anyone else loses creativity with low action?

[Marinero]

Hi, G,
Creativity is a function of the brain. Neither low action nor tight fitting clothes will effect it. However, I have been told that the presence of Leprechauns after personally consuming repeated courses of Vodka will definitely kill it.
Play live . . . Marinero

[pauln]

Impedance matching is critical when transferring power; this includes mechanical power - that efficient, effective, "live", most musical feel you enjoy, the response of the load to the level of effort when string tension and height are just right. This is going to vary based on how you play.

Guitar playing really comes down to three things:

- your musical mind (developed over a life time)
- your musical hands (developed over your years of playing)
- your musical instrument (may be markedly improved for how you play with a few minutes on the bench)

Personally, after 50+ years of playing, I prefer high and tight, and I consider myself a pretty gentle player.

Similarly, there is another level of matching among the mind, hands, and instrument. The hands mechanically sense from the instrument what is possible of them and the mind senses what possibilities or limits the hands are experiencing. Extreme possibilities may tempt pushing into less musical results, or the limits may pull you back short of more musical results. The hands need only to be able to express your mind's best musical judgement.

[kris]

Hi, G,
Creativity is a function of the brain. Neither low action nor tight fitting clothes will effect it. However, I have been told that the presence of Leprechauns after personally consuming repeated courses of Vodka will definitely kill it.
Play live . . . Marinero

As I understand it, it's not about brain creativity.
It's more about creative inspiration.
It is about how the object (s) / strings / - in this case, the tension of the strings can affect the way and style of playing, which is also associated with creativity.

[Marinero]

As I understand it, it's not about brain creativity.
It's more about creative inspiration.
It is about how the object (s) / strings / - in this case, the tension of the strings can affect the way and style of playing, which is also associated with creativity.

Hi, Kris,
I enjoy your playing but this concept and your comment is ridiculous and absurd. Where do you think creative inspiration originates: the toenails? You can't buy it. You can't learn it. The potential for creativity is born into the organism and either remains dormant or is awakened sometime during a person's life. Height of strings, style of guitar, amplified/unamplified, long hair, beard . . . none of it makes a bit of difference. You can become a better musician but you can never develop creativity since in doing so your product will always be contrived and artificial. It's not a skill . . . it's a GIFT FROM THE GODS. Do you think Michelangelo developed his creativity or was he born with the talent? What about Beethoven, Wagner, Chopin, Bach? These hocus-pocus myths needs to be dispelled.
Play live . . . Marinero

[kris]

It seems we don't understand each other.
This thread is not about creative creativity.
From my point of view, it is more about the comfort of playing the guitar, but this comfort has an indirect influence on what I can play.

[mr. beaumont]

Nah, totally agree with kris. If I'm fighting an instrument, it's a barrier to my creativity.

[omphalopsychos]

Mind-body dualism is a philosophical anthropology that has manifested itself in several forms from ancient times to the current period. In its most extreme forms, philosophers have proposed not only that the mind and body are essentially distinct but even that the self, the ego, corresponds to the mind only. In this view, the body is not a part of the self but an instrument. Mental states are rational, distinct from the passions. Creativity is a purely intellectual phenomenon. If you believe creativity is not influenced by your essential physicality, you subscribe to the most extreme philosophical dualism, barring perhaps Manichaeism.

There is an abundance research into musical haptics that supports the OP's thesis. From digital instrument design, to studies on the perception of rhythm, &c. Why does it help you swing better to tap your foot? The feeling of a guitar and amp will significantly impact your sensation, which in turn will affect your musical output and the trajectory of your creativity.
A Functional Analysis of Haptic Feedback in Digital Musical Instrument Interactions | SpringerLink
Haptics for the Development of Fundamental Rhythm Skills, Including Multi-limb Coordination | SpringerLink

If I wanted to make an argument from "authority" I could have just pasted a Julian Lage quote where he talks about adjusting to his Tele from playing an archtop. But I'm not a big enough fanboy of his, and I think this should be apparent to anyone who plays and has self awareness

[Gitterbug]

Who's ridiculous and absurd? I'm with Kris in that "creativity" as presented by OP probably relates to inspiration. Very low action limits how dynamically you can use the picking hand - the "headroom" just isn't there. I try to keep my archtop volumes so low that there's an acoustic component to the sound, at least as I hear it. This enables me to hit the strings harder on the spur of the moment, pause, explore and thus avoid a routine repetition of my (limited) standard licks.

