Feeling is everything in instrumental music. If you can’t feel it, no-one else will either.

Somebody asked me where I get the inspiration for the instrumental music I write and suggested that it would make a good article.

For me, inspiration comes from a lot of sources; plunking around on my guitar (which is defined as playing with, instead of playing it), messing around with a new chord or new variation of a chord, or sometimes on accident when I’m playing around with another riff.

Things in my life can inspire me and have a direct effect on what I write as well as the environment. I wrote “The Bard’s Song Part 1”* while sitting in my mom’s laundry room listening to a rainstorm. I wanted to be outside goofing off, but the weather didn’t permit it. I got to plunking around, and voila, a song was born. That’s what it is to me, too, they are born. The songs become my children, and I play with them and nurture them until they grow.

The best pieces I do aren’t forced but flow naturally from my heart to the fret board. I’ve tried to sit down and write songs, but they always end up sounding like I was trying to write them. Those pieces get put on a “back burner” until I have resolved something else, or until I can smooth them out at a later date when I’m not feeling the pressure. Sometimes they disappear into the void from whence they came, only to be found again years later.

My writing style is influenced a lot by my mood and by the people in my life at the time. Some pieces are inherently sad while others aren’t, and some are straight down the middle of the road. All of these conditions reflect where I am in my life at that time. The piece “Remember Me” was written to an ex girlfriend who had told me she was moving out to be with another man. I wanted to get all upset and throw things, etc, but instead, I wrote about it and relieved a lot of the pressure I was feeling. Music has always been like that for me, and when I can write an outlet, it allows me to share it on down the road.

When writing instrumental music, it’s important to be sure to catch the listener and hopefully be able to hold them. I played the cello for a long time and learned what I know about the technical side of music from that experience. People in the business call riffs that catch the listener 'hooks' which is really appropriate, if you ask me. That’s literally what they do- they hook you, and keep you interested. While it’s nice if the rhythm line is the hook, it’s not necessary. If you are writing an instrumental and it’s going to have more than one part, you can use the other parts or even fills for the hooks. You can always tell a good song by the way it flows from your heart to the fret board, and when you get that good flow going, the rhythm will probably be all the hook you need.

That flow makes song writing, whether instrumental or otherwise, easy. When it’s flowing, the music pours out of you like water from a jug, and it has the same effect on you. It washes over you like rain, cleansing your soul and moving you to a different place. I love that feeling. The only time it’s bad is when you get a riff that flows like that but doesn’t have anything to go with it. Sometimes I’ll get something like that stuck in my head for days, sometimes a lot longer until, while messing around with another riff, I find where the stuck riff fits. That’s always a lot of fun, too.

That’s the other thing I’ve found out about my music. It really needs to be fun. If I’m having a good time, I can write or plunk a piece to death for hours trying to find out what goes with it or where I need to take it. I can’t allow myself to try and force it though. It’s about having fun and enjoying what you’re doing. I’ve played for 7 hours straight, goofing off with a riff and not got bored. Feeling is everything in instrumental music. If you can’t feel it, no-one else will either.

Which brings me to solos. They are both my most and least favorite part. Sometimes, the riff will just flow right out of me and in just a few takes, I have a completed work. Other times, I’ll have to play a piece over and over a hundred times (or more) until I find what feels right. However, when I do find what feels right, it’s magical.

* The pieces referenced in this article can be heard at www.robertbard67206.com/SamplePieces