereas in most extreme variations of Death Metal, you're simply throwing an insane amount of notes towards your listener. A completely different challenge.
 
I was lucky in that when I was young I had a old Polish guitar player refuse to show me how to play one style. I learned a lot of different styles by the age of 14. Jazz, classical, funk, country, rock, R&B, blues, Latin, etc....

I think of myself as a musician more than a guitar player. I started off being more into drums & switched to bass as my main instrument. By age 12 guitar became the main instrument. I can play just about anything with strings & prefer fretted instruments. I think of myself as a guitar player .... certainly not of any style. But if asked I would say funk - as I really enjoy playing this stuff & it is a much better money maker than most styles in the current market.

If you are going to learn I recommend learning stuff you like. Do not waste a lot of time learning stuff you are not interested in. There is too much good stuff in all the styles to waste your time doing that. Pick a style & be very dedicated to learning what makes up that type of music. Spend a few months or years learning about it. By age 17 I spent a lot of time dedicated to learning classical. Before I was 15 I wanted to be a classical guitar player & dedicated most of my playing time to learning that stuff.

Here is the piece I am working on right now .... I will be learning the guitar & bass parts at the same time. I learn pretty fast so I figure I will have most of it by the weekend if I do not become to distracted...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VC02wGj5gPw
 
This may sound crazy, but I get on Youtube and pick a classical, pop, rock, or whatever song and play along in that, with the song as a backing track. I even try to mimic the singers voice with my guitar. It's fun to do this every so often, because it's a challenge. It get's my mind out of the other ways I practice.
 
stephen sawall":1tb26jgq said:
I was lucky in that when I was young I had a old Polish guitar player refuse to show me how to play one style. I learned a lot of different styles by the age of 14. Jazz, classical, funk, country, rock, R&B, blues, Latin, etc....

I think of myself as a musician more than a guitar player. I started off being more into drums & switched to bass as my main instrument. By age 12 guitar became the main instrument. I can play just about anything with strings & prefer fretted instruments. I think of myself as a guitar player .... certainly not of any style. But if asked I would say funk - as I really enjoy playing this stuff & it is a much better money maker than most styles in the current market.

If you are going to learn I recommend learning stuff you like. Do not waste a lot of time learning stuff you are not interested in. There is too much good stuff in all the styles to waste your time doing that. Pick a style & be very dedicated to learning what makes up that type of music. Spend a few months or years learning about it. By age 17 I spent a lot of time dedicated to learning classical. Before I was 15 I wanted to be a classical guitar player & dedicated most of my playing time to learning that stuff.

Here is the piece I am working on right now .... I will be learning the guitar & bass parts at the same time. I learn pretty fast so I figure I will have most of it by the weekend if I do not become to distracted...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VC02wGj5gPw
Click to expand...


I think I would need more practice wearing that vest than I would playing that song on guitar.

Edit: After actually watching the whole thing. I have heard Jeff Beck's name a million times but this may be the first listed to his music.

I understand its a style im not used to so may be a good way to branch out. But honestly most of it made me yawn and seemed easy and boring. However!!!! That guy seems to have his own thing going on which i like. Between his thumb picking, continuous volume swells and whammy control I thought it was pretty cool.

Plus Tal Wikenfeld or whoever that bassist was is extremely hot and I want to.......................... :doh:
 
Most stuff is pretty easy once you get familiar with the techniques used. For me playing is all about emotion .... not gymnastics. To learn the guitar part & bass part it took a few hours. You are right it was a pretty easy one. Jeff does have some stuff that is more complex ... I just was doing this one because I like the melody.
 
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