Other insturments supplemental to your guitar skills and vice versa

Trubore

I have mentioned before that I used to be a classical pianist. I started playing more contemporary music in church a few years back, and I found it difficult to adjust. Since then I've been looking into the theory and history of music.

One of my major problems, especially on the piano is that I'm locked into a certain type of classical sound. Since I've been exploring certain chords that I like to call "boutique" chords, many of my musical boundaries have been pushed further.

After psyx convinced me to get back into guitar, I found that all the practice on the piano has made me more free on the fretboard as well. Even experimenting with my nylon and steel string acoustic have opened my ears to a whole lot of new sounds to try on electric.

Have you had the same/similar experiences, what are your thoughts on the influences that other instruments have on the quality of your guitar playing?

AlanRatcliffe

I'm a firm believer that other instruments can improve your playing on your chosen instrument. They teach you different approaches to the same stuff and also teach you where your chosen instrument fits in an arrangement.

Most classically trained pianists struggle with improvisation and jamming as they are mostly taught to "play it as it is written". Learning modes and alternate scales will also help you open up from the conventional major, harmonic and melodic minors. IME, many classical pianists struggle with learning how to accompany and to pad out arrangements instead of leading them.

The rhythms are more important than the notes once you've learned the basic chords and sequences, IMO. Learning a percussion instrument is probably one of the best things you can do for your playing of any other instrument. And I don't mean joining your local holistic hippier-than-thou drum circle either (where most learn only how to follow the pace instead of set it), but learning what distinguishes rock, Latin, Jazz, etc. rhythms from each other. Then you can start learning how your instrument fits in and around that rhythm.

Whenever you think you're getting the hang of it, take a quick listen to Chick Corea and realise you're still only scratching the surface harmonically and rhythmically. ?

Wildaker

Trubore wrote: Have you had the same/similar experiences, what are your thoughts on the influences that other instruments have on the quality of your guitar playing?

Noodling on the piano certainly helps me to think of chord voicings (and harmony in general) in a different way, even though I can't really play it. So does playing the ukulele because it's so similar YET you have to address it completely differently because of the re-entrant tuning and the very narrow range of each chord. And I get real fun—and learn a lot—from playing my DAD-tuned tsouras (or a 3-course bouzouki, which is tuned the same way).

But I probably find the most illuminating, these days, to be bass guitar—trying to understand how to play bass properly for the first time in my life (rather than just hanging on to the one, or doing a I-V country-style vamp) is making me rethink how I should harmonise what's happening over the top of the bass.

Stoffeltoo

I am a guitarist by choice but as Alan has indicated any other instrument, opens up many alternatives.
I play a soprano Uke and a Nose Flute which makes me look like a cross between Jack the Ripper and Hector when it's fitted to my face. ?

I have had no formal musical schooling other than music appreciation at High school and being a member of a school cadet band where my lips did all the work as a bugler and trumpeter.

All these influences and a love of classical, folk and ballads have put me on a path where I am comfortable but I do push the limits by experimenting with a key board :-[

studmissile

The Diatonic Harmonica. A wonderful little instrument in it's own right, but works well with guitar. And fit's perfectly in your pocket!

Chocklit_Thunda

Other stringed instruments are the easiest way to experience this. I play ukulele, bass and a bit of banjo and it really opened up a whole new world of possibilities. Tunings, playing styles, and even transposing songs from one to the other.

Wizard

Alan Ratcliffe wrote: Learning a percussion instrument is probably one of the best things you can do for your playing of any other instrument.

Nitebob

I started noodling on the keyboard the other day, and ended up recording a song! ?

That made me understand bass lines more, seeing as the left hand fills the bases so nicely, something I could never figure out on a guitar or bass guitar.

I've decided to focus more on piano, but it is difficult because of piano's view as being more a classical instrument, any book I buy tends to have the first chapter explaining piano terms and the layout of a piano and the second chapter starts with "How to read music"

I have absolutely no desire to learn how to read music, I just wanna play!...and obviously work on technique...plus I need to sell some gear in order to buy a digital piano... ☹