Breaking out of playing ruts
by : Joel Wanasek
Playing ruts really suck. You can go weeks and months with out feeling like you have progressed. That can lead to frustration and discouragement. There are two kinds of playing ruts. The first is "I can play any song that I choose, but I'm not getting any better." There are a lot of people who play guitar just to learn songs for there own enjoyment. That's fine. Just because someone doesn't spend hours practicing technique, doesn't mean that they are a not a good guitar player. A lot of students I had, ran into this problem when I used to teach lessons. A student would learn a bunch of songs. Then come to me saying " I can play anything I want pretty much, but I'm just not getting any better." The answer is simple. Its time to sit down and spend the time to learn the scales, modes, and all that good stuff. Taking the time to practice difficult passages and licks and learn some basic theory, will help you progress as a musician. Before you as a player can move on to the next level of playing, you must first ask your self how serious you want to be. If you aren't willing to spend the tedious time it takes to learn advanced techniques, you won't progress far past where you currently are. I ran into this problem when I was a sophomore in high school. I could play a lot of songs, but that's all I could do. So I went out and got some guitar lessons and started to work on technique. Over the next few months, my playing exploded to levels I couldn't of ever imagined. The only true way to break a rut like this is to get serious.
The second type of rut is the one that advanced players run into. This is usually a technical rut. "I'm not getting any faster or cleaner." "I keep playing the same licks and it's getting boring." "I can't write any good songs anymore." Any of those sound familiar. It happens to all of us. You can practice your butt off all day everyday and then one day you just stop progressing. IT SUCKS! Breaking out of this kind of rut is really hard. There are two ways to do break a rut like this.
1) TRY SOMETHING NEW. Stop doing the same exercises over and over again. Start trying to play really awkward shapes. Try really unorthodox scales. Give your ear something new and wild. If you keep playing the same stuff, you will get bored of it. What is the reason you started playing guitar anyways? To have fun? Get chicks? Be a rock star? ect...whatever..... What you need to do is is try a different approach. May be take the time to learn some different styles of music. Learn a few walking bass lines. Learn some funk vamps. Be open to new ideas. Did you ever realize that you can learn something from everyone? No matter how much more skilled you are than them or vice verse. If you take the time to be creative and try out different things, you will break the rut. Another great way to break a technical rut is learn a new technique. Maybe your the fastest picker and your sweeping is flawless, but did you ever think that maybe you legato and taping isn't that great? Or maybe you are the meanest legato player and your sweeping is great, but you can't alternate pick to save your life. That's how I used to be. As soon as I finally sat down for a month and tackled alternate picking, I finally got it. As soon as you take the time to rigorously learn a technique that gives you a lot of problems, you will break you rut.
2) Persistence and consistence are the key to breaking the classic "I can't play any faster than sixteenth notes at ____ bpm" rut. When you are at a speed/technical rut, aside from trying something new, you can hammer your way through it. This is always the most tedious method, especially if you are trying to increase your speed. You have to look at this situation like a weight lifter. Your hands are a complex series of muscles, tendons, and ligaments. They get stronger when you stress them. If you do the same amount of work each time you play, your muscles will adapt to the situation and will never get any stronger. You have to work out your hand with new exercises and do them for longer periods of time. MAKE SURE that you stretch and warm up properly! You do not want to hurt yourself. Take care of your hands! With enough consistent practice, as well as dedicating yourself to pushing your limits (slightly), you will break through the rut. Sometimes it can take weeks or even months. Just keep at it and you will achieve your goal.
Well, I hope this helps you out with your problem. Good luck!
Questions: Joel Wanasek