Stuck in a rut

ditchboy · May 28

I’ve been playing pretty regularly for a few years now but have hit a wall. I’m somebody who enjoys learning new songs rather than theory, I’ve tried to learn a bit of theory but it’s so fuckin boring I can’t take it in. I have about ten songs I can play, Hey Joe, Street Spirit, Slideaway, Scar Tissue, Let it be, All along the watch tower, under the bridge. That kind of gives you an idea of what I can play (sloppily). But I’ve been playing the same shit for about 6 months now. No idea what to learn next, tried a few other Hendrix tunes but a bit too difficult. I spend more time browsing YouTube looking for inspiration than playing so now I’m asking for help on here. Any recommendations of songs that will challenge me but aren’t so difficult I’ll put the guitar down?

Funkfingers · May 28

When did you last play in the same room as other musicians?

TeleMaster · May 28

Do you write?

hollywoodrox · May 28

You’re doing well man now you need someone to play with , drum ,bass,vocals etc

ditchboy · May 28

Funkfingers said:

When did you last play in the same room as other musicians?

Years ago when I played bass. Never really while I picked guitar up.

ditchboy · May 28

TeleMaster said:

Do you write?

I don’t. I wouldn’t even know which chords to put together or how to build a lead part for the most part.

TeleMaster · May 28

ditchboy said:

TeleMaster said:

Do you write?

I don’t. I wouldn’t even know which chords to put together or how to build a lead part for the most part.

That's why theory comes in handy. Understanding how chords are built and key signatures work is quite basic and you don't really need to know a lot. Learning the pentatonic scale isn't that hard, and if you want to do what you want to do, you have to learn how to do it.

Some people can do it without, like Kurt Cobain, but they're one in a million. Most artists do actually know theory to a certain degree even if they pretend they don't. I know enough theory but I never really think about it, I just know the scales, know what chords work with what and so on and just get on with it.

If you put a bit of real effort in you'd be flying.

ditchboy · May 28

TeleMaster said:

ditchboy said:

TeleMaster said:

Do you write?

I don’t. I wouldn’t even know which chords to put together or how to build a lead part for the most part.

That's why theory comes in handy. Understanding how chords are built and key signatures work is quite basic and you don't really need to know a lot. Learning the pentatonic scale isn't that hard, and if you want to do what you want to do, you have to learn how to do it.

Some people can do it without, like Kurt Cobain, but they're one in a million. Most artists do actually know theory to a certain degree even if they pretend they don't. I know enough theory but I never really think about it, I just know the scales, know what chords work with what and so on and just get on with it.

If you put a bit of real effort in you'd be flying.

Any sources you’d recommend to get me the basics? I have guitar theory for dummies but never got past page 12.

Kurtis · May 28

ditchboy said:

TeleMaster said:

Do you write?

I don’t. I wouldn’t even know which chords to put together or how to build a lead part for the most part.

If you can play the tunes you mentioned then you do know!

If it sounds good it is good.

TeleMaster · May 28

ditchboy said:
Any sources you’d recommend to get me the basics? I have guitar theory for dummies but never got past page 12.

I believe Justin Guitar is decent. Learning from a book can be hard, especially in the modern world where we learn via videos much more.

Kurtis said:
If you can play the tunes you mentioned then you do know!

If it sounds good it is good.

This too!

SlopeSoarer · May 28

It sounds to me like someone needs a new guitar!

Sorry... not helpful!

Svartmetall · May 28

Really knowing your scales - even if it's just the basic blues boxes and the diatonic major scale and modes thereof (which includes the minor scale) - makes an incredible difference to how you perceive music, and will also help you work stuff out by ear much more easily as your ears will start to get used to the sound of various intervals and automatically know what they are on the fingerboard when you hear them. Every chord is just a few bits of a scale stuck together, after all, so if you know your scales you also know your chords; when I really sat down and worked on this it really was a Despicable Me 'LIGHTBULB!'-style moment in terms of my understanding of the guitar. I taught guitar for 15 years and the first thing I would give every student on their first lesson - no matter what sort of music they wanted to play - was a sheet with a set of basic warm-up exercises to develop finger independence & dexterity, and also three-note-per-string fingerings for the major, minor and pentatonic minor (a.k.a. 'blues') scale.

