How did you get out of a mental rut?

[Sick Michael]

Get some lessons from Truefire or one of the other online instructional places.

Or get a girlfirend/wife.

Or Visit Tehran/UK

All will change your perspective, to varying degrees, mostly for the better

 

[matttornado]

That's a shame you left all that behind... I get that way too. I have to learn songs for the cover band I'm in and 90% of the time I couldn't care less and wait till a day or hours before practice. I have to force myself. I still manage to learn & go prepared though, more than the other band mates. LOL

Maybe you chose the wrong job? If you are that passionate about playing music and being in that great environment you had, consider moving back. Nothing will stop you if playing music is a top priority in your life, even a job.

I'd rather be living comfortably while playing music than making a lot of money and not.

 

[LPMojoGL]

So I picked up a job at the very beginning of this year that placed me in the middle of nowhere. I had to leave my band, and I couldn’t really join a new one because of the hours and the fact that this job has me bounce to some place new every year or so. I’ve been pretty much left a bedroom player. Most of my stuff is sitting in a storage unit back home, but I did take the effort to bring out my Diezel VHX and a guitar. It’s a lot of amp for a bedroom, but I figured I could really hone in over this year and get even better…

That didn’t happen. I barely touched the instrument at first, but then I started to force myself to do so, and it keeps feeling like I can never get the tone right. It feels like I can’t get the sound I used to love, and the things that used to frustrate me seem ever present. Outside of the tone, I’ve been feeling very repetitive, with a routine that has kept me stagnant. Every time I try to shake it up and maybe learn something new, I lose the motivation.

It’s been this comedown from what was a really solid musical environment to absolutely nothing outside of myself. My band and I had access to this warehouse in the middle of nowhere where we could all just really let loose and play as loud and as long as we’d like. There was a scene with lots of different musicians and bands where we could all drop in and jam with each other. There was a lot of organic inspiration for me previously. Now I’m in an apartment with a roommate where I have to keep it down, and nobody to play with either. There’s barely any venues here as well.

It’s kind of like musical depression? I say that because outside of this I’m doing pretty great, my life is good, I’m not actually depressed. But with this… I’m kind of sad and frustrated that something I’ve put in thousands of hours into and grown to love over the 11 years has kind of withered away. I don’t know whether I should change up my style and get a different amp and guitar. I don’t know if I should start practicing different styles. I’m kind of lost on this. Has anybody else gone through something similar, and then gotten out of it?

Been there.

Looper pedal is my #1 answer.
I can be bored, dejected, not even want to play. Within a couple of minutes of picking up the guitar amd just making noise, I'll loop something...volume swells for colorful backdrop, simple chord progression, effects pedal at a setting I'd never usually dial in...
And before I know it, an hr or 2 has passed and I've recorded 5 or 6 solid ideas.

#2, Spark Mini. I had no idea how convenient and inspiring it would be when I got it. I'll wake up, put on a pot of coffee, turn on the tv, and plug into the Spark Mini that sits on my coffee table in front of the sofa. I'll make noise during commericials, in between scrolling on the phone, while I wait for the coffee to kick in. At some point, I'll stumble on a sound or play something I really like. Then, all I have to do is run a USB cable from the Spark to my laptop, boom! recording.
No mics, interface or monitors. No loud tube amps. Just a tiny amp with a plethora of good sounds available. Don't even get off the couch. Just sip my coffee, play at low TV volume (or headphones if people are sleeping), and come up with all kinds of sounds and ideas.
I can play along with or learn from videos on my phone or laptop.
I can take that lil amp and a cheap guitar on a road trip, always have something to play, that I'm not worried about getting damaged. Plus it's a great Bluetooth speaker.
Great tool, for the same price as a decent pedal.

 

[edubfromktown]

I pedal bicycles, hike in the woods and go for walks in my neighborhood.

 

[PDC]

I don't know if I have any answers or advice - but just to say you are not alone. I did the G.I.T. thing in the late 80s and was fortunate to get in on the very tail end of 3-4 night bookings at good size bars in the midwest before that style of music went dormant. Big Fish, Little Pond, but it felt good to be kind of a local hotshot. I then moved to L.A. (way too late) and banged my head against every door for 3 years before joining the 'grown-up' world. But I always had a guitar next to the couch and always kept my chops up. Strange to have such strong connection to something like that, but so be it.

Only recently have I had the experience of grabbing the guitar and just not being able to fly around the neck with the speed and ease that I once did. And it seems like the harder I try to slow down and get everything back, that more clunky everything feels. So I get what you are saying about after investing literally THOUSANDS of hours and feeling like the physical end of it still is not just light-switch automatic. Hell, I even tried to completely blank-slate my entire style by abandoning decades of strict economy picking (think Frank Gambale) into strict alternate picking. That only made things worse. I have recently tried to take all the pressure off, put the metronome away, and just noodle around, playing licks that I like and sections of solos that I like just for the joy of feeling my hands sync up at whatever tempo. I am trying to find the 'fun' in this again and see what happens.

 

[Uzi Nein Millimetah]

When I was a kid starting out on guitar, I would always struggle to play something NOT cliched in guitar stores while the "audience" was listening. I don't think my local store had a "No Stairway to Heaven" or "No Enter Sand Man" or "Eruption" sign, but it was understood. And by the time I was starting to shred, a guy named Cobain came along and ruined everything.

My musical vocabulary is much wider now, and I can improv for a very long time without resorting to playing hit songs/riffs, so sometimes as a challenge, I'll record improv sessions just with one guitar (although quad-tracked on the deck) playing something that goes somewhere/anywhere, a different guitar every time. Parts can be like a concert solo spot, and others just exploring chords and moods or playing with various effects.

I must admit, I love listening back to them just to hear the tones and where the playing went (if anywhere), and sometimes get song ideas from them. I sometimes do this with backing track instrumental songs also (me live on all instruments). Are they indulgent? You bet. Is it fun? Of course.

Some of my favorite platforms for extended improv:

Hendrix Band of Gypsys - Who Knows (I take this WAY out from where it started)
Iron Butterfly - In-a-Gadda-you know the rest (this song was made for improv---and octave pedals!)
Goblin - Profundo Rosso (Deep Red - theme to obscure '70s Horror Movie)
Dream Theater - Erotomania (my far less disciplined, but more aggressive, perhaps drunken , but still shredderiffic version---one take only!)
Grip, Inc. - Monsters Among Us
Racer X - Into the Night

Try it!!

 

[shar-vell Dan]

 

[Metalhex]

Jokes on you...I've never gotten out of the mental rut!

 

[mrmega]

I went through a long period when I didnt want to play, or do much of anything with music and Ive played since I was a little boy. I tried everything, including drinking, smoking, chicks, trying to fill the void with gear, other material things, people... if you name it I probably tried it (except for hard drugs). The only thing that gave me peace and a happy life was turning to the Lord and dedicating my life to living for Jesus. I wouldnt replace the happiness and peace I have now with anything. I no longer struggle to write, play, create or even exist. Every day is a good day, even when I have a lot of problems.