[Marcel_A]

Very low action limits how dynamically you can use the picking hand - the "headroom" just isn't there.

So a guitar with very low action needs a different approach than a guitar with higher action. It's all about technique. Not about creativity.

[kris]

So a guitar with very low action needs a different approach than a guitar with higher action. It's all about technique. Not about creativity.

I had a guitar concert with hard tension strings. My string broke. I had no spare. I had to put on thin strings. I couldn't play anything interesting and I was limited and paralyzed. All my creativity was blurred.

[mr. beaumont]

This is jazz, right? We play jazz here?

Jazz is literally being spontaneously creative. There's no "motivation" for a solo on "Satin Doll." I'm not tapping into a well of life experiences to create in that framework, I'm being live, in the moment, and trying to play what I hear in reaction to what's going on around me. A guitar with an unfamiliar setup will undoubtedly stifle that creative expression, because I'll need to think about the technique required to even play something that has an ok sound.

[omphalopsychos]

This is jazz, right? We play jazz here?

Jazz is literally being spontaneously creative. There's no "motivation" for a solo on "Satin Doll." I'm not tapping into a well of life experiences to create in that framework, I'm being live, in the moment, and trying to play what I hear in reaction to what's going on around me. A guitar with an unfamiliar setup will undoubtedly stifle that creative expression, because I'll need to think about the technique required to even play something that has an ok sound.

1000000000%

[Marcel_A]

I had a guitar concert with hard tension strings. My string broke. I had no spare. I had to put on thin strings. I couldn't play anything interesting and I was limited and paralyzed. All my creativity was blurred.

Well that seems to me more of a mental problem than lack of creativity due to the wrong strings. I have known guitar-players that felt insecure if they had to play over a 'wrong' amp. Or like you with the 'wrong' strings.
I am not arguing that strings can't feel strange and unfamiliar and that this leads to mistakes or otherwise bad playing. But the paralyzing part is really just a mental thing. After a few minutes of playing one gets used to the new situation and adjusts accordingly.

[Marcel_A]

A guitar with an unfamiliar setup will undoubtedly stifle that creative expression, because I'll need to think about the technique required to even play something that has an ok sound.

It seems to me that you are talking about a bad setup. I have picked up many guitars and only if there is really something wrong with the setup it is having an effect on me.

[mr. beaumont]

It seems to me that you are talking about a bad setup. I have picked up many guitars and only if there is really something wrong with the setup it is having an effect on me.

Not necessarily...even just a drastically "unfamiliar" setup can do it.

Mihaly Csikszentmihaly's writings on creative "flow" are really interesting in this regard...they talk about how for creativity to really reach a high level there needs to be not only practice/preparation and a level of comfort, but also a task that pushes the artist to be completely focused.

[Marcel_A]

It has to be pretty drastically.

[kris]

Well that seems to me more of a mental problem than lack of creativity due to the wrong strings. I have known guitar-players that felt insecure if they had to play over a 'wrong' amp. Or like you with the 'wrong' strings.
I am not arguing that strings can't feel strange and unfamiliar and that this leads to mistakes or otherwise bad playing. But the paralyzing part is really just a mental thing. After a few minutes of playing one gets used to the new situation and adjusts accordingly.

I have been playing guitars for over 40 years At home I practice on various guitars with different tension of the strings but at a concert I have the greatest confidence in hard tension.If tension of the strings doesn't matter to you, then you are lucky.
Look at classical pianists: Some people refuse to play a concert because they do not like the piano / too hard, too soft, too shallow, etc. /.
Some even carry pianos with them, and all pianos are very similar to each other.

