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Listen to Steve Vai, the guy is a god with a guitar.
That's how I get my inspiration anyway.
I'm in a major rut lately. I listen to and play metal almost exclusively but I've plateaued and don't seem to be progressing much lately.
I have no desire to be a rock star or even a professional musician but I do love playing for fun and I'd like to get better.
I was thinking that if I started trying to play stuff completely out of my comfort zone, I'd get some new inspiration and ideas to incorporate it in to my own style so I've started listening to stuff like Brent Mason, Albert Lee and even some modern country like Brad Paisley(I'd never heard him until recently but he's a really good player).
If you've ever been in a playing rut before, what do you do to get out of it?
Listen to Steve Vai, the guy is a god with a guitar.
That's how I get my inspiration anyway.
The best way to improve one's style is playing with others, IMO. Ask them who their influences are and study the way they play their licks/riffs.
So you don't gotta go pro or even try, but I think you should join a jam band of some sort. That appears to be your next threshold.
So many to list...
Eric Gales-Great Rock and blues player can play anything
Chris Duarte-Also great blues rock player plays alot of John Coltrane esque lines.. Awesome
Monte Montgomery- Great player out of Austin, TX, Plays the acoustic like an electric, uses distortion and all that stuff
Pat Metheny- One of my favorite composers and great guitar player.. check him out
Scotty Anderson- Youtube him.
And, if you're truly in a rut, it's time to be brutally honest with yourself: can you play every song you know, in time, note for note?
try delving into some music theory, if you haven't already.
listen to a band based in Austin called Grady. They are playing a delta/metal/cowboy fusion you might like. Slide double neck guitar. They might inspire you with some creativity http://shadygrady.net/.
I know what I know well enough. I studied theory years ago but I'm bored playing what I usually play and I don't have time to practice scales and modes for hours a day now. I play for fun and I don't want playing to turn in to a job.
The thread was more about how other players get out of their ruts. Switching to this bluegrass type style has me coming out of mine because it's completely different from anything I've played before.
I've heard Pat Metheny before but haven't listened to anyone else on this list. Thanks.So many to list...
Eric Gales-Great Rock and blues player can play anything
Chris Duarte-Also great blues rock player plays alot of John Coltrane esque lines.. Awesome
Monte Montgomery- Great player out of Austin, TX, Plays the acoustic like an electric, uses distortion and all that stuff
Pat Metheny- One of my favorite composers and great guitar player.. check him out
Scotty Anderson- Youtube him.
That sounds pretty cool. I'll check it out. Thanks.
Play some classical. Such a different style from everything else. Really rewarding to play, fun as well as helpful, IMO.
play something classical, a lot of metal isn't too guitar intensive and is basically just banging power chords and simple riffs. Play some harder stuff. Work On speed. Theres a number of stuff you can do.
Make your own music man. Don't copy other people. Create your own. That is how you get out of a rut. There is nothing more satisfying than being able to say, "Check this out, I made it up".
Did you get your name from a character or a band?
When I hit a rut, I usually try to get back to just having fun with playing. I start thinking about songs, not guitar players, that I really like and learning those and jamming on them a bit.
Is this challenging? No. Is it helping me "progress?" Maybe, maybe not. But it keeps me inspired and playing.
You need more "Guitar Hero"...
First of all, it sounds as though you are ALREADY doing something pretty positive about it.
Listening and playing stuff that is out of your comfort level is a great way to break out of a rut-so props to you.
This is what works for me-whether I am in a rut or not.
#1) BEFORE you pick up the guitar, ask yourself this;
Do I have something to say? Do I revere and respect this instrument enough to show
respect and to pick it up with a purpose?
#2) Turn OFF the distortion! Try to play clean or acoustic if you have an acoustic.
Playing cleanly reveals all your flaws and focuses you to play correctly. It will also
allow you to hear every note, every sound,every squeak,every nuance,etc.
(Also playing cleanly and with power and force is a lot harder to do than if you are
distorted and using effects to give the illusion of power-IMHO. Just listen to Mark
Knopfler or the Gipsy Kings and see if their guitar playing isn't powerful. BONUS:
If you learn to play powerfully WITHOUT distortion--Imagine how brutal it will
sound when you crank the distortion after shredding cleanly!)
#3) When you are playing---BE THERE! In other words when you catch yourself noodling
and just playing repe ive phrases that you ALREADY know and have played a million
times before and when your hands automatically form the SAME chords,riffs,etc that
you instinctively play every freakin' day-just stop yourself and take a deep breath
and be there in the moment and allow your hands to try new shapes,new chords,new
--sounds...and try to let the sounds direct your hands--instead of your hands
directing the sounds if you can.
