Category: Jam Session
Well, I've got a Taylor acoustic guitar at home and was wondering if anyone could give me some tips as to writing songs on the guitar. I'm much better at writing songs on the piano and keyboards, but I'd like to expand my horizons and start writing on the guitar. Basically, I'd like to stay away from generic chords and chord progressions, so are there any methods, tips, tricks that you use maybe to come up wih ideas and do you use chord charts?
Thanks1
get in touch with me via e mail and we can discuss this. I'll need to send you some audio examples etc. That goes for anybody else with music questions as well.
Hey, Cam, thanks!
Well, first, let me tell you I'm a keyboard player who plays some guitar. I don't like to hear keyboardists who don't try to get to know the instrument they're playing. I mean, Boogie Woogie Guitar might be interesting, but it doesn't work for me. Had to get that off my chest, sorry. In answer to your question, you might experiment with different tunings. One that lends itself to some interesting chords for me is what is called DADGAD. Starting with the low E strin, you tune the guitar in the order of the letters so the the sixth string is tuned to a D, the fifth to an A, etc. I don't know how old you are, but if you can get ahold of some really old Joanie Mitchell albums, she does a lot with odd tunings. When I used to play way more guitar than I do now, alternate tunings gave me many a good idea for songs/arrangements, kinda the same way that sounds from various synthesizers do now. God luck!