Can’t think of what to play

[Dave Bryce]

I’m having an odd situation occur.  Hoping I can get some help/suggestions from y’all.

 

I’m not really playing in a band right now so I don’t really have any tunes to learn or practice, and I’m not working on any recording projects.  Consequently, when I sit down to play keyboards or pick up a guitar, I’m having difficulty choosing what to play.  I don’t feel like doing scales or exercises, and I’m not really inspired to sit and improvise (which is what I usually do when I sit down to play with no immediate goals).  I’ve even tried working with newer instruments to try and learn more about them…but I’m having trouble coming up with material to play while I’m exploring.

 

Is this a problem any of you come across?  If so, what do you do to move past it?

 

dB

[jejefunkyman]

Yes of course, I think this is something that can happen from time to time 🤣 For me what works the best in that case, is to try learning new tunes I like just for the sake of getting more knowledge in various areas of music or piano playing, and pure self enjoyment. With all the music available out there, I'm pretty sure you can always find something to get your brain and fingers working on. 

 

Or the other option is to revisit some old stuff I've not played for a while to be sure I can still play it or reactivate my muscle memory.

[Floyd Tatum]

6 minutes ago, Dave Bryce said:

I’m not really playing in a band right now so I don’t really have any tunes to learn or practice, and I’m not working on any recording projects.  Consequently, when I sit down to play keyboards or pick up a guitar, I’m having difficulty choosing what to play.  I don’t feel like doing scales or exercises, and I’m not really inspired to sit and improvise (which is what I usually do when I sit down to play with no immediate goals).  I’ve even tried working with newer instruments to try and learn more about them…but I’m having trouble coming up with material to play while I’m exploring.    Is this a problem any of you come across?  If so, what do you do to move past it?    dB

I hear you, Dave.    I like to be working towards a goal, being part of a project.   Not sure if I have a solution for you, but just wanted to commiserate.

[Paul Woodward]

Surely just the musical equivalent of writers block. I am a designer, artist and educator as well as a musician and it happens across the board. Somedays you are inspired, others not.

As a designer, I like a brief and a deadline, its ingrained into me by now so I find that for playing I need a focus like writing a track, learning an arrangement or some new software....something with a definable target.

Without them I either just twiddle until Im bored or worse, just dont bother 😞

[Dave Bryce]

4 minutes ago, Paul Woodward said:

I like a brief and a deadline, its ingrained into me by now so I find that for playing I need a focus like writing a track, learning an arrangement or some new software....something with a definable target.

Without them I either just twiddle until Im bored or worse, just dont bother 😞

 

Exactly my problem.

 

dB

[Bill H.]

4 minutes ago, Floyd Tatum said:

I hear you, Dave.    I like to be working towards a goal, being part of a project.   Not sure if I have a solution for you, but just wanted to commiserate.

 

I have to have something in front of me in order to hit the keys - even if it's just playing for a family get together. I never thought I'd feel this way when I was younger. I'd play just to play for hours back then. Anyway that's my motivation currently. I know I'll be called on to play something for my youngest son's family when I visit this spring. 

 

I'll be very interested in what others who aren't currently gigging or working on projects have to say. 

[Docbop]

I just listen to some new music or even old stuff I mainly listen to but not played.   Then I get into a song and then just grab my guitar or keys and start jamming along.   I I really get into it then figure it out cop some line etc.   I let music guide me to some music that makes me want to play it. Sometimes its a new genre so it opens up a whole new world to explore.   

[KuruPrionz]

Write lyrics with no regard to melody. 

Allow yourself to create absurd nonsense, brutal depravity, joy and everything else that is pent up inside your skull.

[David R]

When lockdown hit in March 2020, I threw myself into various things that I deeply love that got lost in the shuffle of constantly gigging & working. I went back to bebop/hard bop/straightahead (Bird, Hank Mobley, Bud Powell) and dusted off some of the Bach Inventions.

 

Another thing I would do is tune into a live DJ broadcast on Twitch or on radio, and try and play along with the songs as quickly as possible.

 

When I get stuck in ruts like that, I will dive into music I know in passing or barely at all. Something totally outside my comfort zone that might inspire me in a way I can’t imagine.

[GovernorSilver]

I have some songs that I practice - not for a band or any particular project - just for the pleasure of playing and listening.  They are arranged for solo fingerstyle guitar.

 

I'm more like Dave when it comes to keys.   I need to be working on a cover or something like that.

[CyberGene]

I’d suggest learning classical piano pieces. Pick a composer or genre you like and hit IMSLP.org for free public domain scans. I can spend the rest of my life doing that and won’t get bored 😀

[jejefunkyman]

Yes I think classical music is an endless source of material to explore 😂

[Dave Bryce]

12 minutes ago, GovernorSilver said:

I have some songs that I practice - not for a band or any particular project - just for the pleasure of playing and listening.  They are arranged for solo fingerstyle guitar.

