keep falling into rhythmic patterns

[loveandbass]

im not sure i can really explain this well but it seems that sometimes I fall into a rhythmic pattern that I cant get out of. Almost as if it seems to risky or that I feel i wont be able to successfully transition into a new pattern. Im talking about this happening when playing uptempo groove music and a lot of the time I can lock into a great phrase and stay with it but I dont know.....I sometimes feel like if i dont play enough notes the attention is on me and if I play too many notes the attention is also on me. I dont want the attention on me. I want to just be there, and have variation in my lines but not the same riff over and over. end rant/

[puddin tame]

stop thinking about it, worrying will only harm your playing.

one thing I do when practicing though is if I catch myself playing the same lick or style or rhythm too much I will just make a rule "I am not allowed to play that" and then I force myself to adapt

[loveandbass]

thats good advice....im trying to alter the riff ever so slightly bar after bar until it morphs into something different and so on.

[tangentmusic]

Do you find yourself falling into the same patterns in different songs?
Or do you mean within a single song, you tend to play the same pattern over & over?
If you are playing the same patterns no matter the song, or in several different tunes, then I see you are in a rut. You will need to purposefully force yourself to do something as different as possible.
If you tend to play the same patterns during a single song, whats wrong with that?
Just try to vary it slightly for your own enjoyment.

[loveandbass]

sometimes in different songs....its weird though because when we jam they are all like "wow dude, way to hold it down" and Im thinking to myself " i just played total ****"

[tangentmusic]

We all tend to have our "Comfort Zones". But the key is to try to build as many zones as possible. Playing within different styles of music will help develop that

[Alivefor5]

I understand your rant completely - however - to play devil's advocate: "Ostinato" (the Italian musical term for 'repetitive') is a huge part of "groove". Nothing like locking in with a drummer on a repetitive phrase.

[Fergie Fulton]

As has been stated the "groove" you play is not the same as the options you have in the "groove". The simple answer is to increase your available musical vocabulary to draw on. Listen to lots of various types of music and listen to the way the notes move within the structure of the song.
Part of the problem you will encounter is not changing the substance of a song for the sake of it, changing it in a way that does not keep it faithful to genre or original intent. And in other ways this is a good thing because it is what you are looking for but a balance has to be found and understood.

In the link is a band who like Dread Zeppelin were highly original verging on near genius for having the ideas in the fist place.
Like Dread Zeppelin Black Sweden have their critics on both sides who hate what they do...i think it is great because it music out of the box.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uD7ZLe5Nauc

and here is some Dred Zep as well..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CZHWy...eature=related

[curlyback]

Everytime I copy a song I try to learn at least one pattern out of it. As you copy and practice more I think you can come up with useful rhythm patterns more easily.

[Col Pruse]

Originally Posted by loveandbass

im not sure i can really explain this well but it seems that sometimes I fall into a rhythmic pattern that I cant get out of. Almost as if it seems to risky or that I feel i wont be able to successfully transition into a new pattern. Im talking about this happening when playing uptempo groove music and a lot of the time I can lock into a great phrase and stay with it but I dont know.....I sometimes feel like if i dont play enough notes the attention is on me and if I play too many notes the attention is also on me. I dont want the attention on me. I want to just be there, and have variation in my lines but not the same riff over and over. end rant/

If it's a jam, there's nothing wrong with stopping and working your way into something else. Might also build a little tension into the jam.

I think I expressed a similar concern to a guy I was taking lessons from and he told me a funny story about Miles Davis telling Coltrane that his solos were going on too long. Coltrane said, 'sometimes I get going and just don't know how to stop.' And Miles says, " motherf*cker, take the damn horn out yer mouth.' something like that...