what your hands have built up a strong sense of muscle memory for and from that noticing you can start to purposefully double down on what you like and intentionally try to steer away from the routines you ’ d like to change up .
RIFF , RUN , REPEAT
Every classic sports movie has a single thing in common : they all feature a minimum of one montage showing the athlete striving away , late into the night , as they practice the same repetitive actions over , and over , and over again until it ’ s perfect . Michael Jordan practicing his crossover , Rocky Balboa his bob and weave , you get the picture .
When it comes to your ‘ default riffs ’, the ones you ’ ve already developed unintentionally , there ’ s no shortcut to rewriting them . Since those ideas , rhythms , and note combinations have been stewing for so long they ’ re more muscle memory than musical thought and the only surefire way to adapt is to practice , repetitively , over time so your mind and hands can build up new and different routines .
High level athletes and any other skilled tradesperson knows this truth . It takes a ton of time and repetition to develop the ability to pull off a complex skill , effortlessly .
TIME TO CROSSOVER
As you work to more purposefully build up a stable of riffs , runs , and other melodic ideas you can sprinkle into your playing , you may soon find your ability to generate them under your own steam can vary dramatically based on mood , energy level , or some intangible spark of inspiration ( or lack thereof ).
In the times where you find yourself needing a jump start , it ’ s tempting to return to your favorite pieces , artists , or genres of music to get your creative juices flowing again . This can be helpful but remember that those initial ruts of ‘ default riffs ’ that you built up were likely tilled from that same soil .
In essence , if you ’ re consistently inspired by the same few sources , your creativity will likely dwell within that same , limited stream .
The times you feel uninspired can instead be an opportunity to crossover into genres that are less familiar , comforting , or homey to you and see what can be found to shake things up . If you commonly play CCM , check out some gospel . If you play gospel every weekend , find a rising indie artist , etc .
Diversifying your creative influences will pay dividends in new musical ideas and help you avoid being the ‘ that one riff ’ person in your own band . Let ’ s leave that role open for our guitarist friends , shall we ?
David Pfaltzgraff Founder and Lead Sound Designer at SundaySounds . com , a site that resources worship keys players and guitarists around the world . David currently resides in Des Moines , IA with his wife and two boys . He enjoys volunteering in his church ’ s worship ministry , old synthesizers , and a good super-hero movie .
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