Guitarists block

[Duncas]

Hey guys,

recently iv had some serious guitarists block, i cant seem to play anything, even if iv played it on stage hundreds of times. i dont have any desire to play my guitar or creativity, usually i sit and play for hours but recently nothing.

i switched guitars recently to try my dot for abit. my strat ooozes mojo and i always love playing. i love playing the dot but it seems like i cant get a nice sound or that call to play.

i need some help guys, i tried some live music, listening to my favourite bands, listening to new music but nothings helping.

hit me with what you got.

[dconeill]

Originally Posted by Duncas

recently iv had some serious guitarists block,...
i switched guitars recently to try my dot for abit...

There appears to be a correlation between your switching guitars and your "guitarists block". Try switching back to the strat.

Or just go away for a few weeks and leave your guitar at home. Maybe you need a rest from it.

[Frodebro]

If switching to the Dot happened at the same time that your block started, try switching back. Everybody hits a rut every now and then, the methods used to break out of it vary from person to person. Jamming along with concert DVDs usually works for me.

[adamkavanagh]

I have that problem from time to time. Sometimes in absence, the heart grows fonder.
Try taking a break from music, then reintroduce it!

[Duncas]

Originally Posted by dconeill

There appears to be a correlation between your switching guitars and your "guitarists block". Try switching back to the strat.

Or just go away for a few weeks and leave your guitar at home. Maybe you need a rest from it.

it would seem, iv been thinking the same. unfortunately im at university and cant afford the trip home to pick up my strat. the dot was great at first and i loved playing it but now i dont feel the love.

thanks guys for your answers. think im gonna keep it as a backup and pick up my strat over christmas

[homesick345]

leave it alone. forget about guitarring altogether for a couple of days. don't fight it. pickup the guitar again when you feel that boner.

[w3stie]

Borrow a bass for a few weeks, or try drumming. Get back in touch with your rhythmic heart.

[uriah1]

- Start fumbling around with tone settings....try bunches of stuff...
the feel will come back when you hit that tone nirvana

[Jupiter]

Perhaps your amp needs to be turned up.

[Duncas]

Originally Posted by uriah1

- Start fumbling around with tone settings....try bunches of stuff...
the feel will come back when you hit that tone nirvana

Iv tried this, i usually go through varies of effects but when im at home i like to plug straight into my Orange Tiny Terror. because of its super simple controls (Volume, Gain and tone) its usually so easy to get a great tone.

plus i've noticed the G tuner is slipping more than usual. its a Grover and it just keeps going out of tune. any suggestions here?

thanks for all your answers guys

[Mjark]

Learn a new song.

[lowatt]

Originally Posted by adamkavanagh

I have that problem from time to time. Sometimes in absence, the heart grows fonder.
Try taking a break from music, then reintroduce it!

This. ↑↑↑

I have been playing for about 35 years. I have had this happen to me many times over the years. Sometimes it last a couple of weeks. Sometimes it's a few months. Once it was about a year.

Don't force it. Let it come to you. It has always come back to me.

[Duncas]

Originally Posted by lowatt

I have been playing for about 35 years. I have had this happen to me many times over the years. Sometimes it last a couple of weeks. Sometimes it's a few months. Once it was about a year.

Don't force it. Let it come to you. It has always come back to me.

problem i have found with this is i gig every weekend. i havent for the last 2 or 3 weeks but its getting to the stage where i cant keep missing gigs.

maybe its because i swapped my tele for the dot haha

[AndyLowry]

Is there anybody you could trade guitars with for a while?

[Tony474]

It happens. Sometimes I pick up the guitar to play and nothing worth playing springs to mind or fingers. Other times - often but not always late at night - the ideas flow copiously and I come out with stuff I didn't believe I could play. When this happens, even after 56 years of playing I'll frequently find another lick, phrase or new way of playing something that I've never done before. But not all of it sticks in my mind and next time or on the next gig I might get the mental blanks again.

A break of a few days away from the guitar can certainly help.

One way of coping with it, especially if as a gigging player you have to be there whether you feel like it or not, is over time to build up a mental database of licks and riffs upon which you can fall back in "automatic pilot" mode if your improvisational muse has gone off for a tea-break. That way you may not play in a particularly inspired manner but if push comes to shove it'll get you through the gig in a reasonably workmanlike fashion. Try constructing this material from simple scales and arpeggios - possibly the very act of undertaking the exercise will re-awaken your creativity.

[telequacktastic]

problem i have found with this is i gig every weekend. i havent for the last 2 or 3 weeks but its getting to the stage where i cant keep missing gigs.

Duncas, having to work around gigs is a great problem to have. This sort of thing happens where the perception of our guitar moves from performance tool back to what it was when we started, uncharted territory to explore. I suggest that we all do some musical soul searching, I often times ask myself "What am I missing in my playing?". I can relate to this thread here because I've been meaning to ask myself the same thing here lately. What can I do to get better?
Songwriting? Singing? A bunch of new licks you learned from your fav player? Learn a new style?

Then again, I'd find another tele...

[Tony474]

Further to my previous post, my best buddy, a great musician, once told me that there'a a very simple way to double the number of licks in your musical vocabulary. Learn to play each one backwards!

[Duncas]

thanks for all your answers guys, real encouraging. i went on a musical rollercoaster today. listened to loads i dont normally, funk, jazz, gospel. iv picked up an old acoustic and started fingerpicking just any old chords. think im on the mend haha

[Mid Life Crisis]

Doing something like fingerpicking an acoustic is always a good plan for getting out of a rut. The other thing that can help you ride it out is to practice scales and modes with a metronome over and over again. It can become quite hypnotic and get those alpha waves going (a.k.a. getting "in the zone").