Stuck in a rut

I feel like Ive been stuck in the same old stuff for a long time now. I've been playing for about 6 years. I never took lessons so my rythm isnt the best and I dont really know any scales just bits and pieces. The only thing I have going for me is I have incredible speed with my fingers, sometimes i just get going so fast I scare myself :D I have been reading up on this program called perfect pitch and I am wondering if anyone has tried it and if I should go that route at all, any suggestions are appreciated.
P.s. I am the king of run-on sentences :p

[font=trebuchet ms]Welcome aboard, werkinclashero!

In a rut? You're not the only player who has reached this plateau. In fact, if you click the search icon at the top of the page and enter rut as the keyword, you will find lots of suggestions for how to deal with it.

About perfect pitch: The search function will also locate several threads on this topic as well.

If any of the threads leave you with unanswered questions, just post a reply, and that thread will move up to the top of the stack, along with your post. Then, anyone else who is logged in can join in.

Enjoy the Forum![/font]
:)

Originally Posted by: werkinclasheroI feel like Ive been stuck in the same old stuff for a long time now. I've been playing for about 6 years. I never took lessons so my rythm isnt the best and I dont really know any scales just bits and pieces. The only thing I have going for me is I have incredible speed with my fingers, sometimes i just get going so fast I scare myself :D I have been reading up on this program called perfect pitch and I am wondering if anyone has tried it and if I should go that route at all, any suggestions are appreciated.
P.s. I am the king of run-on sentences :p

While I have never tried the perfect pitch program, it may help, but I don't think that's your problem.

Going fast is not what the guitar is about. Anyone can play fast if they practice long enough. Playing the guitar is about making music and making it sound good.

You can rip through licks at 220bpm, but so can about 1,000,000 other people. What separates these people are there song writing abilities.

I think you should steer yourself towards some theories and scales. Theory will open many doors and truly help you understand your instrument.

Try learning some scales all over the fretboard. Here are some good ones:

Major and the modes that go with it:
Natural Minor
Lydian
Locrian
Dorian
Phrygian
Mixolydian

Minor
Pentatonic Major and Minor
Harmonic Minor

You'll be suprised at what you discover.

Everyone gets stuck in a rut if they play long enough. Hell, I still play the boxes even though I know I should move on and learn those scales in all the different positions. It comes down to will power. I know I should work on tapping or sweep picking because I wanna know how to do that stuff well, but I usually just fiddle around.

Sometimes playing with other musicians or learning new songs that are in a different style than you normally play can help get you moving out of the rut. Also, going back to the basics and refining what you've already learned can help also. Good luck!

Thanks for all the suggestions, you all answered so quickly and possitively I think just maybe I've found the guitar community I'm looking for. :) I think I'll work on the scales some more. Dorian,locrian and so on seem to be pretty easily remembered as long as I remember to take my ambition pill. Lately I've been learning alot of new songs with this band, mostly old stuff like "play that funky music" thats a fun one if you havent tried it. Well, anyways thanks so much more the support.

~werkin~

I have been playing for about 8 years and most of my time has been spent on books, theory, scales, chords and their realtionships etc. Funny enough I am also in a real playing rut just now, I have found the majority of things like Hendrix, Nirvana amongst a few of todays new acts really easy to work out by ear and spent alot of time analysing the things that make these sort of artists songs great as I write my own material but recently I have been frustrated as I want to be able to work out flashy/lenghthy solos used by bands like Aerosmith, Led Zepplin and GNR oh and Queen. The chords are easy to work out but I feel as if I can work out the solos that are slower or more melodically definded, but find it so hard to pick out the notes when someone like Slash goes into a fast flurry, and I know on record some artists multitrack and overdub parts making it hard to hear. My problem is it gets very boring constsantly rewinding th CD just to get a few seconds of flurried action at a time especially if the solo passage flys all over the place and lasts for more than 30 seconds, I just shut off. Does anyone know a good way to tackle this in terms of practising and for people going out playing these songs as covers I was wondering do most people just improvise during these sorts of tricky moments just using signature licks form the song to carry the tune, cause I thought this might be a solution? I know certainly alot of artists choose not to perform the song exactly as the recorded version because it would be too exhausting to try and remember the big runs and solos when they are good at improvising something that fits the chords.

