Choosing Your Musical Genre

Listen to this secret before you say you already know what you play. You wouldn't want to miss out would you?


The Different Genres

The truth is, there is an infinite (Or at least close to) amount of genres available to create music for.

You could be Pop, Rock, Metal, Jazz, or Pop Rock, Or Jazz Metal, or Experimental Hard Latin Jazz Rock....You get the idea.

If You think You Have It All Figured Out..._______ !(hint: Look up)

So what if you're a Metal, Or a Rock, or Pop Artist. How can you be 100% sure that you wouldn't rather play another Genre of music? What about all these fusion Genres?

That is what I will be revealing to you today.


To Become Unique

In my own musical journey, the one thing I have always remembered is that Music is how I express myself in my own unique way. So what does this mean to you as an Artist?

You wanted something unique...

Without your own individual, unique, and creative ideas, music would cease to exist, and would become an anonymous machine.

Although you may be inspired by tens, and maybe hundreds of different talented artists, the one thing you need to remember is that you need not sound exactly like them.

For example, your goal as a musician should not be "to sound like an incredible band like Tool", instead a better and similar goal you should use is "I want to put as much dedication and emotion into my Music as Tool".

Do you understand the Difference?

2. You need to experiment with different genres of music.

As I mentioned above, you may think you are a Metal, Or Rock, Guitarist, but if you have never tried anything else, how can you be sure?

As I was growing up, I played a lot of jazz music, because that is what was offered in my school.

Now the truth is, I actually didn't like Jazz all that much, and always thought I was a Rock Guitarist/Drummer/Pianist/Singer. After playing music that I hated at the time, I realize that my favorite type of music to listen to and play are "Jazz Fusions". That basically means any other Genre Fused together with Jazz.

For Example, the band "Cynic" is a Jazz Metal Band.

The main point I'm making here is, if I had just dropped out of my school bands because I didn't want to expand myself, I would probably be playing some AC/DC crap. That would be a bad thing because there are already about a bajillion other guitarists who play that type of music.

Because I expanded myself, I became a unique musician, and when people hear the music I write, they say "Hey that sounds different, I don't think I've heard something like that before".

As a Musician, to hear someone say that is my Ultimate Goal.

3. When to stop.

So when do you stop this endless changing of Genres?

Well you started as a Metal Guitarist, and then you thought you would try out some blues. That was interesting because you weren't used to using that "Stevie-Ray-Vaughan" tone before.

After that you moved on to some Pop, and was surprised to find out the type of complex chords that some Pop uses.

Then you decided to try a little Flamenco music, and the Acoustic Guitar licks just enthralled you.

After that you moved on to Jazz, but it just didn't seem as interesting as the Others.

STOP!

This is the point to stop. When the next genre you move on to just doesn't seem as interesting to you, you know you have found your niche.

Stop! There are simply too many strings!

Now if you want to try testing a few more just to make sure, that would be a good Idea, just to make sure. But in the example, you can be safe to say that this Guitarist has become a Flamenco Guitar Player.

Isn't that interesting, considering he started as a Metal Guitarist?


To Summarize

• If you do not push on to different genres of music and expand yourself, you might end up settling for music that doesn't make you as happy as you could be.
• Keep trying new things until they stop being interesting, it is at that point that you have found your niche.

  
  
  
  If you haven't done so already:
  
  (That's A Clue!)

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