How To Get Out of a Playing Rut

It might sound crazy and completely detrimental but actually doing something as simple as putting the guitar down for a week or two can often be the best course of action when finding ourselves in a 6-string humdrum. Having a break from the instrument can often be the very thing we need, allowing our brain to decompress, do other things and gain confidence in other areas.

The great thing about this is, when it comes to picking the guitar up again after a short break, we should approach it a little more naturally; thinking less about the issues surrounding why we had the break in the first place.

Therefore, allowing us to just play to our strengths, reminding ourselves of what we are actually capable of doing. That reset and boost of confidence can be just the thing we need to motivate and activate our creativity once again. Try it!

The old cliché is right: familiarity breeds contempt. We can often just find ourselves utterly sick of what we’re used to hearing ourselves play, whether consciously aware of it or not. This goes for playing the same things often and with incredible speed, precision and technique - we can just simply get bored of and yet stuck in a loop of what we’re good at or known for playing.

I find the best way to get out of this, is to choose a genre that you’ve either never tried to play within or even a song by an artist you’ve never heard before and begin learning. If you're a rock or metal guy, you will find the more major tonalities of country or blues refreshing to your ears. Equally, blues players can often glean new phrasing and rhythmic ideas from a jaunt into metal guitar.

The elementary change of musical scenery can be oftentimes a welcoming injection of endorphins that we didn’t even know we needed and a sure fire we to reignite our interest and motivation in the instrument. Really test yourself with something out of your comfort zone, I bet you surprise yourself!

Not only is being able to transcribe what you’re hearing and playing a fantastic musical tool everyone should take advantage of, it’s also something that can really help boost our confidence due to us having to come face to face with the tip of understand of music theory.

We may have the fastest ear in the west when it comes to translating what we hear to what comes out of our amplifier, though we may also have no grasp of the rhythm theory of anything we are playing. I guarantee this is something that will begin to catch up with you if you fall into this category, as being able to read and write music is an immensely important skill to be able to master and capitalise on.

It can open new career doors to you within the industry and give you a better understanding of what you’re capable of.

Though, most importantly, it gives a huge confidence boost and can even give you a different perspective on music you thought you knew and your own guitar playing.

It’s not uncommon on our journey as guitar players to feel like we’re the only ones who hear ourselves play. After all, we can spend hours upon hours per day practising alone in a single room, which in itself is enough to drive anyone into a rut.

However, surrounding yourself with, as well as playing with other musicians can be both an inspiration and a revelation. Moreover, surround yourself with musicians who are better than you - this is going to push you out of your comfort zone and ushered swiftly aboard the vehicle of learning, breaking down those familiar boundaries and habitual regimes that can be the very catalyst in a rut forming.

Besides that, playing with other musicians, especially those more knowledgable than you, is just good old fashioned fun. How could it not be? That injection of learning and boost of confidence, two sure fire ways to have fun!

I’ve found in the past, that when I feel like I’ve hit the creative brick wall and established that rut is beginning to form, that instead of practising what I would usually; to instead simply play with gear and dial in some different sounds.

The great thing about doing this is that doing so can range from anything between trying to get the craziest, ‘out there’ sounds by combining all of our pedals, to trying to recreate the sounds of other bands/guitarists. Doing the latter alone can take us down the lanes mentioned in tip number 2 and the former is simply an exercise in the name of fun, breaking up the monotony of our usual practice regime.

Crafting a tonal identity or simply getting a good solid rock guitar tone can be the redirection you need to open new musical avenues.