Rip 'em off!

"Borrow with taste" is what Fred Coury of Cinderella said...

Yes sir, that's good advice!

A wealth of sonic treasure and brilliant ideas are within the reach of most musicians, but few seem to see it.

Where is this bank of fresh material, grooving grooves, and incandescent tone?

Outside of your genre.

If we listen to the same style all of the time, especially if it's the style we play, we shouldn't be surprised if all we can write are licks of a similar style. We might run out of new ideas. A common misconception is that we've got writer's block. We do, in a way, but there's an easy fix.

Adding a new style to our daily listening can vastly improve our creativity. Infusing elements of new genres into "our style" might be thought of robbing distant lands to bring goodies back home.

When R&B licks start showing up in our rock playing, we might have Hendrix. Classical in a metal format is extraordinarily well done. Just ask Randy Rhoads or Yngwie Malmsteen.

Think Jazz never shreds and burns like rock? Then you haven't heard Scott Henderson, Wayne Krantz, or Mike Stern!

These are some of the guys that have combined elements of vastly different genres to yield a unique sonic stew.

Why not try this yourself?

Here's some suggested starting places:

Do a YouTube search on:

Charlie Parker
Charlie Hunter
Beethoven
T-Bone Walker
Albert King
Latin Jazz
Victor Wooten
Jason Becker
Pavarotti

And remember this: What you listen to, you end up playing. Wanna get some old blues in your playing? Listen to Robert Johnson. Are you a metalhead looking for some spooky sounds, but you can't drop tune any lower? Check out some classical tunes - some of 'em are pretty scary. It's almost that simple! You are what you eat, and you play what you hear.

Have fun!