"My own" ideas

T1mothy

Hello community,

I was wondering how you guys deal with your own lines? More specifically the everpresent feel that your own lines are inferior to the ones you transcribe from the players you admire? I understand it is a great drive for constant self improvement but it discourages me from playing and developing those ideas and I often find myself thinking I should be looking for a phrase that is a bit more hip and hope to make it my own somehow.

Here s an example -

I play Bireli s solo from the start all the way to the G major in B section and then E7, Emin, A7 is my own made up thing. Now ofcourse I quickly realized the E7 run is from django s tiger going to triplet feel and going back to match the time and then the Emin (more like Gmajor in this case) and A7 is something I dont realize I have ever transcribed from somewhere but chances are I heard that too. Still when I listen to it I know exactly when I start to play my ideas and already hate it and feel light years far from finding something like "my own" voice.

I have a feeling my perspective is somewhat wrong here.

How do you guys cope with this?

Bob Holo

You cope with it by making the realization that you're not at Bireli's level yet. Welcome to the club, Lol..! ;-) Seriously though, this is one of those times when the old saying about: "It's not about the destination, it's about the journey comes into play. Part of your voice is about giving expression to the struggle of finding one. When you have it, it'll be you. In any case, you're good, and you're getting better, and your head is in the right place, so rock on.

Just don't get discouraged. That's the enemy. I felt the exact same way you do at approximately the same age, and I decided to quit playing music. Don't do that. If you think it's tough to find a genuine voice now, try doing it after not playing for a quarter of a century... haha.

Just because people aren't hiring you to sub for Bireli this year, doesn't mean that'll always be the situation.

NylonDave

Hi, I enjoyed your playing.

I did not enjoy the fact that the backing track pitched each chord at the same (horrible) dynamic. Any tune, and it's associated chord progression is capable of a supporting a massive variety of interpretations and aesthetic choices. If the default interpretation is 'everything as loud as possible' then the possibility of a genuine musical narrative starts to disappear. Better to play with a click than a backing which is unmusical.

Buco

I don't think finding and expressing your own voice is something to cope with. You said you're light years away from finding it but it's there already, when you play your own stuff that is. Accept it and work on it, build it and it's going to get better.
I used to be troubled with much of the same but no longer, for the most part. Sometimes I fall off the cliff but I quickly tell myself I need to go get my guitar and practice.
And above is how I deal with it.
Thing that helped is when I realized and saw the simplicity in a lot of what Django played. I would listen to something he played and be so mesmerized by it but then if I figured it out I'd see it's a simple idea behind it. Not that it would lose the shine after that, on the contrary it would delight and fascinate me even more.
So his genius aside it helped me welcome my own simple. You should too, your stuff is good, including your rhythm playing.

anthon_74

From a philosophical standpoint, you never fully "Find" it. Finding your voice is a journey, not a destination, and as soon as you do find it, it will start to change, because change is the only constant in all reality. Prey you NEVER fully "find" it, because then you're bored.
Every time I have a day where I think I've "found" something, I quickly get tired of it and look to find something new.
You mention Bireli - Talk about a guy who's always looking to take it to the next level.

Anyway, I thought your playing sounded great. Don't ever stop looking for your voice.

Anthony

crookedpinky

Interesting thread and a subject which I'm sure loads of us can relate to. I have deliberately avoided learning any Django or anyone elses solos by heart. So whatever I play tend to be my own lines but I often find myself thinking how can I make that more Django like. For me it occurs when I'm not thinking too much about what I'm playing.