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Thanks!!

Geez why did they have to go and make the button so small?! No wonder I never noticed it :D

The other time I get good creative ideas is when i am basically asleep....but it's rare I wake up enough to write it down (I do keep a pad next to my bed). I just wake up in the morning thinking about how i was supposed to remember the thing i came up with....

I suppose that's a similar state to meditation, so maybe if i could bring myself to sit still for 5 minutes and meditate I could be more creative :?

I've had that experience before as well.

There was this 12 bar blues in G that I did with my band at the time (its still on my dmusic actually) but all we did was jam it out, and they all felt it needed lyrics, but I could never think of what they would be, or how they would fit, or how it could work at all. One night, while laying in bed, I thought of the lyrics. Not only that, but exactly how they would be sung, how they'd fit, and how it would all work. I had it down perfectly. It was a moment of epiphany. Fell asleep, woke up and couldn't remember it at all, and I still haven't to this day.

U2Bono269--Besoffene denken oft, dass sie besser Deutsch sprechen. Die Hauptschwierigkeit liegt darin, dass nüchterne Menschen sie kaum verstehen können, weil sie wie Besoffene reden!:wink:

Myself, I listen to music as well -- live, CD, it doesn't matter. And just playing is inspirational as well.

personally im a giggly drunk

i cant play smashed. i can, however, speak German.

but ive found a drink or two loosens me up and i feel more fluid because im relaxed. i play better when im not tense, and seeing as i'm just a tense guy, i tend to flub a bit.

but the key is moderation

I know what you mean about a drink loosening you up. Alcohol has always been fairly carefree in my family. It's just accepted that the 16 year olds and up can drink, in moderation at family parties and stuff. I have a large number of aunts, uncles, cousins and so on, so we have gigantic parties. There's always 3 or 4 acoustic guitars around at least. So we play for hours. However, I certainly wouln't be able to play hours of music which isn't my absolute favourites, withouth a drink of two.

But to keep on topic, I find good creative burst when not concentrating too hard. Just sitting around watching tv, or hanging out with guitars around and so on. Instead of trying to rack my brain to come up with something, I just play around with chords and riffs and stuff, and it usually devolps into something nice.

Paul

I've never really been a drug user so I can't comment on its effects.

I can, however, comment on alcohol, as I've drank my fair share (could float a battleship around). While I rarely drink to the point of silly drunk now-a-days, I do find that two to three drinks while playing really loosens me up and allows me to play better. My theory is that I over think stuff which can be limiting. After a few drinks, I stop thinking so much and just let things flow. It really helps my fingering and patterns seem to come to me better.

There is a limit though. For example, my buddies and I on one occasion all drank more than just a few beers. We recorded what we thought was a great jam session. The next day, however, I promptly deleted the session because it sounded like crap! Very sloppy, bad notes, bad timing, etc. It was amusing though because the mic picked up our comments and well, we were drunk. :) Had a good time though, just didn't come up with a good song!

Jason

A lot of my band members drink while playing. I replaced the drummer that replaced me because he didn't know when to quit. He would get stupid drunk to the point he couldn't even stay on the drum throne and who knows what happened during the 4th set. :roll:

In the past, I might have had a few too many but I take gigs very seriously. I go there to work, not socially stagger. Another reason is I get lousy when drinking and I know it doesn't sound good. I usually save the attitude adjustments until after I've completed a successful gig. I will tend to overdue it after an unsuccessful gig...J/K...haven't had any of those....

At a house party one night, I had quite a few to drink, and the topic of guitar playing came up. The father of the girl who was having the party was amazed that I could play guitar, and hadn't been doing so all night, so he brought out his young sons guitar. I just laughed and passed it to my friend, who also plays, and was in worse shape then I was. He pretty would have made a fool out of himself, but no one seemed to notice, so it wasn't to bad.

Paul

musenfreund, i have no idea what Besoffene means. I'm assuming it means drunks...

aber es scheint, dass ich besseres Deutsches nach einigen deutschen Bieren sprechen wuerde!

Being a vet of the late 70's I always thought that certain "States of Being" were important to my creativity, only after years of more bad things happening to me than good things did I kinda realize that what usually triggered my imagination was just a different experience. Good, bad, change of scenery, just something other than the usual stuff we all deal with to get by.

An example is going to a show, preferably a loud one, I get that "In the Groove" feeling just by the beat and volume!

I've also felt the same thing when something really bad has happened in my life and I feel the need to express myself when I can't (or won't) use "conventional means". I have to use whatever means necessary to be able to survive, and what works for me is music.

Inspiration comes in all forms and the hardest thing sometimes is recognizing it.

Although, maybe a beer or three is good for loosening up and easing up the inhibitions, just don't get too loose!

I agree with the Dog, most, if not all of the great masterpieces were done somewhat clean and sober, although, maybe the original idea might have been concieved, uhh, "in an altered state". I have yet to meet anyone who actually played better stoned than sober, if they claim to have done so then they need to record themselves and play it back when they are and judge for themselves...

This is a really good thread that hits pretty close to home for me, and thank you for letting me rant. I don't mean to lecture and hope that I didn't offend anyone, if I did, forgive me and realize that this is just my opinion. :)