How to keep your guitar playing inspired

T

thepacifist20130

Inspired
Ok - so this is not a link to an article in a magazine but a genuine question.

I’ve been cooped up in the house for the better part of eternity with mostly a guitar and an amp and a few cases of beer.


Ok maybe not all of that’s true but you get the idea. Between the family and household chores, I try to get in some noodling time everyday. However, I feel as if late that I’m not doing anything new on the guitar. It’s the regular old blues on various keys, practicing a few modes over the same ol’ stale generic backing tracks, looking up video lessons on YouTube which get very technical very fast.

I’m a guitar-cable-amp kind of guy. I’m happy with the basic amp models on my AX8 and creating complex tones is not my idea of having fun.

Etc etc.

So, to keep it short - what inspires you to pickup that piece of wood with a few steel strings slapped on and keep picking it up everyday?
 
When I get to that place, I do a few things:

  • Try an amp or effect I don't normally use - they often lead to unexpected places
  • Take a day or two off from guitar - I usually get a bunch of new ideas when I haven't played for a while
  • Take a walk... Absorb some nature and get my head somewhere else
 
I play acoustic pretty much exclusively at home, as to not need specific tones to get inspired, or get stuck in tweakland. Another reason is that it demands more from your hands and technique physically, and depends greater on HOW and WHAT you play.

So I would suggest, scale back. Make the notes themselves the reason you play. Challenge yourself with a new technique or musical style. Don't play boring unmusical exercises. Instead, play musical exerts that contain what you want to learn. Don't get stuck with the metronome. A metronome has it's time and place, and it's for pushing your tempo on techniques and exerts you already know well, or for specifically working on timing and groove.
 
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I generally dont play until I have a sound I want to make or get in the "all guitar all day" mood. Fumbling around the fretboard just to say I did seems unnecessary.

If there's something you want to improve on, make a plan for how to improve on it.

In short, if you dont feel like playing, simply dont.
 
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