[font=trebuchet ms]Use the search icon at the top of the page. Try "slow down" as the keyword. There have been several threads about programs that slow down digital playback while retaining correct pitch. That's gotta help.[/font]

Thanks for that bit of advice, much apprreciated, just wondered if you had any thoughts on the other stuff I said, you know is this maybe where the ability to improvise comes in for most players. I know for someone like Slash he's been quoted as saying he plays his parts however he feels, is this because he can't be bothered to learn and memorise some of his longer runs, yet within the song structure he keeps the signature riffs and licks because these are the parts that got stuck in his head and are esentiall. I guess I 'm kind of saying is some of what we hear, he would always play live because the audience expects this,meaning signature licks/riffs, and the rest is improvised to create spontaneaty and exceitement in the live arena. I just want to know really if the majority of people going out playing a classic rock tune in their hometown area, usually learn to play the original structure the signature licks with improvisation when it comes to long complex runs or do most people covering songs at a smaller level take the time to perfect the original runs on record? If you don't happen to know generally speaking how would you approach this if you intended to go out and play some classic rock covers?

[font=trebuchet ms]If you insist on over-analyzing music, it ends up like a turd with the **** kicked out of it! (Nothing much there, and what there is, stinks!)

Do like the jazz players - learn as much as you can, then put it all away and just play![/font]

Yeah maybe your right mate, I don't think its wrong to ask questions though its the only way you learn and at the end of the day if you want to be the best you can be, you need to look at how you tackle guitar playing technique and theory wise from many perspectives, especially if like me you have prog rock tendencies. This doesn't mean something over mechanical is produced by me, its just a case of heart equalling mind.

Learning a song start to finish is a great idea.

Crazy Train by Ozzy is a really good starting point.

The solo is not too difficult however the difference between playing it and playing it well is massive which means their is always room for improvement.

And when you think you are getting their, start another one !

thanks for the sound advice doc

The doc is right. Crazy train is a brilliant song to learn all the way through. I can play every riff in the tune but the solo and the second fill. Im still working on them. I have learned so much from that song, Randy Rhodes is truly amazing!! :eek:

there are perfect pitch ear trainers online for free

whatever makes you feel good when it comes to playing bro, thats what you do. Try haging out with some different people who play, and you can learn different stuff off of them to. Its all about if you love doing it. If you love it, you'll do it all the time, and if you do it all the time then you'll be a great musician!!!!

KEEP PLAYING BRO!!!! :D

I do love playing guitar, some days I play for 10 hours but since I started back in college my time became limited again. Also the thing with playing guitar with other people, you'd think there would be alot of musicians at a college but this one seems pretty limited, there are a few but so far none that are interested in starting a band.

only advice i can give anyone is learn from others. i am constantly learning by looking at others play. ask for advice, don't be afraid. my friends are years ahead in playing and learning, and they help me out just by watching them play.

Something that guitarists never seem to do is learn the note names on the fretboard. Learning scale shapes is important, as it builds speed and agility, but a real rut buster is learning your fretboard.
It may sound boring, but when you've done it, it opens so many doors. . . you can spot and play chords in positions you never thought of, you can play licks all over the neck without having to spend time figuring out different positions, you can start to READ MUSIC!!
Take it a few frets at a time, and be patient. Soon you'll know your fretboard notes like you know your open strings.
Try "Fretboard Warrior" - it's a small downoaded program which tests your knowledge. Do it once or twice a week and keep track of you score. I used to have weekly contests with my mates!! I usually lost but it adds incentive!