As I was growing up, most of my guitar playing was learning to strum.
In the bands I played in, my role was to sing and play rhythm guitar. Through the years, I have focused on my singing/songwriting, and most of my guitar playing is still playing chords for the most part, these days generally on an acoustic guitar.
I think it's important as an artist, however, to push myself and stretch some, so once in awhile I pick up my electric guitar and work on a few lead guitar riffs and licks.
This time I took my Ibanez electric and did a little improvisation with some blues backing tracks. I B (Ibanez) Bluesin' (in Am) is the result.
It's no blues masterpiece, but it's me stretching myself a little out of my normal comfort zone to expand my musical horizons. When we do nothing but repeat the same patterns in our music over and over again, we grow complacent, and part of the passion and excitement of creativity is lost, both for ourselves and our listeners.
As listeners, I think it's important, too, to expand our horizons from time to time. Just listening to the same artists/songs/styles all the time, with no variations, robs us of the richness of music that's out there to be heard.
What will you do this week that will stretch your musical horizons, either as an artist or a music fan?
Leave your comments, and/or links to your own musical 'expanding your boundaries' efforts, whether as a musician, or new music you're listening to.
-♫ M ♫-