Looking for motovational advise.

Once again I am finding myself slipping out of touch with my guitar. I am one of those guys who has struggled staying with it over the last few years. I put in tons of time and money and am dedicated to learning for a stretch of time and then when I hit a rut or something else comes up that stalls my playing I end up just slipping away from it for a while. Does anyone else out there relate to this? What can I do to stay in touch even when things get a little stale?

Internet search on the term "Hotties" :D

Try learning something new? Like a new type of music or something. Don't always practice technique. You gotta start pushing to learn those hard songs that you like.

Another idea would be to try a new instrument maybe. A lot of musicians start learning one instrument then find "the one" after they try others. Maybe drums, piano, or bass even.

Originally Posted by: RickBlackerInternet search on the term "Hotties" :D

Ahem... While that was certainly inspiring :D, another approach might be to try other styles, maybe other ways to practice (vary your sessions, set and track session- and short term- goals, use or don't use a metronome, etc). Sometimes, maybe you just need to put it down for a while.

When I was playing all the time, it was (I felt) natural to feel redundant about it and get unmotivated from time to time. I always found it helpful to get together and jam with folks.

Originally Posted by: jtcomctagOnce again I am finding myself slipping out of touch with my guitar. I am one of those guys who has struggled staying with it over the last few years. I put in tons of time and money and am dedicated to learning for a stretch of time and then when I hit a rut or something else comes up that stalls my playing I end up just slipping away from it for a while. Does anyone else out there relate to this? What can I do to stay in touch even when things get a little stale?

I completely understand what you are saying. I am turning 40 this year and find I have alot of other things going on in life, and tend to put my guitar playing on the backburner for extended periods of time these days. For me, it helps if I have a reason to practice, meaning if I am playing an upcoming gig,or if I had a lesson I was going to. For example, I am playing at my church this weekend, so over the next few days I will start playing again to get ready, but I really need to have short term goal to stay motivated. Do you have any friends that play, as it helps if you set up a time to mess around together - You can pick a few songs you both want to play and it will motivate you to work on it.




Oh I wish I picked up the guitar when I was a teenager(When you have alot more time)

That is good stuff. I don't really have any buddies that are into guitar though. Does anyone know how to get in touch with local musicians in your area to jam. I know there are some open mic and open jam sessions at some local bars but I think those guys are well beyond my skill level.

I think in order to really be productive and enjoy guitar playing is to not just learn about it but create from it. Whether or not you are good at the 'creating' part is not really important. Just sit down and start noodling some riffs and licks and start hearing stuff you like and build something from there. Part of my playing is fleshing out ideas. Since I'm doing for the fun of it, I don;t have feel like I'm creating the next Led Zep song or anything but something that's nice to my ears. These little ideas keep coming around for a 'song' and I just run with it.

The point is that if you are just in learning mode all the time, it becomes a drill. Once in a while, you have to take what you've learned and let it do its things and just play.

I have a method that you can try. But it involves seriouse dedication. Contact me and i will tell you what you should at least concider doing.

one thing that i found hurt my playing was being unsure if i was making any progress. unable to tell i would get frusterated when i had a bad day playing, and give up for a few days.

what i did... was start writing down what i can play (a scale or arppegio ect.) and at what speed on my metro. then i had concreete evidence/proof of what i could do and what was lacking. then i worked on getting everything up to the same level. Then when i had a bad day playing i could look at my chart and see that i was indeed having a bad day becasue i have played (what ever it was, a song, lick, solo) that fast before so it made me feel better and try to strive to get back up there.

knowing your achievements helps you to build off of them to achieve more!

give it a shot... might just work

P.S. Dont just learn all the time take time to write. it takes time just like everything else to become a good song writer. so practice that just as much as you practice everything else. youll get better just stay focused and postive

good luck

Originally Posted by: jtcomctagOnce again I am finding myself slipping out of touch with my guitar. I am one of those guys who has struggled staying with it over the last few years. I put in tons of time and money and am dedicated to learning for a stretch of time and then when I hit a rut or something else comes up that stalls my playing I end up just slipping away from it for a while. Does anyone else out there relate to this? What can I do to stay in touch even when things get a little stale?

I think definitely you got to keep making progress to keep interested. But then you have to have a goal! For myself I realized I wanted to go back to basics. I actually mean the foundations. So I decided that although I'm interested in rock and metal. I've gone back to blues and plan to progress through learning those songs to the 70s rock to 80s and so forth. And have fun all the way. I'm learning by ear now. First time I'm REALLY trying to do it without tab, etc, etc.

I'm learning Born Under a Bad Sign by Albert King (Eric Clapton covered it in Cream). For blues learning some of the 3 Kings (Albert, BB and Freddie) is a good start.

I've also got some great advice from someone about learning songs. Practice very slow and move up the speed bit by bit, only so long as you can play it perfectly before you move on. My Tascam GT-CD 1 helps a lot in this. It is one of those "slows down the song without changing the pitch" thingies. Now you can do it with computer programs like 7th String or even free one Audacity. Another piece of advice I got was "don't just keep starting at the beginning of a song", that is, you will learn the beginning really well and the rest of the song not so well. Instead try learning from the middle, and maybe even another advice saying Learn the Hardest Parts First. That way when you accomplish that, the rest of the songs are easy.

