jellodog
Rock Star
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So I've been feeling a little sad this week, because I've got lots of time off of work due to hand surgery, when I could be playing guitar but I'm unable to play guitar.
Half my hand is encased within rigid plaster.
I would only really be able to use the index finger on my right fretting hand to fret notes. My middle finger is technically free but it won't bend around enough to be used without stressing the rest of my bound fingers which are still tender and recovering.
So I can't play guitar, right?
Wrong!
After a few days of soreness and not being able to use the guitar, I started to think about gamification of one finger playing. I thought that one finger playing would be boring because it would be mostly sliding up and down a single string like you do when using an ebow except that I wouldn't be using an ebow.
But what if I worked around the open strings not just doing simple drones but swapping out different open strings around the single notes to make it seem like I was playing more complex arrangements, arpeggios and harmonies? The game would be the challenge to come up with the most interesting and musical phrases within these limitations.
I managed to come up with a new style of playing that had enough harmonic interest to be quite satisfying, especially with the use of extra pedals to add saturation delay, reverb and vibrato.
All this to say that it's true that sometimes when you have less options and restrictions to creativity, it can actually help in that endeavour. Oftentimes its restrictions that actually boost creativity.
Of course I don't wanna be playing like this forever, but it's actually been pretty good fun and has satisfied me for this week. Hopefully next week my hand will be out of the cast.
Half my hand is encased within rigid plaster.
I would only really be able to use the index finger on my right fretting hand to fret notes. My middle finger is technically free but it won't bend around enough to be used without stressing the rest of my bound fingers which are still tender and recovering.
So I can't play guitar, right?
Wrong!
After a few days of soreness and not being able to use the guitar, I started to think about gamification of one finger playing. I thought that one finger playing would be boring because it would be mostly sliding up and down a single string like you do when using an ebow except that I wouldn't be using an ebow.
But what if I worked around the open strings not just doing simple drones but swapping out different open strings around the single notes to make it seem like I was playing more complex arrangements, arpeggios and harmonies? The game would be the challenge to come up with the most interesting and musical phrases within these limitations.
I managed to come up with a new style of playing that had enough harmonic interest to be quite satisfying, especially with the use of extra pedals to add saturation delay, reverb and vibrato.
All this to say that it's true that sometimes when you have less options and restrictions to creativity, it can actually help in that endeavour. Oftentimes its restrictions that actually boost creativity.
Of course I don't wanna be playing like this forever, but it's actually been pretty good fun and has satisfied me for this week. Hopefully next week my hand will be out of the cast.
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, but looks like you found your happy place.
