It looks like you're new here. If you want to get involved, click one of these buttons!
Subscribe to our Patreon, and get image uploads with no ads on the site!
Base theme by DesignModo & ported to Powered by Vanilla by Chris Ireland, modified by the "theFB" team.
Comments
I think almost all of us started off trying to sound like someone in particular, or to make a specific sound. As time goes by more influences sneak into that and become a melting pot.
The main guitar players I wanted to be like when I started[2] obviously, but also other guitarists whose records one heard[3] add a more subtle influence (eg, I played that chord in that song using a voicing Lifeson would have used).
Add time (lots of it in my case), and it "becomes" my style.
I suppose I'm original because nobody else has assimilated quite those mixture of influences and, of course, nobody else has the exact same (very small) talent that I do have.
Hmm.
[1] Apart from the complacent?
[2] Keef, Blackmore, Moody & Marsden, Young, Reed.
[3] In my case Rossi/Parfitt, Gilmour, Bolin, Lifeson, Rothery, Torme.
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
“Theory is something that is written down after the music has been made so we can explain it to others”– Levi Clay
I have a melodic sense that probably comes from listening to Gilmour and Knopfler - though I don't think I sound particularly like either of them.
I like extended chords - this probably comes from listening to a lot of John Martyn, whose use of open tunings resulted in some very wide intervals, which are not heard often is standard tuning. Andy Summers also played a part is this - his avoidance of thirds, add 9 voicings, etc.
That said, many lead players have much wider harmonic knowledge that I have (I improvise using straight major/minor scales, the melodic minor and Dorian - anything I play outside of these is a happy accident...)
I think @Lixarto is spot on; you become a melting pot over (a very long) time.
Considering the main influences who made me want to learn guitar are Dave Murray, Adrian Smith, kirk Hammett etc I don't sonsider myself a "lead guitarist" per se. I prefer riffing like Hetfield/Iommi and think I'm far better at that side if things than going widdly-widdly at 1,000 MPH.
Having said that, it might just be a confindence thing, and I need more confidence when out jamming.
Ringleader of the Cambridge cartel, pedal champ and king of the dirt boxes (down to 21)
Seriously: If you value it, take/fetch it yourself
Supportact said: [my style is] probably more an accumulation of limitations and bad habits than a 'style'.
Studio: https://www.voltperoctave.com
Music: https://www.euclideancircuits.com
Me: https://www.jamesrichmond.com
I believe originality lies not in what you play but rather in how you play it. Music is a language - you might have the widest vocabulary, the cleverest use of grammar or whatever but if you've got nothing to say, it's all irrelevant.
We all (hopefully) develop a 'style' accrued from our influences, whether consciously or unconsciously. Originality comes from an authentic expression of our artistic 'self' using whatever tools, techniques and contexts that are available and meaningful to us.