 

I’m kind of the same.  I can wander around on guitar playing cover songs and just exploring chord changes and scale fingerings on guitar more easily/longer than keys these days.  Probably because I’ve spent way less time getting guitar songs ready for bands or recording, so my expectations aren’t as locked in.

 

7 minutes ago, CyberGene said:

I’d suggest learning classical piano pieces. Pick a composer or genre you like and hit IMSLP.org for free public domain scans. I can spend the rest of my life doing that and won’t get bored 😀

 

I don’t read as well as I probably should, so classical music past things like Bach inventions or Hanon exercises aren’t something for which I typically reach.

 

dB

[CyberGene]

7 minutes ago, Dave Bryce said:

I don’t read as well as I probably should, so classical music past things like inventions or Hanson exercises aren’t something for which I typically reach.

There’s still a lot of repertoire that’s relatively easy to read and play while still giving you room to try to make it “sing” which is just another aspect of feel and creativity. Things like certain Bach pieces, parts of Mozart and Beethoven sonatas. Chopin’s Mazurkas, misc works from Schubert, Schumann, Grieg, Debussy. Of course, if you’re interested in classical music at all 🙂

[ksoper]

I've got a project that I need to finish and then...nothing.  I'm terrified that I have nothing left to say and that from here on out it'll be mindless noodling.  Historically most of my creative process is done away from the studio and primarily in the car or while doing yard work. But I'm just not hearing anything lately. It'll be ok, though.  I love what modern film and commercial composers are doing and even snippets of those kinds of things set me off in new directions.  But again, I chase rabbits in my head away from the keyboard.  

 

When I did commissioned tracks and needed to do 4-5 in a two day period I was able to accomplish that. I work well with a deadline.  However that work has fallen off and my new deadline is an actual dead line.  Without getting too morbid it's clear that the hourglass is getting bottom heavy.  I'm opening myself up to anything that can be used as inspiration--the sounds of nature, industry, conversation, etc.  It's all music.  

 

But if I don't have an impetus the gear doesn't get turned on.  And that's ok.  I'll get back to it.  Interestingly enough over the last 20 years I had the foresight to run red anytime I felt the urge to noodle.  Going back through ancient files I've found a few things that could be fleshed out.  

 

Deep breath.  It'll be ok.  

[Lou_NC]

I keep a 3-ring binder of about 15-20 of my favorite fake book jazz standards (think Sinatra-ish tunes) on my music stand, and just run through them in order.  Takes all the "thinking" out of it.........

 

I also keep an old iPod (remember those?😄) connected to my mixer, and it has all my MP3's on it.  I hit "shuffle" and if the song strikes my fancy I'll play along a keyboard part to it.  If I don't like the song I just fast forward past it.  

 

I keep myself easily entertained this way.........

 

Lou

[ProfD]

Learn songs anyway.  In the absence of a band or project, practice and play as if you're preparing for a solo gig.😎

[jerrythek]

Are there any tunes/band’s music that you like but have never learned to play? Pick some of those and learn them just because…

[GovernorSilver]

1 hour ago, Dave Bryce said:

 

I’m kind of the same.  I can wander around on guitar playing cover songs and just exploring chord changes and scale fingerings on guitar more easily/longer than keys these days.  Probably because I’ve spent way less time getting guitar songs ready for bands or recording, so my expectations aren’t as locked in.

 

Cool.

 

When I practice the solo fingerstyle tunes I pick one thing to clean up for that day.  Most of my rough spots are in the transitions from one position to another.   I got more serious about playing fingerstyle just a few years ago, but progressed enough that when I tried the Ortega 8-string nylon string in the store, the salesman asked me if I was a classical guitarist.

 

I bought so many courses on TrueFure, then got the Pickup Music subscription, so i'm always learning something new on guitar.  The free online classes  hosted by Pickup Music provide more motivation than I expected.  I underestimated how I'd feel seeing all these fellow learners online asking questions and what note.  Classes are at least once a week, but they'll be hosting 5 next week.

[timwat]

A wise "renaissance" friend of mine (he is a musician, sculptor, poet, painter, metallurgist, and more), once gave me advice when I was complaining to him about my version of writer's block. He told me, "Amateurs wait for inspiration. Professionals go to work every day".

 

He went on to remind me the only compose was to regularly compose, knowing that 70% of it will be utter crap, but you have to go through that in order to arrive at the 30% that is at least worthy of a second look and further editing / polishing / revision. The hard part is showing up with focus when I just seem to be rolling out utter crap.

