In a rut....time for a change?

ourmaninthenorth

I've got some lovely gear, that's took me a long time to assemble. I'm really happy with all of it...ie I'm not blaming the tools. However I seem to have slipped into a really contrived style of playing ( which is a poncey way of saying that I'm playing the same old clichés every time I pick my guitar up ). I'm a home player, never been in a band, never played in front of an audience, and never really wanted to. I'm a veteran player of 35 continuous, blissful years. 

I'm having the thought of going full circle, back to the beginning, selling all of my gear and investing in one acoustic. 

I wonder if there's anyone here who's actually done just that? I'd be really grateful to hear your experiences and insights. The best thing you've ever done, or a huge mistake that didn't really solve the initial "problem"? 

Cheers all 

not_the_dj

I wouldn't sell anything, that could be a costly mistake.

Paul_C

maybe buy something that'll force you to think differently in terms of music making for a while ?

ukulele/keyboard/old vibraphone /etc.

ESBlonde

Paul_C said:

maybe buy something that'll force you to think differently in terms of music making for a while ?

ukulele/keyboard/old vibraphone /etc.

This.

guitarfishbay

ourmaninthenorth said:

 However I seem to have slipped into a really contrived style of playing ( which is a poncey way of saying that I'm playing the same old clichés every time I pick my guitar up ). I'm a home player, never been in a band, never played in front of an audience, and never really wanted to. I'm a veteran player of 35 continuous, blissful years. 

Another alternative would be to book yourself a couple of lessons with a teacher.  You wouldn't have to play in a band or perform to an audience, unless you also wouldn't want to play in front of a teacher.

The internet and youtube are full of loads of lessons and ideas but I still think one to one lessons have loads of merit, and can be tailored to your own needs.

I'd at least try a few lessons to see if it can help you out of a rut before doing anything drastic.

digitalscream

not_the_dj said:

I wouldn't sell anything, that could be a costly mistake.

I disagree...sell everything that you don't really need. I've been a much better player since I got rid of the mountain of guitars, rack gear, effects etc - it all stems from one day when my power amp died and I couldn't use my Eleven Rack-based MIDI rig for a rehearsal...I just took my Jet City amp and footswitch to rehearsal, and it was like a breath of fresh air. Since then, I got rid of all the guitars which were just sitting there, sold the Eleven, got rid of the effects...and now I run with the bare minimum I need to get the job done. That's basically two guitars, two near-identical amps (second amp and guitar are just spares), wah, tuner, phaser and delay.

If you don't want to risk selling stuff, just pack it away and shove it in the loft.

fatherjack

A couple of things you could try:

For soloing - put a guitar into a different tuning.  The shapes you're used to using won't work in the same way.

For chord playing - put a capo on the 1st or 3rd frets (I think it's too easy to adjust to a capo on the 2nd fret, doesn't make you think) -it may encourage you to use different chord voicings.

dogload

Think long and hard before selling... I've done that a coupe of times in the past. When I was 16 I sold my electric and pedals and bought an acoustic 12, then about five years ago sold all my pedals coz I never used them, only to join a band and find I needed pedals!

Lock all the stuff that you feel is keeping you in a rut in a cupboard or even just start listening to totally off-piste music. Sometimes that's all it takes- a new musical discovery to re-ignite the flame.

fatherjack

Try playing along to adverts and TV themes - they're usually a long way out of the 'rock' box.

RocknRollDave

fatherjack said:

A couple of things you could try:

For soloing - put a guitar into a different tuning.  The shapes you're used to using won't work in the same way.

For chord playing - put a capo on the 1st or 3rd frets (I think it's too easy to adjust to a capo on the 2nd fret, doesn't make you think) -it may encourage you to use different chord voicings.

This...in spades.

If you haven't already, then experiment with different tunings. You'll almost certainly need a few pointers at first as to where to fret chords etc but you can find that stuff online dead easily.
Nice easy one to get going is Open G - think Keith Richards. Ignore the bottom E entirely and then of the 5 other strings, three of them will be exactly as you're used to - but the tuning opens up all kinds of nice sounds you don't normally get.

ddlooping

If you're a pick player you could also try playing without one.
More importantly, try and find a local jam night and go have fun.

ESBlonde

Paul_C said:

maybe buy something that'll force you to think differently in terms of music making for a while ?

ukulele/keyboard/old vibraphone /etc.

This.

fatherjack said:

Try playing along to adverts and TV themes - they're usually a long way out of the 'rock' box.

The incidental music on TV or film changes all the time and sometimes is not in concert pitch so you have to do controlled bends to play along. I often sit noodling to the tv for an hour without getting through a whole piece when it fades out. The trick is to go straight to the right key and play along ASAP hopefully in the first bar.

fatherjack

(a little laborious to set up and probably entirely daft, but bear with me)

Random Chord Sequence Generator!