And all the best players learned from their predecessors by playing their songs! Blues, rock, metal, everybody!

Originally Posted by: Jason_DionneI have a method that you can try. But it involves seriouse dedication. Contact me and i will tell you what you should at least concider doing.

That sounds like a setup for paying for something....

Originally Posted by: hunter1801That sounds like a setup for paying for something....

Don't it, though?

Originally Posted by: jtcomctagOnce again I am finding myself slipping out of touch with my guitar. I am one of those guys who has struggled staying with it over the last few years. I put in tons of time and money and am dedicated to learning for a stretch of time and then when I hit a rut or something else comes up that stalls my playing I end up just slipping away from it for a while. Does anyone else out there relate to this? What can I do to stay in touch even when things get a little stale?

Sometimes when I feel in a rut, I change the strings on my guitars. Whether they need them or not. Sometimes the brightness and newness of the new strings invigorates my playing. Treat yourself to some high end strings. For times like those I love Dean Markley Blue Steel. Even at double the price of the bread and butter strings like D'adds or Ernie Ball they don't break the bank.

Everyone has different motivations for playing the guitar. Some play in a band, some play in church, some play for friends, some play for themselves, some play because they think that they will be the next guitar hero.

There is one common denominator though. All play because they love it.

What do you love about it. The music it makes, the music you make? Do you love it because it is your way of 'getting away'.. your 30 minute vacation from the world?

I think you need some structure and now is probably a good time to invest in regular lessons. Multiple benefits, structured instruction, have someone else set a goal for you, have a trained professional critique your technique, and the instructor will most likely be able to set you up with other students in your area for jam sessions at a level you'll be comfortable with.

just some random thoughts rolling around my head.

Originally Posted by: Mike51
There is one common denominator though. All play because they love it.

What do you love about it. The music it makes, the music you make? Do you love it because it is your way of 'getting away'.. your 30 minute vacation from the world?

I think you need some structure and now is probably a good time to invest in regular lessons. Multiple benefits, structured instruction, have someone else set a goal for you, have a trained professional critique your technique, and the instructor will most likely be able to set you up with other students in your area for jam sessions at a level you'll be comfortable with.

That's some seriously good advice. Kinda what I needed to hear as well. Nicely said.

Originally Posted by: jtcomctagThat is good stuff. I don't really have any buddies that are into guitar though. Does anyone know how to get in touch with local musicians in your area to jam. I know there are some open mic and open jam sessions at some local bars but I think those guys are well beyond my skill level.

If the guys at the open mics are jerks, they're jerks. Generally, though, most musicians are happy to share what they know. I'm most likely "beyond your skill level", but if you lived close by I'd be more than happy to show you some things to get you interested.

Talk to music teachers in your area, put your info up on Craigslist, go to your local music shop and see if there is a local billboard. Get all these numbers and e-mails and call 'em up! If you don't get at least one guitar buddy out of that, then I'm sorry my friend, you live on an island. The type with the single palm tree.

I don't know if my contact information is listed on my profile, but feel free to contact me with any questions you might have regarding guitar, motivation, or music in general.

Best regards,

-Bryan

Possibly make a schedual, set a time of everyday that you will sit down and play, practice scales, improv composition etc. That way you will be motivated to do this more than not having something to push you to practice guitar.

And another tip, dont procrastinate, the easiest thing you can do to get back at playing guitar, is to do it.

Originally Posted by: jtcomctagThat is good stuff. I don't really have any buddies that are into guitar though. Does anyone know how to get in touch with local musicians in your area to jam. I know there are some open mic and open jam sessions at some local bars but I think those guys are well beyond my skill level.

Check out Craigslist as in my area I found a group that gets together 2 times a month, and just messes around, and these guys are truly at different levels, but its all fun. One of the better players will lead the song, and we all just noddle around. There is no limit to level and number of instruments - we had 4 guys playing guitars last time.

Really, what I'm starting to realize about learning music is that it's all about community. Music doesn't "run in my family", but the fact that so many of my siblings and both my parents played guitar really opened me up to a lot of things. People that struggle often do not have any sort of network to fall back on, and may think that lapses in motivation reflect on them, when in reality lapses in motivation are part of life. A community of kind, patient musicians will help you back up.

Originally Posted by: JeffS65I think in order to really be productive and enjoy guitar playing is to not just learn about it but create from it. Whether or not you are good at the 'creating' part is not really important. Just sit down and start noodling some riffs and licks and start hearing stuff you like and build something from there. Part of my playing is fleshing out ideas. Since I'm doing for the fun of it, I don;t have feel like I'm creating the next Led Zep song or anything but something that's nice to my ears. These little ideas keep coming around for a 'song' and I just run with it.

The point is that if you are just in learning mode all the time, it becomes a drill. Once in a while, you have to take what you've learned and let it do its things and just play.

Great advice! This could really help you if you decide you're going to create for fun and don't be too harsh on whatever you come up with. Every practice session should have a bit of fun in it; preferably playing something that you once had to work hard at, but that you've now mastered. That way you're reminding yourself of the rewards that lie ahead.