Changing it up

bindog

Hey y'all

So I play purely for my own enjoyment at the moment( or aural pain depending on how well my fingers are working at the time) but I am aiming at the personal challenge of an open mic before the year is out... ( I'll try plan this so that no one is at the bar)

I find myself throwing in delays , slowing down certain parts of songs, muting barre chords entirely as a percussive add in, breaking out to a reggae rhythm section, and generally hoofing about with the music without actually thinking about it... I can't seem to just play a song through as it was recorded...

I want to perform, and I am writing my own songs, (good lyrics, but very VERY simple music) and I find myself doing it to even my own tunes???!!!

Is this a bad habit? How well would an audience respond to something like this? I never (inside my mind) lose the meaning of the song or the loosely attached rhythm, but I can't seem to help myself....

Your comments are appreciated!!

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Squonk

Only one way to deal with this....

Find an Open Mic venue
Choose a date
Practice your songs till you know them
Pitch up on the night and have a go.

I see your location is JHB -

TJ's is a great Acoustic Music club that has an open Mic Night usually on the last Thursday of every month. The format is pretty simple ; Play for about 15 Minutes, generally 3 songs. A great encouraging audience.

On the West Rand there is a club called 1709 which meets every 2 weeks. Similar format to TJ's

PM me f you need any more details!

Bob-Dubery

bindog wrote: I find myself throwing in delays , slowing down certain parts of songs, muting barre chords entirely as a percussive add in, breaking out to a reggae rhythm section, and generally hoofing about with the music without actually thinking about it... I can't seem to just play a song through as it was recorded...

I want to perform, and I am writing my own songs, (good lyrics, but very VERY simple music) and I find myself doing it to even my own tunes???!!!

Is this a bad habit?

Why are you doing this? To compensate for shortcomings in your technique? That would be a bad habit. If it's to add an individual touch to a song you are interpreting rather than just repeating note for note then it's more arguable (some like to hear the song the way it was originally recorded, some may be more open to a new interpretation).

So try to examine this yourself. Are you doing this because you can't do anything else? Does every song you play sound the same? Etc etc.

Maybe go for some lessons.

Tempo is an interesting one. Tempo changes are not verboden, but an inconstant tempo is not a good thing. Audiences will notice timing problems much more than they notice bum notes.

Squonk's advice is good. Do it. That's where the rubber meets the road. You can learn a lot from performing to an audience.

Shibbibilybob

I would say this is a bad habit. It may not sound bad, in fact it may sound awesome, but you have to be able to play the song the proper way as well as your own way with slaps and what not.
My guitar teacher catches me doing it all the time and points it out each time, because it's important.
If you add slaps and percussive elements on purpose that's awesome, but you have to know about and be able to account for each one. If you do it without meaning to, then you need to work on playing the piece without doing it, until you can add the bits or not, by choice.

domhatch

practice to some kind of reference. the original track, whatever. and while you're learning a song, use a metronome. once you absolutely have it under your fingers, at a good tempo, so it's accurate and you're comfortable, then you can start mucking with it.

any habit - apart from the good ones like practicing with a metronome (they ain't just for scales) - is a bad one.
dh|

AlanRatcliffe

IMO, it sounds like you are developing your own style (exactly the kind of stuff I do). That's a good thing unless you plan to do session work.

V8

bindog wrote: Is this a bad habit? How well would an audience respond to something like this? I never (inside my mind) lose the meaning of the song or the loosely attached rhythm, but I can't seem to help myself....

If you have a video cam/webcam - record a clip and see if you & your family/friends can sit through it...

I recorded a quick webcam of a chord progression I came up with (I wanted to remember where my fingers where) - I was clearly having fun bashing away, so I popped it up on FB and people enjoyed it. You never know till you try.

Alan Ratcliffe wrote: IMO, it sounds like you are developing your own style (exactly the kind of stuff I do). That's a good thing unless you plan to do session work.

+1!

Sometimes it helps to think like an entertainer...rather than a guitarist?

bindog

Hey guys thanks for all the replies!!!

I definitely think there is value in all the responses, and it would probably be a very good idea to run my metronome app to make sure I'm not losing the beat... Perhaps recording the song just on my phone and playing it back is also a good plan ?

I don't think I'll ever be a session player, but id like to be proficient in whatever I play from a skills point of view and that needs plenty work, so I guess a balance between the hard work and the fooling around might make me stress less about the latter?

Thanks for all the replies!

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk