I've never had serious musical training, but I've spent a lot of time picking tunes with old folkies. A lot of those guys are absolutely the same when it comes

I've never had serious musical training, but I've spent a lot of time picking tunes with old folkies. A lot of those guys are absolutely the same when it comes to this sort of creativity, and I picked up a lot of advice that I like to think has stuck with me ever since. I remember I was nervous as hell when I'd just started heading along to jams - here was me, having learned a bit about scales and a few chords, yet wondering how I could ever contribute to the wonderful sounds this group was creating. It was an old gentleman in his 70s who just turned around, saw me sat there overwhelmed, trying to figure out what was going on, and said "We've got seven notes in a scale, and most of these tunes'll barely use half of 'em!". Music, at its heart, is the ultimate in making do with what you have - I just think that folkies are more likely to admit it!