#4) Limit your copying as much as possible--it has already been done by someone else.
Write something new and try to stay with the new song until you have completed it.
#5) Find YOUR tone. Speak with your voice,your hands,your touch,your timing,your heart
-etc,
#6) AFTER you have tried all or most of the above---forget everything. In other words--
after trying everything-stop trying and just play with abandon and have fun and don't
think. If in the process of this wild abandonement -something catches your ear-
then follow it...it probably means that you stumbled on something that the guitar (the
universe,your heart, god--whatever you wanna call it) is trying to give to you-and it
could be some new song or something pretty cool for you to follow.
Hope this helps and keep jammin'.
Eddie Hazel
Write your own music. You should have been doing that from the beginning. I've never been in a rut because I hardly play other people's stuff anymore.
Just get back to basics, man. I don't know if you plateaued in your playing or what your playing or how your playing. I think all of those are totally separate monsters and need to be handle differently. When I first started playing I wanted to fill up every measure with some sort of fill. I play drums. I wanted to be weckl, chambers, kennedy, colaiuta, you name it, but that really is just one aspect of playing. You also got to understand that you have to let things breathe and groove out on it. Even though I'm a drummer, that applies to all musicians that are more than weekend warriors.
try some acoustic blues or the like, the classic 50s & 60s stuff.
I don't know what a "rut" is, tbh, dimsah. Maybe that's why I confused the intention of this thread. There's so much good out there, for many decades back, that I really don't ever get bored. Also, practicing the out of scales will make you appreciate your material more, at least IMO. So it's a double edged sword: more time spent on technique and theory, but you have a better understanding and appreciation of actual songs. JMO
This is mofo is badd.
Just give up, it's to hard.
I've always liked to take a song completely out of genre and turn it into the genre I play (punk). Lots of fun.
Figured the guitar players here would appreciate this:
http://www.guitarnoize.com/blog/comm...medium=twitterNew guitar film coming soon: Turn It Up!
“Turn It Up!” is a feature-length celebration of the electric guitar. Hosted by Kevin Bacon, the film explores mankind’s passion for the electric guitar, and its effect on artists, everyday players, pop culture, history, and even politics.
Turn it Up! is the STORY of the electric guitar, from the invention in the 1930s to its golden years, right through the phenomenon of the Guitar Hero video-game and the digital guitars of the future. But, it’s also a series of guitar STORIES, where we’ll meet all kinds of people from rock stars, to congressmen, CEOs, and teenage virtuosos, to try to understand their emotional connection to their guitars.
I was a little surprised to see that this film is hosted by Kevin Bacon I had no idea he was such a guitar lover! This film is due for release late winter/early spring 2011, check out this write up which goes into detail about Robert Radler’s 84-minute movie about the electric guitar.
The film features interviews and performances by the following guitarists:
Slash
Les Paul
B.B. King
Paul Stanley (Kiss)
Robby Krieger (The Doors)
John 5 (Marilyn Manson/Rob Zombie)
Jeff “Skunk” Baxter (Steely Dan/Doobie Bros)
Nancy Wilson (Heart)
Albert Lee
Mike Bloomfield
Jerry Cantrell (Alice in Chains)
ey Betts (Allman Brothers)
Ana Popovic (Serbian Blues Guitarist)
Steve Lukather (Toto - Studio Musician)
Dave Mason (Rock Hall of Fame & Traffic)
Carl Verheyen (Supertramp, Studio Guitarist)
Mark Slaughter (Slaughter)
Johnny A
Sean Costello
Bruce Kulick (Kiss)
Duane Betts (Puddle of Mudd)
Rick Vito (Fleetwood Mac/Bob Seger)
Spencer Davis (Spencer Davis Group)
Kristen Capolino (16-year-old Virtuoso)
Russell Ali (Rock star from Bangladesh)
Buddy Whittington (Guitarist, John Mayall Band)
There are also appearences by luthiers, authors and collectors, it certainly seems to leave no stone unturned. Can’t wait!
Turn It UP! - official website www.loudandlouder.com/
Dude, well put.
This is the piece i put in the back burner because i'm learning Bach WV 996 and Il Trovatore theme and vars by Mertz.
This will inspire real musicians that are in a rut. The harmonic tools in this piece are so amazing and the lyrical content is so inspiring.
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