Creative Inspiration

Hey guys,

I have been playing off and on now for about 12 years and have been with GMC now for almost two months. I find the lessons here very helpful and can see myself improving greatly. Lately though I have been having a problem with a feeling of lack of creativity. I mean, after every practice session, I will try to write my own riffs/songs but sometime I think that I could never write something that makes someone else go "Man, that was awesome, I got chills from that." Do you think that the more someone progresses in knowledge of music that the better they would get creatively or is being an artist something that you have inside and if you don't have it, you don't have it?

A good friend of mine that I grew up with (and jammed with) went on to form his own band and I guess I have been feeling regret for not pursuing it with more passion then. I have been feeling an itch lately to start/join a band but now that I am almost 29 I have been feeling lately that it is too late for me.

Anyway, any insight would be helpful.

Thank you fellow GMC'ers.

Warm Up

Hey guys,

What do you do to warm up and stretch your fingers before practicing? I have attached a text doc that shows what I do but I am wondering if there is something better out there. Move each exercise up a string ending on the low E.

Thx for any input.

Peace.

Muya!

Sup fellow metal heads!?

Kristofer - this is a awesome site you have put together. I have been playing for about 10 years and my first lesson here was relearning the Pentatonic scale shapes. Your vids and explanations are super easy to follow. I can already see an improvement. THX!

Here's a little history:

Bought my first guitar (black Peavey Predator) in 1990 - I was 12 - and started taking lessons. Heard Metallica's ..And Justice For All record (still my fav) and instantly wanted to be like Kirk Hammett. Bought Kill 'Em All, Ride The Lightning and Master of Puppets and tried to learn every song (I'm still working on it BTW). From the Black album through Load, ReLoad, St. Anger - Metallica has been my biggest influence throughout this whole crazy ride!

Other influences include Randy Rhoads (RIP), Jimi Hendrix (RIP), Slash, Soundgarden, STP, Audioslave (yeah I am a huge Chris Cornell fan too), Shinedown, Buckcherry, Godsmack, Disturbed, System Of A Down...

I regrettably put the guitar down after high school - still can't remember why - but recently picked it up again about a year ago and can't put it down (I would wear it to work if I could)!

C-ya 'round!!!

Peace.

-Juice