The Jamming Toolbox

Every player should have their own musical toolbox; a collection of riffs and progressions they can always fall back on.  In order to get to this step it is important to be aware of your own personal style.  Do you notice that there are certain riffs or licks that you play often?  Are there strumming patterns that you always seem to fall into? These are marks that you are developing a style.  Every player, at least to some degree, has a style.  A style can be as simple as a combination of the musical styles of others with your own added flair or as ground breaking as developing new genres and delving into uncharted musical space.

Once you recognize your style, expand on it.  Develop new riffs and melodies that follow this style.  You will continue to develop and expand this musical toolbox forever and it should never stop growing.  Now when you go into a new jam you will have some ammunition. 

It is very important to always keep expanding your sound and not merely resort to old overplayed riffs.  When this happens things may get stale.  I have always been of the school of though that keeping music inventive is always a very important part in musical development.

I have included the “Paranoid Android” video in full color animation.

-Heavy