"Noodling" Define it. Explain it.

I'm sorry I got distracted before finishing.

Noodling, for me, me means just playing some random scales and/or chords or whatever comes into your head without any thought to structure, composition, or improving skill or learning something new.

This is fine for a few mites at a time. It can be stress relieving.

But I have gotten into a ruts with this before, and even now I'm in a rut.

I need to find something new to learn and practice.

 

I thought this was going to be a thread about hand fishing...

It's super fun, but I stopped doing it after a catfish bit me and drew blood. True story.

 

Somewhere, I saw about five minutes of a Widespread Panic video and their guitarist (Jimmy Herring?) never played a chord, never dropped out... through the verse, through the chorus and into the solo... just a long, rammbling string of single notes, with his eyes rolled back into his head.

Noodling.

I suppose he enjoyed it.

 

What happens when your noodling and you play something that really sounds cool? Is that an Ah Ha! moment or is it inspiration? Have there beemn a lot of famous songs written due to somebody's noodling?

 

Sweet Child of Mine started as Slash goofing around.

 

That's me, and what I've done for 35 years. Well said!!

 

Yeah but when I do that in stores, I frown and look like I'm listening really hard, so that people think I'm testing sonic pallette...

 

^This^ Our pedal steel player is sometimes referred to as "Mr. Noodle".

 

to me, "noodling" is the irritating scale shredding and lick spewage that some guys cannot stop doing between songs at a rehearsal. At full volume. While you're trying to discuss a song arrangement.

 

Phish = noodling

Our keyboard player Jeff = noodler

Pho = noodle soup