Discouraged

[renato13]

Hi, guys.

By the title of this thread everybody can guess what this is about. So, how to encourage myself to keep studying in the preceding situation: I used to play/study guitar, singing, harmonica for about 5 hours a day, but it has been around six months that i can't focus myself for more than 1 hour. I think I am losing the enjoyment of playing music. But, strangely, I think that today I hear things with much more naturally than it has ever been. I guess I could be great musician if I could study more, but i can't see the point, i can't study.

How I encourage myself?

[Dad3353]

It's normal. The first 40 years are the hardest, after which things get (slightly...) better.
It's a long (never-ending..?) road. What's the hurry..? Leave it alone for a while; it'll come back (or not...).
Hope this helps.

[ybjazz]

Find a good teacher- that will help you push the "reset" button on your playing and give you some new direction.

[fumblefingers]

you need a progressive "ladder" of goals. how far you have to reach up between the rungs is a matter for you to decide, but small distances is the right answer for most all of us. burnout comes and goes in cycles. don't dwell on it, work through it, and don't look back.

in other words, you need to focus on a vision for where you want to be, map out a course to get there, and then work on it in a very measured and progressive way. finally, celebrate your successes large and small along the way.

[Archtop Bill]

Originally Posted by renato13

Hi, guys.

By the title of this thread everybody can guess what this is about. So, how to encourage myself to keep studying in the preceding situation: I used to play/study guitar, singing, harmonica for about 5 hours a day, but it has been around six months that i can't focus myself for more than 1 hour. I think I am losing the enjoyment of playing music. But, strangely, I think that today I hear things with much more naturally than it has ever been. I guess I could be great musician if I could study more, but i can't see the point, i can't study.

How I encourage myself?

A new teacher might help.

I would suggest taking a brief break, but during the break explore the recordings of other guitarists and watch as much live music as possible. Find something that excites you and grab it.

If you cannot find something that excites you, it may be time for a long break.

[pingu]

Just learn a new tune

[renato13]

Originally Posted by Archtop Bill

A new teacher might help.

I would suggest taking a brief break, but during the break explore the recordings of other guitarists and watch as much live music as possible. Find something that excites you and grab it.

If you cannot find something that excites you, it may be time for a long break.

It is already a long break. 6 months with so little musical progress. I mean, I composed just a few songs, have been to only two gigs... it is... strange.

[Patrick2]

It sounds to me like you're putting way to much pressure on yourself to do everything you can possibly do in every waking moment of every day. Nobody can stand that much pressure without burning out at some point.

Here's what I would do if I was in a similar situation. I would not pick up the guitar again until I couldn't stand to be away from it. Wait until it calls out for you. Also, if you aren't already doing so, start playing the guitar more than practicing and studying with it. You haven't lost the passion. If you had, you wouldn't be asking for help in solving your dilemma. As mentioned earlier in prior replies . . . just a little short term burn-out. A steady pace of 5 hours a day studying and practicing is torturous. You've made the guitar a chore, a task, a job. You seem to have forgotten to enjoy it.

[AlsoRan]

Here is my two cents:

You may need to take a look at your life and evaluate things. In my humble opinion and experience, the mental effort and will it takes to discipline oneself to learn the guitar can, when added to other life pressures, push you over the edge into a depression, sometimes mild and sometimes pretty palpable.

It took me 44 years before I had my life structured such that I could accept the challenge of learning the guitar.

[Buster Loaf]

Stop studying and play music with the skills you have. Work on making it happen at the level you're at. Resist all desire to add technique and theoretical understanding to you stuff. Music is not like some corporation that must eternally grow its profits in order survive.

[Blue(s) Skies]

Take something you can't play but really enjoy. Then you get mad about it if you can't play the tune and then you want to be able to play it and soon you are going to play and play until you can play it. Just my hint!

[M-ster]

Originally Posted by Dad3353

It's normal. The first 40 years are the hardest, after which things get (slightly...) better ...

This.

Saw alsoran's similar assessment, too.

[markf]

find someone to play with, and somewhere to play, where there's someone listening. Otherwise, definitely can get uninteresting, and seem pointless.

[mangotango]

start a band, get a gig.

