Question For The Guitarists Here!

I haven't been playing for as long as you, but I've been in this situation many times. When I get into ruts like that I usually set the guitar down for a few days and when inspiration strikes i pick it back up and I seem to play better than ever. For me, stepping back for a while lets the mind breathe a bit. Also, in my opinion, going to music theory is only going to make you more frustrated.

Some other things
- use your fingers instead of a pick, for a while... it's completely different and can lead to some cool stuff
- try playing a different genre or style... even if it doesn't stick some new things will make sense and translate into the normal stuff you play
- if you're used to overdriven tone (it sounds like you are ) try doing some stuff with a clean tone for a while. I did this recently and it helped me learn some really cool jazzy licks that I like to use now, and has helped me become more versatile. When I solo now I use different volumes and switch up the tone controls which is very helpful and makes you sound more in control. Playing with a really clean tone at a somewhat low volume (  if your neighbors don't get mad it's not loud enough ) can really bring out a different aspect to your playing.

I hope I could help and it didn't sound like too much BS

-Eric

Hope I could help

Thanks for all the help!
JBSRV: I definitely play a lot with clean tone. I tend to use this more actually. With strong drive though, it's less forgiving and helps me hear more mistakes, so I tend to use that once I've gotten a song down pretty well if it's even needed (Too much of a perfectionist to have all that when learning ) Also, I do switch up my tone controls and pickup selector a lot to get the right tone for the situation. I love playing with tone really low on the neck pickup, then jumping straight into my bridge pickup with tone up all the way to get that really strong piercing transition.

Rocket: Thanks, I'll probably go post a few questions over there

Thanks for the quick replies, greatly appreciated!

Jeez, it's almost scary how nice and open you guys are. It's a joy being here, I've got a feeling I'm going to spend a lot of time on this forum.

He´s lying! He likes me.

Concerning your question - I do have the same problem with playing the riffs or licks of a song that are the most catchy and then forgetting to learn the rest of the song. In general that´s what you do when you just play on your own (and don´t sing), because accompanying rhythm patterns are not THAT interesting to play - as soon as you play with others, you better know how to do it though. So the best thing for that particular problem is probably - go and find someone you can play the songs with or play along with the records to get the timing correct - I think the old fashioned way of spending a "TON of time" listening and writing it down on your own is how you really learn it ... no big news, I know...

Go ahead and post the question on the gear section. There are people there who know what they´re talking about and some of them never leave the gear section ...

Eva

You're still considered "young" or, were you saying you're a guitarist?

Roy