Creativity is a lens through which the every day holds within the spark of magic. Like a conjurer’s incantation, creativity transforms the ordinary into the extraordinary.
Fortunately, you don’t need to be a magician—or a genius—to be inventive because the spark of creative genius is inside of you right now. These three weird tricks will help you unleash your creativity to make more original music on the guitar and break free of any creative blocks.
1. Limit Your Options:
Most people think of creativity as an expanded set of options, but creativity is often sparked by limiting options. Whether you’re writing a melody on the guitar or improvising over a chord progression, try limiting yourself to two or three notes of the scale.
2. Give Yourself a Tight Deadline:
According to Parkinson’s Law “work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion,” so if you give yourself six-months to finish a composition, it will take you six-months to finish it. On the other hand, tight deadlines focus our efforts and our minds to the task at hand while eliminating wasted efforts. For that reason, give yourself a miserly deadline next time you sit down to compose. The more absurd, the better. For example, give yourself an hour to write and produce a song. Or better yet, challenge yourself to write and release a mini album online in one week.
3. Let the Cards Decide Your Fate:
Composers have used all sorts of weird tricks over the ages to create their masterpieces. From mathematical formulas to dice games, randomization is a great way to break through creative blocks or take your music places you would have otherwise never ventured. For example, my favorite tool for writing guitar riffs is combining rhythm cards with scales.
Brian Parham is the author of Guitar for Kids: Rock Dojo The Complete Belt System