Use Excel's random function to make up chord sequences.  Each part of the chord is made using this function - root note, flat/natural/sharp, major/minor, additional 7ths/9ths etc.  

Repeat this for however many chords you want in the sequence, and you can even select a random time signature this way.  Record the results (usually fairly horrible, no doubt) - fairly easy if you've got Band-In-A-Box and play over the top.

EricTheWeary

not_the_dj;56471" said:

I wouldn't sell anything, that could be a costly mistake.

absolutely. Much better off letting me look after it for you whilst you decide.

Deadman

I sold all my gear once and bought a very expensive Takamine. I went full circle again, of course.

Bellycaster

dogload said:

Think long and hard before selling... I've done that a coupe of times in the past. When I was 16 I sold my electric and pedals and bought an acoustic 12, then about five years ago sold all my pedals coz I never used them, only to join a band and find I needed pedals!

Lock all the stuff that you feel is keeping you in a rut in a cupboard or even just start listening to totally off-piste music. Sometimes that's all it takes- a new musical discovery to re-ignite the flame.

^ This for me ^

I've learned some songs that I'd never have thought of just by hearing them on the radio or coming across them on the net. These are usually songs that are not heavily Guitar orientated, but they still have a chord structure so who says you can't learn it?

Examples:

Kate Bush - Wow.

Katie Melua - The Flood

They're just great songs with a lovely melodies.

I also like learning solos that were not performed on the Guitar on the original Track, such as Sax solos or Trumpet solos, this can give you a whole different approach to how you phrase your passages on Guitar.

I'd even go as far to say that I love the sound of the Guitar but prefer to play improvisations with similar phrasing to a Sax player, although I'm no expert yet ;-)

Examples:

AWB - Pick up the pieces

Foreigner - Urgent

Spandau Ballet - How Many Lies

Chi-Lites - You Don't Have to Go.

Obviously, you might pick completely different tracks if you chose to do it.

I get to feel like you do sometimes and varying consistency in my playing is my main Bugbear, but from reading your O.P, it seems yours is a severe case of Boredom and that's easy-ish to cure that.

Go for it :-D

 

Grunfeld

ourmaninthenorth said:

I'm a home player, never been in a band, never played in front of an audience, and never really wanted to.

You know what, it might be worth having a proper think about that.  A sort of get in yourself in the bath and really ponder it.  If I were your girlfriend I'd be really nagging away at that belief!  I'd be saying, "Well why don't you want to play in a band?  You have put in all that time and love of doing something, learning to play, but in all that time it's like you've been avoiding something.  Imagine walking out there and plugging your guitar into your amp... the drummer counts you all in and you're not scared... you're excited!  And it's you hitting that chord and it sounds bloody amazing!" 

Yep, I'd be nagging away at that belief until you thought, "I'm gonna do it!"  Of course, I'd make a pretty strange girlfriend ;-)

viz

Listen to some dream theater.

ourmaninthenorth

Thanks a lot for all the comments so far, there's something worth thinking about in every post. 

Mr Bellycaster - spot on bud... there is a huge element of boredom underpinning the whole thing, which in itself is fairly churlish. I've had a lot of gear through my hands over the last 30 years, I wonder if I'm a victim of my own nonsense - where the gear and the next deal actually took precedence over these things as musical instruments. About 5 years ago I decided to put the bluesy stuff that I've been playing for years to one side a little, and concentrate on a Jazz approach in a fairly structured way, now I noodle chordly (??) rather than in scales...

) 

Mr Grunfeld - I hear what you're saying completely, I've thought about that many times, but here's the rub. I'm an incredibly private bloke, music to me is the antedote for having to play an interactive part in the world as we all have to do, and not a contribution to that activity. This weekend I decided to play along with some of my favourite music, first two Free albums, King Crimson up to Red, a bit of Greeny, bit of Neil Young...you get the script... it was only when I turned the amps down a bit, turned the pedal ( Yup I only own one!!)  off, and got into a bit of Bill Evans & Jim Hall, that the Wife looked up and made a comment...along the lines of " go and cut the grass you lazy bugger..  not heard you play like that for a while, enjoyed that ."  The point I'm trying to make is that I was on autopilot, so far in my own little world as to make it seem effortless. The point I think you're making is that comfort zone doesn't exist to the extent where you can get bored, if you're playing with other people...food for thought indeed. However I'll need years of therapy to get past my misanthropy first!!!

b-(

I reckon I'll take the saxophone up, always fancied being as cool as Rollins, or the Piano - definitely unhinged enough already to give Monk a run.

Confused? so the bloody hell am I ......  

@-)

monquixote

Don't sell all your gear (though by all means shed stuff you don't use)

My top tip would be learn a new instrument (bass, drums, uke, etc) 

It makes you think about things a different way.

bluechargeboy

Think of words using the letters ABCDEFG, and then make chord sequences out of the word! %-(

Use a looper.

Play solos avoiding the root note at all costs.