SR Guitarists, Hitting a plateau. (1 Viewer)

[Zanedavis1]

This is a question for all the guitarists out there on SR.

I've been playing since I was 14, self taught, and have had this happen before. It happens, and comes and goes, but this time I cannot, for the life of me, get over this hump.

Finding myself stuck in the same shapes, same licks, and its like my brain and fingers will not allow me to learn or create anything new. So I'm coming here for some advice, insight, and help.

What are your best ways to move forward, and pull yourself out of the slump? Anything would be appreciated

 

[strandedsaint]

Listen to something totally opposite of your musical taste........and jam along....

 

[Medicine Man]

Learn a new scale or mode and use it. Jam w new people. Use a metronome and work on timing. Take a shot of Jim Beam. All of the above.

 

[Medicine Man]

Utube your favorite player/teacher

 

[FatCitySaint]

Put the guitar away for a while and don't even think about it. Listen to music you enjoy that inspires you. Don't worry so much about "learning" as much and try to just enjoy playing the instrument.

I play music here in Nashville and have a home studio...whenever the guitar, or music in general, starts to feel like work I get in ruts and lose enthusiasm for playing. Sometimes I have to remind myself why I love guitar, and that is because it brings me more pleasure than anything else in the world. Alway try and keep that. Good luck.

 

[ktulu909]

Alternate tunings are always a good way to force you into thinking different.

 

[Zanedavis1]

Between finding a few minutes a day to play, and hitting this slump, its been a pain.

I appreciate the advice, I'm gonna hit on all of it. We'll see how it goes!

 

[Grumpy Old Manatee]

Not a guitarist, and don't play one on TV ('cause if I did, everyone would change the channel), but from a drummer who has gone through similar doldrums, I generally think about mixing up a few things, just to expand my horizons and perhaps learn a few new chops along the way.

1.) I generally play a mid-sized kit - 8" 10" 12" 14" 16" toms, snare (13 or 14 depending on the style and sound) and 22" kick w/ dbl bass pedal, 3 crashes, 2 rides, 3 splashes, a few other effects, etc. When things start to feel stale, I'll sometimes cut the kit back to 4 or 5 pieces, and one or two cymbals at most, just to work more on grooves and time signatures, rather than fills and such. Sometimes, I'll play all "left hand lead" (I'm a righty, so I'll move my main ride to my left and play the hats open handed, rather than cross handed). Not saying you can just start playing guitar left handed (I'm sure that is more challenging than switching hands drumming), but maybe try to play some familiar songs using just 2 or 3 strings and half of the frets available on the neck? Or, maybe borrow a bass and experiment with it?

2.) Vary the music that you play along with. I'm no big fan of country music, but I find that many country drummers are incredibly adept at keeping "in the pocket", working the groove and still keeping metronomic time. Just trying to hang with their playing always proves quite the challenge for me.

3.) Sometimes, just walk away from it for a week or two. I've gone through spells where I didn't touch the kit for nearly a month, and when I finally got back to it, I surprised myself at the fact that I felt more re-energized rather than rusty.

If it is something you love, don't let it get you down. It's like all things in life - highs, lows, peace, turmoil. If you played perfectly every day, you'd probably get even more bored with the lack of challenges. And, this is why I still prefer live musicians to sampled stuff - the perfectness of the imperfections.

But I'm just a drummer, so you might want to seek out real musicians for advice

 

[Zanedavis1]

But I'm just a drummer, so you might want to seek out real musicians for advice

Haha! Well, my dad is a drummer, so I'm not allowed to make any drummer jokes

What you said made sense though! I like the way you look at it thanks

 

[Ken-Bob]

I've been playing since I was 9 (trust me, a looooooong time). I know exactly where you're coming from.

All of the above selections are quite good. I'll add a couple more that have helped me through the years:

1) Find some new people to play with. Find a jam session (such as Phil Brady's Blues Jam in BR if that's where you are - but every city has one) and get in on it. In a lot of places, there will be places you can go to camp out for a weekend and just play (I'm in N. Texas now and there's one of these several times a year - of course, those campouts are typically just for acoustic, but that's cool too).

2) Take some private lessons! Mentioned, but worth mentioning again. Every teacher has a different approach. That's a great way to open up new ideas.

3) Get a method book from Amazon.com or something. Of course, I don't mean beginner's books. There are so many books of methods, etudes, exercises, by so many of the great guitarists. Any of them can be helpful. There are even some books that sort of cover the 'philosophy' of playing (such as the Fretboard Logic series).

4) Play on a different guitar/amp/pedal. Different tones can really motivate you to try new things. I own about 10 different guitars and a couple of amps. Every one of them demands a different kind of synergy from me. My archtop has such an open tone that it virtually demands I play fat jazz chords. My Les Paul motivates me to just turn it up and let it scream. Amps are slightly different. I use a modeler through a solid state Fender amp in church. Sometimes, I'll switch it to a Bassman model and other times I'll use a Vox or a Marshall model. The different models are so tonally different that they make me want to play different ways (lately, I've really been enjoying maxing out the gain on a Vox model and using a nickel as a pick - get's very "Bryan May-ish". Then, of course, there are pedals. Those are like an instrument to themselves. You really want some inspiration - go get a new pedal (like maybe a Digitech Whammy or a nice delay/echo pedal - even a looper). Those can really inspire as well.

Good luck. You'll break out of it.