Quick intro: I've been hacking around for 20 years, self-taught, playing Beatles and Stones songs, blues jams, etc. wanting to learn more. I finally found GMC and I love it. My speed and general fretboard knowledge has really increased rapidly. I've noticed, though, that my phrasing sometimes gets stifled with all this new knowledge. Like I'm thinking too much about "what to play next" with so many more options from what I've learned. It takes me longer to get "in the zone" - (you know, when you rip a sick phrase seemingly out of nowhere and it sounds great). Is this normal? Does this happen to anyone else? Any tips to quickly get to that magical place of not thinking so much?

Any tips are welcome - the talent level here is astounding! Kudos to you all!

-Kiz

I think it mostly requires practice to integrate the new techniques and riffs into your muscle memory. You've been playing the old ones for years, you don;t even think about them. The newer ones are still at a more conscious level and take away some brain power. More practice and you won't even need to think about it

I feel your pain...not only is it hard integrating new techniques with soulful phrasing, i'm finding it equally hard to "unlearn" all of my old musical cliches. Overcoming muscle memory is hard to do. If I have an upcoming gig, I just try and integrate ONE new lick into my otherwise overused bag of tools. Since I know what licks I will probably fall back on during any given song, I try to practice throwing in something new during my personal pre-gig practice/warmup time.

When I'm not learning new techniques, or running scales, arpeggios etc..part of my regular practice time is spent just "noodling." This is when like to really concentrate on integrating new techniques, because if I don't do it during this time, you guessed it...I play the same old stuff. So what once was my "noodling" time has now gotten a little deeper in scope and practice. Hope that helps a little.
bart

Ahh, that's the answers I was hoping for (so I know I'm not a spaz).

"How do you get to Carnegie Hall?"

"Practice, man, practice."

When I want to evolve my improvisation, I usually just make some badass hard licks and create a solo. I just practice it slow untill I get it right. And after a while I can use those licks while improvising.

Thanks for the tip - I will try this.

-Kiz