Getting away from the notes on the page

[1987]

Hi all,

I am having a lot of trouble adding my own personal touch to songs and am looking for some advice on what to do.

My usual method for learning a song is to transcribe (in musical notation) the bass line note for completely with the chords and I'll try to have a basic understanding of the melody. From then on I'll learn the lines and try to imitate the original player as closely as possible. This has been great for my musicality, as I am constantly in the situation of having to learn new material. The problem is that I get so hung up on the notes on the page I can't add my own unique bits and pieces and when I do it always sounds average and I'll often freak out and screw up. I'm always getting told; 'You need to get away from the chart, man'.

Has anyone else had this same problem and overcome it? Any advice/help is much appreciated.

[cowsgomoo]

for songs, a really powerful and effective thing you can do is to make complementing the vocals the focus of your own fills & melodic deviations from the written notes... 2 or 3 of the right notes placed to echo, counterpoint, harmonize or even sound in unison with a vocal phrase can be infinitely more effective than 15-16 notes out of context

it's an old old cliche but if you use your ears and react to what's going on around you, the notes will usually take care of themselves...