[Marinero]

Wow . . . I feel like I'm watching re-runs of the "Twilight Zone." No instrument can effect your CREATIVITY -ONLY YOUR ABILITY TO PLAY AT YOUR TOP GAME TECHNICALLY. If you're a dullard with a good guitar set up . . . you'll be a dullard with a bad guitar set up. And, a good/great guitar will never make a potato-head more creative! Sorry! As a young pre-teen player, I played all my PAID gigs with a Kay Value Package triple-pickup guitar with action so high only a lumberjack could depress the strings. My hands were destroyed after three sets and I NEVER liked the guitar. But, it was what I could afford and I was too dumb ,at the time, to know that I could have had it adjusted by a luthier/guitar tech for better playability. But, it didn't effect my strong R@B/Soul style or my "leads"--that's what they called solos in my part of Chicago until I could afford a better guitar.
So, I'm going to pass the baton to the Flat Earth crowd with a warning about sailing too far into the sunset . . . just ask Columbus' crew.
Play live . . . Marinero

[Marcel_A]

I have been playing guitars for over 40 years At home I practice on various guitars with different tension of the strings but at a concert I have the greatest confidence in hard tension.If tension of the strings doesn't matter to you, then you are lucky.
Look at classical pianists: Some people refuse to play a concert because they do not like the piano / too hard, too soft, too shallow, etc. /.
Some even carry pianos with them, and all pianos are very similar to each other.

exactly. And that is prima Donna behaviour. A good pianoplayer isn’t that choosy. They have been playing on different instruments their whole live.
what I do get is that if you have to play a very difficult piece, you don’t need the distraction of a new piano.

[christianm77]

I think you get used to things. (Low action with medium/heavy strings is my happy place)

I realised that I using the gauge of my strings to control my playing when I went back to Tele. So learning to play a light setup took some adjustment. Anything lighter than 12’s and I missed the resistance, be on the verge of rushing and tense up my hand to compensate. I feel I’m learning the importance of not relying on that as a way to play.

I think I could even play 9s now... and I think learning to think more about my left hand timing is good for all guitars.

I like to be flexible though. Some people are so specific about what they are happy to play on. I always aimed to able to pick up any guitar and play it well, but the reality is complex. Different instruments can teach you something if you are open to it.

If I get a chance to warm up on a decent axe with a good set up I think I’ll be OK.

[kris]

exactly. And that is prima Donna behaviour. A good pianoplayer isn’t that choosy. They have been playing on different instruments their whole live.
what I do get is that if you have to play a very difficult piece, you don’t need the distraction of a new piano.

Well.
The better the pianist, the more demanding he is.
Krystian Zimerman travels around Europe with his piano.

[kris]

I think you get used to things.

I realised that I using the gauge of my strings to control my playing when I went back to Tele. So learning to play a light setup took some adjustment. Anything lighter than 12’s and I missed the resistance, be on the verge of rushing and tense up my hand to compensate. I learn the importance of not relying on that as a way to play.

I think I could even play 9s now... and I think learning to think more about my left hand timing is good for all guitars.

I like to be flexible though. Some people are so specific about what they are happy to play on. I always aimed to able to pick up any guitar and play it well, but the reality is complex.

If I get a chance to warm up on a decent axe with a good set to I think I’ll be OK.

If someone has been using hard tension strings all his life, then the unexpected switch to light strings can be quite a challenge.

[christianm77]

If someone has been using hard tension strings all his life, then the unexpected switch to light strings can be quite a challenge.

Well yeah. Or five years or so...

[mr. beaumont]

I think you get used to things. (Low action with medium/heavy strings is my happy place)

I realised that I using the gauge of my strings to control my playing when I went back to Tele.

I agree that you can get used to something, but it still can impede creative expression...like if I was asked to play a tune at a Chicago blues style session and somebody handed me an archtop with .014s...I'd have to pay in a way that maybe wasn't what I was actually hearing.

But I've also taken to using lighter strings now on my teles to be more flexible...I'm down to .011s. Hey, that's a big step for me

[Marcel_A]

Well.
The better the pianist, the more demanding he is.
Krystian Zimerman travels around Europe with his piano.

you keep repeating that there are musicians who do irrational things. I agree with that.