If that doesn't focus your mind, you're in the wrong game.

[AmundLauritzen]

I'm in a slump these days too. But I suffer from Seasonal Affective Disorder, so it always happens in November through February to me. Then I "wake up" in march/april and by then I'm usually musically starved enough to start practicing seriously again.

What usually helps me is to force myself to play, and after about 10-20 minutes, I feel inspired and can go on. If you're stuck in a rut, then listen to your favorite players and transcribe a phrase. It doesn't have to be more than a bar or two. Just some minimal fresh input like that can usually be enough to get you going again.
But it's all individual and maybe your situation requires something else to get you going.
You need to find out how your mind works, and how your brain rewards you. You want to tap into that and practice in a way that causes your brain to reward you regularly. Otherwise, practice will be a struggle. This is so individual. Some people can work on long term goals and stay motivated for months, while others need a sense of accomplishment more regularly. It can vary from time to time with the same person too.
Working with your brain and not against it will make all the difference in the world.

[Stevebol]

"Stop studying and play music with the skills you have. Work on making it happen at the level you're at. Resist all desire to add technique and theoretical understanding to you stuff. Music is not like some corporation that must eternally grow its profits in order survive."

#1 ^^^ this.


"start a band, get a gig.

If that doesn't focus your mind, you're in the wrong game.

#2 ^^^this.

If you need quick tools that will get you going, here's my 2 cents;

Get an acousitic guitar if you don't have one, anything, but something like a cheap Cigano will do just fine. Have an electric too, anything will do.
Learn the basic big-band stroke. This will get you hired.

[Stevebol]

If you tell us a bit more about what you'd like to do we can be of more help.

Are you a soloist?
Do you want to play with others(combos)?
Do you have any experience at this time?

There's more than one path but it would help to know more.

[Mojojojo]

I go through this and have been in a major rut for the past year or so. It got bad after I disolved my band, and even worse when I took up fishing as a hobby! I have a bit of an obsessive personality when it comes to learning to do things. It's like that for every hobby I've ever picked up. Fishing, surfing, snowboarding, martial arts,... I can't seem to just "dabble" in something. When I've made up my mind to do something, I want to achieve excellence as quick as I can. (Sure wish I could use that obsessiveness into something that could make money!) When I feel I've acheived a satisfying proficiency, I sort of look into something else. Guitar playing, however, has always been a constant in my life, so I always come back.

While I've achieved a good bit of ability on guitar, learning jazz has not come along so easily. It's extremely frustrating that I cannot express myself as freely in jazz as I can in rock, where I had a gigging band and enjoyed some measure of success. Endless studying of theory and scales has sort of taken away the pure joy of playing. Sometimes going to websites like this helps to inspire me, but then again it sometimes makes me feel completely lost to hear how knowledgeable people are with theory. Sometimes that can be downright discouraging. There was a period where I hadn't touched my guitar in months while I would go fishing for hours everytime I had a free moment. In fact, that's how I've fallen into my recent bout of jazz obsession.

I was fishing at a local park pond and saw a dude sitting on a park bench playing an Ibanez archtop. He was plugged into a Tascam and working on copping licks while enjoying nature. I was not getting any bites whatsoever, so I decided to introduce myself to this guy. After hearing him play, and realizing I have a lot of work to do myself, I've been on a 3 month guitar binge. I always find inspiration in the great playing of others. As long as they don't lose me with talk of theory! I'd rather gain inspiration from beautiful playing rather than hear a mediocre player go on and on about theory. I've got more than a few people I jam with who are like that. When I was playing in a band, my chops were my number one priority. I practiced obsessively to pull off what ever was needed for the song. Learning jazz was something I did on my own, cause my band mates hate jazz! lol! So for all those who said join a band, it's absolutely true. That will light a fire under you to get learning in order to not dissappoint your band mates. Also, find inspiration in other players like in the example I mentioned.

[eddy b.]

My two cents find a jazz tune to learn by ear from the cd, or mp3. Just do it by ear no chart no tabs just set out to do it by ear. Don't think about "theory" until you have a learned ten tunes this way. Good luck gettin out of the rut...it happens to us all at least once...it's a LONG road...best to just enjoy the process of learning...