Also - what range of music do you listen to? If your listening habits have gotten into a rut, then your playing habits can too; sometimes it can really help to try new bands or even whole genres of music. One of the best things I ever did was investigate classical music when I was ~19; I was a massive metal and prog fan but I knew there was a lot more music out there that I knew nothing about. I went to a friend who was a massive classical fan, borrowed a bunch of LPs (this was late '87) that spanned the classical repertoire from really early stuff like plainchant up to hardcore modern crazy shit like Xenakis; a lot of it left me cold, but one night I was listening to 'The Rite Of Spring' by Stravinsky' and it blew my fucking head off - I began getting into modern classical stuff and have never looked back, and to this day I consider getting into classical music one of the best tings I've ever done in terms of my growth as a musician (I've been investigating jazz over the last 7-8 years or so, too).

ditchboy · May 28

SlopeSoarer said:

It sounds to me like someone needs a new guitar!

Sorry... not helpful!

As it happens I have been eyeing up a Les Paul. No idea why when I usually get around 4 hours per week to play so my Strat, tele and acoustic rotate. No real need for another!

TTony · May 28

ditchboy said:

Stuck in a rut

A rut isn't as deep as a ditch.

ditchboy · May 28

Svartmetall said:

Really knowing your scales - even if it's just the basic blues boxes and the diatonic major scale and modes thereof (which includes the minor scale) - makes an incredible difference to how you perceive music, and will also help you work stuff out by ear much more easily as your ears will start to get used to the sound of various intervals and automatically know what they are on the fingerboard when you hear them. Every chord is just a few bits of a scale stuck together, after all, so if you know your scales you also know your chords; when I really sat down and worked on this it really was a Despicable Me 'LIGHTBULB!'-style moment in terms of my understanding of the guitar. I taught guitar for 15 years and the first thing I would give every student on their first lesson - no matter what sort of music they wanted to play - was a sheet with a set of basic warm-up exercises to develop finger independence & dexterity, and also three-note-per-string fingerings for the major, minor and pentatonic minor (a.k.a. 'blues') scale.

Also - what range of music do you listen to? If your listening habits have gotten into a rut, then your playing habits can too; sometimes it can really help to try new bands or even whole genres of music. One of the best things I ever did was investigate classical music when I was ~19; I was a massive metal and prog fan but I knew there was a lot more music out there that I knew nothing about. I went to a friend who was a massive classical fan, borrowed a bunch of LPs (this was late '87) that spanned the classical repertoire from really early stuff like plainchant up to hardcore modern crazy shit like Xenakis; a lot of it left me cold, but one night I was listening to 'The Rite Of Spring' by Stravinsky' and it blew my fucking head off - I began getting into modern classical stuff and have never looked back, and to this day I consider getting into classical music one of the best tings I've ever done in terms of my growth as a musician (I've been investigating jazz over the last 7-8 years or so, too).

I like tons of different stuff, I was into Oasis in the mid 90s and still enjoy them. They were my first experience of guitar music. Before that I was into rave. Now it’s things like Pink Floyd, Beatles, The National, Arctic Monkeys, Catfish and the Bottlemen, Led Zep, Stones, Stones Roses, BRMC, Jake Bugg, The Rifles, Springsteen (Nebraska), Pogues, Doors, Fleetwood Mac…..the list goes on.

S56035 · May 28

I'm no good and only ever play at home on my own but I find that playing a few AC/DC songs can help as they're pretty easy to get the basic idea going and are pretty fun to play even if you don't really like the band. I'd never put an AC/DC song on but I can play 5 along with the record.

Fez · May 28

Are there any jam nights in your neck of the woods? Even if you don't go and jam you might find someone in a similar situation. Have a look at Licklibrary for something you want to learn. Andyguitar does some good stuff.

slacker · May 28

1 learn some chic songs
2 caged
3 get to a fretboard jam

kelpbeds · May 28

There's a lot of material on my YouTube channel you will find very interesting. I always try and break things down and explain why things work, rather than just throw in a bunch of licks. Hope it helps!
https://www.youtube.com/@timdaleybluesguitar101

OilCityPickups · May 29

hollywoodrox said:

You’re doing well man now you need someone to play with , drum ,bass,vocals etc

Exactly this. You progress fastest when you are sharing a goal with other people.

Learning stuff to play with other people is entirely different and in my opinion more satisfying ... and more challenging. You learn the give and take that music is about, you learn to play in time, and you learn how to correct your mistakes on the fly ... and even turn them into new ideas.

Of course learn scales and chords ... but theory won't make you a guitarist on its own ... playing with other people will motivate you, and 'ripping into' stuff and enjoying it will make you suck up theory faster.

hotpickups · May 29

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

https://guitarplayback.com/courses/

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Stuck in a rut