Stuck in a rut

guitars4you

TTony said:

ditchboy said:

Stuck in a rut

A rut isn't as deep as a ditch.

you've not seen the pot holes down my way

maltingsaudio

Have a go at this, played clean on front pickup, the chord progression is great fun and a different vibe to what you’re playing now. Then just google different chord voicings
https://tabs.ultimate-guitar.com/tab/the-beatles/honey-pie-chords-768560

imalrightjack

hotpickups said:

Check out this guy’s online courses. He got me out of a rut during covid times.

https://guitarplayback.com/courses/

Interesting, as Chris Liepe is on there - I’ve learned loads about singing from him, 30 years later than I should have. 

stonevibe

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NQZ-FbCMIrU

HAL9000

Not really sure what standard you are but a few suggestions…

Free Falling - Tom Petty - simple progression but absolutely relies on changing chords on the right beats (not always start of bars).

Learning to Fly - also Tom Petty - another simple progression but every other chord change is ahead of the beat.

So Far Away - Dire Straits - not overly difficult and nice little motif/signature lick to learn.

The Stumble - Freddy King - simpler than it first appears once you’ve got that little five-note signature lick mastered. Also, look out for the diminished chord (bar 12?), and the penultimate bar that changes chord on every beat.

jeromegreenday

I'm in the same boat. Due to recent Neil young chats on here I found out the key to 'Cortez the killer' E minor. I put the song on, I played the E minor pentatonic over it - Bugger me with a fish fork, all the notes I played sounded right, then I played the E Aeolian, again every note sounded right but I was just walking up and down the scales, I maybe had about 5 or 6 half decent techniques / phrasings I could find in those scales. I just don't know how to get tasty licks from scales. I need guitar lessons, I've gone as far as I can as a bedroom guitarist. The only over tip is hum what you think is a good lick then playback what you hum?

Flanging_Fred

The book you have “Guitar theory for dummies” is an excellent book. It is however, just a book, trying to read though it like a novel isn’t going to work. The author, Desi Serma has loads of podcasts and YouTube channel videos.  If you haven’t watched/listened to them then I highly recommend that you do. Don’t watch more than one at a time though. Go slowly.

 The thing he stresses about theory and I echo it, is that to understand theory it needs to be contextualised into actual music. Without that context, it’s all just confusing word salad.  You need to hear the theoretical concepts in actual songs. Famous songs that everyone will recognise. Taken slowly,  one step at a time you will build up your theory knowledge. Go slowly, it does take time.

You asked for song ideas. Desi Serna always tries to tie the theory to a song, Brown Eyed Girl is a great example he uses. It’s kind of a cliche but always goes down well at parties or in covers bands. By tying it to a theoretical concept, you both learn the song and the fundamental musical building blocks behind it.

I learned a massive amount from Desi Serna and I’ve not even scratched the surface.

some other things to note.

1. As others have said, if you can find a way to play with other people, then do so, you’ll have fun and learn so much more so much faster.

2. If you don’t have a looper pedal, get one, even a cheap simple one. Armed with just the major scale and two chords you can spend hours and hours learning new stuff and learning to understand why things sound the way they do.. Again, it’s context, you can learn all the scale patterns under the sun but it means bugger all unless you play those scales over a chord (or even just a root bass note).  This is an excellent way of putting any theory you learn in to practice in a targeted and controlled way.

3. JustinGuitar has a great beginners series on the major scale. Without that fundamental understanding of the major scale, nothing else is going to make much sense in (western) music theory. Guitarists rightly love the pentatonic scale and it’s an essential thing to learn but it’s the major scale that underpins everything in western music. It might seem boring at first (it did to me) but the more you learn the more you understand how everything you play is in some way based around it. Learning it is like slowly clearing fog or pulling back a curtain to reveal a much clearer understanding of music, whatever the style you play.

4. There is a HUGE amount of stuff to learn and learning material available to do it and it’s totally overwhelming. Doom scrolling through the internet for inspiration is just going to make that worse. Try and stick with one education source and one topic at a time until you feel that you have understood and exhausted that source. You can either then move on to a new topic or delve deeper into the topic you’re working on by finding another source (and perspective) on the same material.

5. Try and define what your musical goals are. Do you want to record music, play in a band (what sort of band: covers, originals, improv?), play at parties, go to jam sessions or open mic sessions etc? That will help guide you on the areas to concentrate on. Its worth writing those goals down. When you’re stuck in a rut, revisiting your original goals can help you to reset your thinking and go again. Also, don’t be afraid to change your aims as you progress. 

6. As well as writing goals down, it’s a good idea to keep a notebook or diary of what you are working on. A quick look at it each time you pick up a guitar helps keep you focused on what you are learning and helps reduce pointless noodling or other distractions (something I have a real problem with).

I appear to have written an entire essay. Sorry. 

Kurtis

jeromegreenday said:

I'm in the same boat. Due to recent Neil young chats on here I found out the key to 'Cortez the killer' E minor. I put the song on, I played the E minor pentatonic over it - Bugger me with a fish fork, all the notes I played sounded right, then I played the E Aeolian, again every note sounded right but I was just walking up and down the scales, I maybe had about 5 or 6 half decent techniques / phrasings I could find in those scales. I just don't know how to get tasty licks from scales. I need guitar lessons, I've gone as far as I can as a bedroom guitarist. The only over tip is hum what you think is a good lick then playback what you hum?

All I really do is try to play the pentatonic in ways I haven't done before. With a bit of technique (bends/hammer on/pull offs/slides etc. the licks make themselves. Don't go up and down the scale jump notes/strings/positions. 


With the bands that op mentioned 90% (at least!) of it will be pentatonic with maybe the odd minor/major/blues note thrown in or just as a passing note. 

Learning lots of different exotic scales is probably going to be a bit of a waste of time, if you just want to get playing that kind of stuff. IMHO of course. 

Lestratcaster

I found playing in bands or with other musicians helped me develop. Also learning new styles. Oh and taking lessons. Learning from someone very experienced who can structure material to your tastes is useful, and identifying what your bad habits are and how to strengthen the weak parts of playing.

ditchboy

Evening. Just picking this thread up again! Thank you so far for all of the input!