You ever have one of those days.....

[MadAsAHatter]

when every riff you attempt to play is complete garbage. I seem to be having one of those months. I've been inspired to start writing some original stuff again. Every time I try to riff out an idea or just play to see what comes out it all sounds like incoherent trash. Even worse is I lost all the old stuff I recorded but never developed when my computer died. So I can't ever go back to reference that and work it out more.

 

[thegame]

Even the pros suffer from this. Look up St. Anger and Lulu.

 

[Findthetone1]

When I get like this I just stop playing for a few weeks. For some strange reason I seem to play really well (by my standards of ability) when I pick it back up.

 

[Mikeyboyeee]

I'm not that good, so almost every time I play ?

 

[311boogieman]

When I get like this I just stop playing for a few weeks. For some strange reason I seem to play really well (by my standards of ability) when I pick it back up.

I'm the exact same way. One day everything sounds great and then the next it is absolute garbage - with no change to the gear right?

This comes up every now and then and I cant' put my finger on it. But usually I know within 5 minutes if it is going to be good or bad. If bad - I just turn everything off and walk away as opposed to fighting it. Hard to explain. Must be mental because I have a hard time seeing how it could be physical (all things remaining the same). PS: I'm just a basement wanna be that likes to make stuff up - I don't gig and I couldn't play a song all the way through if my life depended upon it

 

[MadAsAHatter]

It's either a bad day or I think I have something good going then realize.... FUCK!! that's just The Final Countdown in a different key

 

[PBGas]

Sometimes, I just hang the guitar back up on the hook and start doing something else when that happens. The next day is usually always better.

 

[SpiderWars]

Definitely. Some days the hands just aren't cooperating...especially the right. But I usually try to plow thru it, usually by playing exercises/drills for 30min and try again. It always helps but often not that much.

Sometimes I'll put the pick and electric down and pick up the acoustic and play easy fingerstyle stuff which it seems doesn't suffer. If its Travis picking or something hard...that varies, sometimes the right hand will do that fine but won't pick well.

 

[anomaly]

I have days like that all the time. Sometimes my downpicking especially suffers and I can't make my way through "master of puppets". Other times it's a breeze. I guess I'm just getting old (39) cause I notice I have to warm up for about 30 min before the fingers and right hand are moving good enough. When I was young I didn't have to warm up at all, I could play effortlessly soon as I pick up a guitar.

 

[jabps]

Yeah, kinda like @SpiderWars, if it ain't happening I just run through practice exercises or I shut things down for a few days.

 

[RaceU4her]

Hardly ever but when I do I just work on my rap lyrics

 

[anomaly]

Hardly ever but when I do I just work on my rap lyrics

What are your Rap lyrics about? nigga's, ho's, smokin blunts and stuff?

 

[Bardagh]

I guess it depends on what you mean by inspiration. If I have inspiration that means I’m already writing even if its in my head; I have some little spark of an idea already. Sometimes we feel the drive to create but struggle to find inspiration that leads to that spark.

So if I am really feeling inspired to write, at least with the way I approach writing, it doesn’t really matter if my playing is rusty or whatever. Inspiration is fleeting so I’m just focused on grabbing hold of it and getting what I can from it before its gone. Once I have that idea recorded or worked through enough to not forget it I can work on it from there for however long it takes.

For some things that will be more vocal/melody focused and I figure that melody and the basics of the guitar parts in tandem and let them kind of work off each other and then you start to get more of a “big picture.”

But what’s paramount is that whatever it was that came from that strong inspiration that made you feel something, you get it while its there. Whether it was a riff, a beat, a melody, a lyric, whatever.

 

[Bardagh]

What are your Rap lyrics about? nigga's, ho's, smokin blunts and stuff?

I think you may have found the album title.

 

[anomaly]

I think you may have found the album title.

Ya, that would be a great album title!

 

[311boogieman]

Recording yourself in spite of your self perceived suckiness is recommended. I am sometimes surprised how good something sounds on recording compared to how much it sucks whilst playing it. Even if it still sucks right after recording it might still surprise you next week when you don't feel like you suck anymore.

it is a good self learning tool too - to improve