Tip for writing creative music:  Write with an instrument you can’t play

A bunch of you now think I’m completely nuts, huh?

If you could see my music studio in my house, the first thing you’d notice is “this guy has a lot of instruments!”  The thing is, I don’t really know how to play everything I have.  I play the guitar, the bass, the drums, and the piano… but in my studio you’ll also find several different kinds of hand percussion, a bohdran, harmonicas, several different kinds of flutes/recorders, a mandolin, a ukulele, a mini glockenspiel (like, the plastic kind), train whistles,  rain makers, triangles, cowbells, woodblocks, and several other things that I’m probably forgetting.

One thing I should note… when I don’t know how to play an instrument, and I plan on buying it anyway, I buy the cheapest version that I can.  Those of you who really play the ukulele would laugh at the $20 version I have.  You Mandolin players out there probably wouldn’t even want to pick mine up because you’d fear the sound that would come out of the instrument. 

But I buy them anyway, because it’s a good way for me to experiment to see whether or not I like the instrument enough to invest in a better quality one.  Any time I make a purchase at a music store, whether local or online, I tend to look around for cheap instruments that I can tack onto my purchase.  I also often hit up the toy departments when I go shopping, just to see if there are any instruments or noise-makers that I can add to my collection.

But besides testing the waters looking for my next instrument obsession, having these things around can lead to musical creativity from time to time as well.

I’m going to give an example.

I wrote a song once called “Amazing And True”.  You can click HERE to listen to it if you want to.

I wrote the main riff by picking up my newly acquired Mandolin.  I had no idea how to play the Mandolin (still don’t), so, my only option was to start messing around looking for a good sound.  Since I’m a guitar player, I started looking around for guitar-like arpeggio riffs.  I ended up writing something that sounds like… well, it sounds like a guitar player messing around with a Mandolin… but my point is, because of the tuning on the Mandolin, it’s something that I probably would not have written on a guitar, and it gives the song a different feel, since the Mandolin strings have a completely different sound than guitar strings would playing a similar part.

So my tip to you today… go to toy stores, thrift stores, garage sales, and buy up all of the instruments and noise-makers you can find.  Then take them home, and instead of trying to learn the “right” way of playing them, just start trying to make music.

If you come up with something, send it to me!

Related posts:

1. Write A Song Without Touching An Instrument
2. Home Made Instruments – Example of a Simple Instrument In Use
3. Write Your Own Backing Music Online
4. Why do we try to be musically creative?
5. Write Music With A Deck of Cards