Remedy for playing blahs / ruts / doldrums??

[NitroLiq]

BTW, nitro and fill. I'm thinking about a trip back home. I gotta get to NY to see Aunt Stella (and FEAST on pasta, cannoli's, sfoigatelle, etc!). Maybe we can get together and go see Les Paul at the Irridium?

I'd be down for it, just let me know. It's one of those things I've been meaning to do but I keep letting it slip by. Guess I shouldn't wait too much longer!

[Billy Batz]

What do you guys do when you hit those times when you're just not happy with your playing and you have no motivation to slag through it? It can be a viscious cycle.

Buy a new amp? Axe? Pedal? We know that doesn't really work (but don't tell my wife!)

When you're forced to play (upcoming or regular gig) I guess it helps. Latley I'm just not all happy with what comes out of my fingers. I'm jazzed to see George and all the amps at the Amp Show but I ain't bringing my "A" playing game for shit sure...

To be honest, Ive played very very little over the past year and I feel like one of the most inspiring things is to not play for a month (or more for me) then turn on the ol amp again and really just rediscover the tone. Its what made me want to go ahead and get a new toy when in 2 years the only thing Ive bought- Ive sold quite a bit- was an OCD- sold that too. Now I got the tone bone and Im glad I like it. If it sucked I may have gone and lost interest for another while but just feeling the amp again after a long break is inspiring. Even if Im rusty as all hell.

[Eargasm]

Maybe we can get together and go see Les Paul at the Irridium?

This is SO funny! I just spoke with Fill about doing this very thing. He told me exactly how to do it (coming from Detroit). I am planning on going to both shows. Would you guys be embarrassed if I went too and hung out with ya?
I'd buy the first round of course...

[fillmore nyc]

BTW, nitro and fill. I'm thinking about a trip back home. I gotta get to NY to see Aunt Stella (and FEAST on pasta, cannoli's, sfoigatelle, etc!). Maybe we can get together and go see Les Paul at the Irridium?

Man, I dont even know where to start here... well how about the important stuff. Yeah, that would be very cool to all get together for Les Paul Monday at the Irridium. Me and Ear were talking about the same thing. It would be great if we could work that out with as many guys from the forum as could make it. NOW its time to kill off some preconcieved ideas. (Mike, this old/exhausted thing is quite the can of worms, bro. You got all us "elderly folk" out from behind our walkers, pants pulled up to our tits, ready to start brawlin') "Get ready to feel really old"??? "Life getting you down... AT 40"??? A RELIC????. Nitro... 45auto... Man, what IS that you guys are talking about? Oh, MAN I hope we all get together for some cold ones and some hard-assed laughs so we can put that age=old bullshit to rest. Its in the heart, and head, me laddies. If you FEEL old... guess what? ( ) Yeah, I was born in '57 (which makes me 50), but I GUARAN-DAMN-TEE you will NOT think Im old if we meet. (most people think Im mid 30's... except my wife... she's convinced I never left my 20's ). Well, I know talk is cheap, but Im looking forward to us all meeting up some time. Chief, if you work it out to make a trip back to NY, that seems like the best time to coordinate the whole thing, so keep one of us "old timers" ( ) posted. Old... I gotta do a google search on that word... its... illogical, Mr Spock. (Im ridin' my bike too hard for "old" to catch me!!) PS-Ear, my man... embarrassed? Only if you DONT show, my friend.

[Eargasm]

I'm gonna be 44 this Sunday (10/07/63 YIKES). But that's just math, I feel 24, or maybe a better way of saying it is that my body and mind still feel like they did at 24...nothing has changed...so far.
"Fuck it man, life goes on" ("The Dude" a.k.a "The Big Lebowski") excuse me for a moment.........."whhhhhhssssssssssss"..........................holding it...............holding it............holding it........
(Exhale)...."ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh....." coughing....clears throat...
As long as I don't get arthritis man...fuck it...


Be careful not to get to uptight and always remember what inspired you in the first place.

[Eargasm]

PS-Ear, my man... embarrassed? Only if you DONT show, my friend.

Thanks man! I am looking forward to it! If a motley bunch like us can't get into trouble with Les, then we just ain't tryin'!!!

He has NO idea what is about to happen!!!!

[toner]

When I get in a playing rut I like to study different music styles that I wouldn't normally listen to. For example, I don't like country music but I'll listen to it for a while to get new ideas.

Giving guitar lessons is a great way to get exposed to different music styles because students can bring in stuff that I'd never listen too.

