You don't need to be able to read music. I technically don't know anything about music at all, apart from what's euphonic, and I get a long alright. For songwriting, I just play something simple, like 5-7-8 on the A string, at a certain tempo. Then, I add some open E string chugs in the gaps, and then I tweak the original melody and tempo until it's sufficiently complex.
These tips are going to sound kind of stupid, since I don't know anything about scales or harmonies at all, but I've found that sets of two notes on frets that are adjacent sound pretty sinister, if you just stick them in places. Same deal with frets that span two other frets (e.g. 5 and 8 or 7 and 9) and going diagonally across strings (e.g. 5 on the E string and 6 on the A string.)
Also, record your practices, just in case you come up with something cool and want to save it. Do the same thing when dabbling at home.
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