I'm stuck....

[hubbell1202]

I'm stuck playing the same patterns/riffs over and over and am having trouble finding something that sounds nice to the ears... or expanding my fingering pattern vocab so to speak...help me off this plateau...

 

[daveycrockett]

when i get all sick of myself i just look up weird scales or just play regular scales until something distracts me from that. sometimes going to see some good bands helps too. the crappy thing is riffs can't be forced out so if you have some down time in between inspiration don't sweat it just keep yourself limber and ready to roll so when the time is right your ready to throw down

 

[hubbell1202]

yeah, but ... scales are hard to get into...or work something out of them that I dig... but everynow and then...i get lucky.. and i have trouble applying them

 

[Maniacal]

cough

shredtraining.com

cough

i should stop doing that... maybe

 

[hubbell1202]

well, i just bought your book......maybe ill be good as you

 

[Maniacal]

haha

maybe you are already better than me..

hopefully it will give you some new ideas for practicing

 

[hubbell1202]

im sure it will....new material to read and go over is always good

 

[Mr. Big Noodles]

When working with scales it's useful to recognize the patterns that make those particular scales stand out. For instance, an octatonic diminished scale can be thought of as two interlocking diminished seventh chords, so you might make a lick that outlines this concept in order to achieve that effect, like so:

e---5-8-9-6----8
b--7--------8-8
G-8----------9
D-
A-
E-

Harmonic minor is characterized by being minor and having a raised leading tone. The scale tones that make this sound are the third, the sixth, and the seventh.

e-
b-
G-
D-7-8--5
A-----8-7-8-4-5
E-

Notice that if we raise the third and sixth, this melodic figure suddenly gains a major sonority:

e-
b-
G-
D-7-9-4-5--4
A---------7--4-5
E-

Obviously, scales aren't the only source of musical material out there. Maybe look into keys and chords, or new rhythmic ideas. I find the most helpful thing to do when I'm stuck in a rut is to find some new and different music. Obviously, the further out you go, the greater difference in style you'll be exposed to; discovering Necrophagist after only listening to Nile for two months isn't going to be a massive leap (although it might be for you, I don't know).

 

[White Cluster]

Try transcribing some sax solos.Coltrane,Parker,Adderly,Webster.Try copping the dynamics too.That'll keep you busy til the apocalypse.

 

[TonalArchitect]

I wish I could get a giant laser and carve this into the moon or something, but...

You need inspiration to write worthwhile stuff.

I realize that sometimes we can mess around for 16 hours pounding away at scales and all of the sudden we discover a gem, but why do we assume that we can just pick up the instrument any day at any time and expect something new, fresh, exciting, and of good quality?

So hope for inspiration. Take walks, watch films, listen to different music, take a break from music, read books, etc.

Otherwise, watch this video http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=6595362002985980095#

Try playing metal (I assume that's the general "flavor" of music) without playing open strings. Experiment with the different harmonies that this approach can give.

Try incorporating harmonics into your riffs.

Study the music of another culture (Africa's a good choice, India if you're ambitious).

Write interlocking parts.

 

[I_infect]

This isn't practical for everyone, but I think alot of us at least own a 6 along with a 7. We all have our main playing guitar, but when I get stuck or am feeling unoriginal I pick up a different guitar or at least try a different tuning, I try to trick myself into playing differently I guess. You could do this with amp settings, even pickups if your into swapping them out. Other than that force yourself to learn something new.

 

[Hollowway]

For me, to get inspired, I just don't play for a while. Like a week. Then, when I pick up the guitar, it's just a lot more fun, and stuff just seems to come out of nowhere. I also get particularly inspired by going between a 6, 7 and 8.