Songwriting and the Importance of Musical Exploration
By Kole • Nov 20th, 2007 • Category: Songwriting Articles
I’ve held the belief that listening to and learning from musical styles that are different from your own, has always been beneficial. However, early in my musical career this wasn’t so apparent to me or some of my students. In fact, some of my students had the misconceived perception that going outside of their “strength” would harm them musically in some way.
So in their mind, they thought that learning something like music theory would be completely harmful to their creative process. Mike Philippov (a colleague of mine) has a great article on this subject which can be found here.
They also were worried about the issues of being unique and having their own sound or style. One of my first articles “Are YOU Unique” explains on how to deal with this issue and even delves a little bit into the topic I will cover in this article.
So to deal with these student’s doubts and misconceived perceptions, I asked them to read the articles I linked above and I told them this personal story about the Importance of Musical Exploration.
A few years ago I would have considered myself a fairly decent Blues/Rock/Metal guitarist and I was pretty content with the level I was at and the pace I was progressing at. Then one day, one of my colleagues who is big into Jazz, asked me to attend a week long workshop with him to study Jazz. Needless to say I was a little bit skeptical, because I was not familiar with Jazz nor did I ever see it being useful in the music I would ever compose.
After a while of thinking and eliminating the risk of being called a hypocrite (because I always tell others to have an open mind to new things), I decided to attend this week long Jazz workshop without any expectations of learning more than a cool lick or two. Boy was I wrong…
After only the first day there (which was mostly listening to other musicians play), I was already coming up with new phrasing and composition ideas. Nothing had been taught to me yet, but by just listening to something so new and different to me, my mind was opened up to a world of new possibilities.
As the week went by, I learned more and more from the great instructors there and from personal observation of the performances. My old phrasing and melodic ideas started to transform and fuse with all of the cool things I was learning at this Jazz workshop. Compositionally, I was introduced to new theories, scales, and techniques that I had not know to exist before.
To sum it all up, I can honestly say that my unique style and songwriting abilities that I have today would NOT be anywhere near where they would have if I had not opened my mind and explored a music style foreign to me. I believe this to be true for every musician out there, because even if you end up hating the new style of music, you can end up gaining at least one more unique musical element in your arsenal. For example, I am not a huge fan of country, however I do like the transitions between vocal timbres that many country singers have. I then take that transitional technique and apply it to my own music. The end result doesn’t sound anything like country music, but instead it sounds completely unique and expressive.
I hope this story has opened your mind to the “Importance of Musical Exploration,” and until next time…
Take care and keep composing fellow artists!
Copyright © 2007 Kole (Kyle Hicks). All rights reserved.
About The Author
Kole has just finished two years studying music composition and classical guitar at Indiana University, and is currently attending Musicians Institute. He has also studied with guitar virtuoso and HolyHell Guitarist, Tom Hess, and world renowned vocalist, Jaime Vendera. Also, his debut album “Exile” will be released in the fourth quarter of 2007.
Kole has also just finished a great new instructional Jam Tracks CD titled “Improve your Improv.” This product is perfect for aspiring lead guitarists or anyone who needs backing tracks to play over.
If you would like to find out more information about Kole, his music, articles, or lessons feel free to visit his site at www.KoleMusician.com.
No more excuses. Get the new eBook and FINISH YOUR SONGS:
Share:
Kole is a contributor to Blogging Muses. At age 12, Kole received a beat-up, dull red, 1970’s generic electric guitar from his father and decided he wanted to learn how to play it. Originally inspired by bands like Metallica and Led Zeppelin, Kole started to form a foundation of rock and blues based music that eventually would dominate his playing and composition style. During this time, Kole only thought of guitar and music in general as a hobby; although he always sat down for at least an hour every night and let his fingers wonder the fret-board. Four years ago though, his life changed when he met virtuoso guitarist and instructor, Tom Hess. Since then, Kole has taken very large strides in improving himself musically and forwarding his career in the music industry. Now at age 21, he has released his debut album "Exile", has taught workshops in the Midwest including one at the Oakbrook Academy of Music and Art, has Co-Authored many different instructional products, has finished two full years of classical composition and guitar at the revered Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University, and has studied at Musicians Institute in Hollywood, CA.
Contact Kole | All posts by Kole