Another thing I've done is learn or transcribe solo phrases that were played on a different instrument like sax or violin. Some of my most challenging stuff was learning Charlie Parker melodies on guitar. Copying different instruments can be very interesting (and frustrating!) but it really helps you get new inspiration.

[yngwie308]

I got out of my pentatonic comfort zone, into Malmsteenland and whoa, it's like..too much for these old fingers .
yngwie308

[NY Chief]

Quote from the Monty Pythin and the Holy Grail.....

"I ain't dead yet.......I feel.......Happy!...I think I'll go for a walk"


Well, I AIN'T DEAD YET EITHER BOYS!

Sounds like ole Les just might have his hands full! But then again, he is the master. Been doing it a lonnnng time.

[Billy Batz]

Another thing I've done is learn or transcribe solo phrases that were played on a different instrument like sax or violin.

That is an awesome thing to do. Any guitar player that can play sax lines at all on guitar, let alone do them justice, is a good guitar player. The phrasing is just backwards compared to how you learn to play guitar. Same to a lesser degree with flute, oboe, clarinet and piano.

[JimiJames]

sometimes its better to just get away from it for a while. Just move on to something else for a couple of weeks..

Ouch, no guitar for a couple of weeks is like no food or water.

Well, yup... St. A is right on the money with this.

To "efficiently" learn (teach yourself) and retain information, 3 days of one hour playing is more than enough. (5 days max) Any more the learning curve goes south.

Leave that guitar alone, put it in the closet and let it collect dust 'til the next time you pick it up.
(businesslike) One would start on Monday. Play 3-4 days. Put it away and not even think about it until the following Monday.
Take the energy from that day and utilize it in your playing for that hour each day.
For instance:
If you had a Road Rage incident which got you super pissed off. I'll bet you can write a killer heavy sounding tune that had some vengeful meaning.
Or... you found some money on the way home from work... That energy could write you a jumpin' Rock N Roll tune that a beer company would use in a TV commercial...
Maybe even some Bad luck that the day offered and you wrote a killer minor chord progression that would make Mona Lisa cry.
We all love playing (which for example is like ice cream) but the reality is that if one likes ice cream or a favorite sweet dessert., you not going to have it at every meal?
Taking time away from your instrument is a great way to fill ourselves with fresh new productive ideas.



rockstah also had mention how to get re-inspired... Tools,Tools, Tools !

Apparently we all have computers.
We have guitars, chops, and ideas. Most of all we have a desire to improve.

For as much money as an FX pedal I would purchase either the Line6 GuitarPort or the Tone port with RiffWorks. This has a built in Drummer and recorder to use as your scratch pad.
For those who want to plug straight into to computer there's a software program called Amplitube that also has RiffWorks.

For the Super serious there is NOTHING mightier that the pencil and paper. Prepare a 2 octave Neck Graph and "dot in" a chord of choice. A simple bar chord perhaps...
Transfer those notes on the entire fretboard..
When you connect the dots of the first initial chord by drawing a line from the 6th sting note to the 5th to the 4th, etc. It will be apparent
what the next chord in the sequence will be. Shapes and patterns will surface leaving you with alternative fingering pattern of a far to familiar scale.

Playing a scale in the 3rd position will be different in the 5th even though they're the same exact notes being played. It will make you play it different. Perhaps accentuating on a different note or
having a different feel altogether. So it's a good thing to know your way around the neck so your vocabulary is broadened and understood anywhere you go...

Get out of that rutt !

[NY Chief]

Another thing I've done is learn or transcribe solo phrases that were played on a different instrument like sax or violin.

That is an awesome thing to do. Any guitar player that can play sax lines at all on guitar, let alone do them justice, is a good guitar player. The phrasing is just backwards compared to how you learn to play guitar. Same to a lesser degree with flute, oboe, clarinet and piano.

Yeah, like King Curtis!

[NY Chief]

And the answer is??

Go to the Amp show, spend a day hanging with George, gutpile, yngwie Dave, play Georges 45/100 and JTM45 with NOS GEC's and Mullards, hear a shitload of great players, talk GAS,gear and music ALL day!!!

I"M BACK ( in the NY/CA groove!)

[Eargasm]

And the answer is??

Go to the Amp show, spend a day hanging with George, gutpile, yngwie Dave, play Georges 45/100 and JTM45 with NOS GEC's and Mullards, hear a shitload of great players, talk GAS,gear and music ALL day!!!

I"M BACK ( in the NY/CA groove!)

Welcome back Chief!

[npminard]

When my playing feels uninspired, I set the electric guitar down for a week and play acoustic guitar exclusively until I have a desire to play the eletric again, I personally don't set the instrument aside.