 

You're no newbie at this, Dave. Maybe taking a blank piece of paper and writing out a goal and a deadline would help. "Write an etude with three meaningful sections by the end of the day." "Reimagine one Tears for Fears song using only two hardware synths and one plug in by 3pm." I don't know, wonder if that would begin to lay the groundwork that occasionally leads to good results?

 

Just my 0.02.  Oh, and the magic of writing the objective out with paper and pen cannot be underestimated either. Dunno if that's helpful.

 

 

[Dave Bryce]

Many useful suggestions here.  Greatly appreciated!

 

dB

[ProfD]

6 minutes ago, Dave Bryce said:

Many useful suggestions here.  Greatly appreciated!

Brotha dB, I know you didn't expect any less from the KC family.😁 

 

Now, when time permits, plop yo' azz down at the piano or pick up the geetar and get busy...play anything.🤣😎

[D. Gauss]

Don't know about you, but if I was in your situation, I'd try and take the time to get this to at least 1/100th as good as my buddy Arthur plays it here. (sadly, I never will)

 

 

 

[elif]

That happens.  I usually end up doing a transcription or arranging something new for the band.

[David Emm]

Interesting. I get inspired by the occasional 3rd-party patch set, where I always find a nice core sub-group of inspiring sounds or loops. I sometimes pick an E-mu Planet Earth loop that piques my interest, tweeze it into shape and use it as a superior form of metronome. That tends to suggest all sort of things once I get rolling. I once fretted over it being like just pushing Play, until I learned to shrug that off, because everything else is hand-made. Its *vaguely* like Keith Richards saying "Charlie Watts is the musical bed I lie on."  
 
Sometimes, I reverse that process and lay down a massive pad, which I use for some mutant harp support or the like. You can make one hell of an evocative lead from an SEM/Elka-X blend and a bit of delay. Its instant New Age, as long as you don't get lazy.

   

Then there are the wannabe chamber orchestra things, which are very instructive, because the demands are so different from a synth stack. I have to think differently to make the sculpting process work.

 

I always have several things in progress so I can pick one that suits my mood. I'm amused by how quickly some pieces come together and how other lie dormant for many moons. Then they blossom like mad. The gestation period is unpredictable.   
 
As the Oblique Strategies card says (IIRC), "Once the search has begun, something will be found."

[AUSSIEKEYS]

12 hours ago, Dave Bryce said:

If so, what do you do to move past it?

 

 

I go & paint model soldiers / model making which could be for hours (or less until my back complains). Or in the past restoring vintage cars (before health ended that) or any of my myriad of stupid hobbies. 

 

Once i get tired of that i jump on the piano for an hour or so and noodle until Im prompted to pull out some of my old repertoire or learn a new song. If i don't feel it i dont sweat it.

 

Basically I've tricked myself into thinking im not officially practising anything just taking a break from my hobbies as I hate the thought of official practice time or formality.

 

So to be honest unless i have a live situation coming up that im practising for I find I don't really get a big kick out of hearing myself play and sing. Between bands I'm easily swayed from practising. Or am I just a lazy bastard?

 

I really need to be currently playing to audiences to make me commit to heavy practising of which once in a band I'm gung ho with heaps of practising and trying new songs and writing their charts (Infact far more intense practise then fellow band members i must say). Going from someone who's not that interested in practising to a rabid practise/chart writing wolf. The chart writing is important as it helps me learn the song.

 

As your not gigging or studio working presently do you have a non musical hobby or pastime that could or does engross you for a while so that when you enter the studio your happy to noodle till something flows.

 

Ive just formed/joined a new duo so im presently in my practising / chart writing phase where it's over shadowing my model making. We've got at least 70 to 100 songs to join together so i have 50 of his songs to learn and write into my chart style so its presently heavier practise for me now

 

Basically can you use another hobby to make you feel when you sit at the piano its not a chore of regimenting yourself to a proper practice but a break from the other hobby

 

 

This is a bit of an "out of the box" non musical solution / suggestion so im not sure if my explanation is coherent as I do tend to ramble on. (Unless Im making a joke). Hee hee

 

 

 

 

 

 

[schmalex]

I like practicing more advanced piano transcripts of artists like Elton John, Billy Joel, etc to practice the techniques that they use, even if they were originally improvised or not.

[mate stubb]

I always go back to Bach.

[jazzpiano88]

Master the Frasier variations in all 12 keys?
 

Along those lines though….  Take a few of your favorite songs to play and master them in a new key.  
Get that key into your muscle comfort zone.    I’ve been doing this a lot and it’s both fun and rewarding.  

[AUSSIEKEYS]

2 minutes ago, jazzpiano88 said:

Master the Frasier variations in all 12 keys?

 

OMG that made me laugh.

So very topical here recently

I vote for this.