Community Challenge 39 | Write something "sign painter style" (Patreon)

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Hi Everyone,

What the heck do I mean by "sign painter style?" 

To be honest, I'm not sure yet. But I watched this video of a guy doing some brush lettering this week and I was feeling inspired. 

Sometimes when you're writing music, it can be useful (and fun!) to draw inspiration from something or someone outside of music. In this case, we've got a guy showing how a steady hand and a lot of practice can result in some beautiful lettering. He's not doing anything very complex. He's not stopping to think. Not second guessing or analyzing his progress so far. There isn't room for that. He's just doing something he's done a million times.

For musicians, it's easy to write a little bit, and then stop to wonder if it could be different. I've also had this thought more than a few times: "If it's hard for me to play, it must be good music." This is not always the case. In fact, I try to ignore that reasoning because it usually leads me down the wrong path.

On the flip side, there are things most of us do that are not very difficult at all for us. Maybe it's a pentatonic scale. Maybe it's a few chords you're very comfortable with. Maybe there is a certain scale in a certain position that you always warm up with. Use these things as your starting point.

For this challenge, try writing something thats easy FOR YOU, being sure to emphasize the "FOR YOU" part.

Whatever comes naturally, whatever feels comfortable, whatever that stuff is that you usually noodle around with, try starting there.

You don't have to record in one take, but if you're doing take after take and still not getting it, that might mean you're not in your comfort zone!

Wether you write a whole song, a chord progression, multiple tracks, or a very simple single-guitar pentatonic noodle, start writing from a place where you're very comfortable. The results might feel simple, because they will be easy for YOU.

Post your creation here, on the community forum.

Why is this a valuable exercise?

We all want to make interesting music. Sometimes it's important to recognize what's comfortable to us. It's also important to recognize that you can make interesting music without trying too hard because you're already an interesting person!

Yes, it's important to push yourself to improve yourself through technique, understanding, and experimentation, but it's just as important to recognize that the things you create when you're not putting in a lot of effort ALSO have a unique fingerprint on them. On top of that, people often forget that performing and writing music is first and foremost about connecting with people. We are all capable of feeling like we need to be more interesting, more impressive, more novel - but it's important to sit back and remember that, without trying very hard, you can just be yourself without trying too hard. Not only does that sound nice, but it can be very relaxing and meditative to make AND to listen to. Try it out! Find your comfort zone. Your wheelhouse. Hang out there for a bit. Write something. See what you think.

Check out the Lesson Archive for more Community Challenges