Space - The Final Frontier

When most people think about writing music and/or words, they usually think about the content and filling the audible spectrum with this. Rarely do they think about its opposite....space or silence. But there's something called "groove" that most of us really enjoy in music and words. And ironically, it's usually the space or silence that sets up this groove.

Adding space (or silence) is actually one of my favorite song writing techniques. When I come up with a sweet riff, either verbally or on guitar, my first editing reaction is usually "how do I improve this?" As a young artist, my first reaction was of the form "What can I add to make this better?" But as the wisdom of age sets in on this artist, I realize that the focus of "adding something" is totally wrong. What makes something groove is the space. So now, when I'm trying to improve something artistically, I don't think about what to add. I think of what to remove. When you remove, you reveal the groove.

This especially comes into play when I improvise on guitar. The normal reaction for most lead guitar players is to "play fast in the scale". And when you hear most guitar solos, they are usually constant blitzes of notes that come off like a 30 second chance for the artist to show off. Rarely do guitar solos take the song to a new place. And I think it's lack of space, or the willingness of most lead guitar players to let their lines slow down and breathe, that is the usual cause.

In the realm of words, the same ego concept exists. The spoken word artist usually spews a string of words without time for the listener to reflect, just like that ego-fueled lead guitarist. The work comes off as if it's all about the artist, and not about the art.

Let me make an obvious connection to daily lives. What do you prefer? Constant motion? Or a little bit of silence here and there to reflect?

I don't think I need to hammer this concept home any further.

I think you get it.


Take the same approach with your artwork.



Give it some space.



Copyright ©2010 W.A. Blevins