I think I've fallen out of love with my guitar....

Neal_B

This is really annoying me.
I got my 1st guitar when I was 10 (21 now), Played probably everyday till I was about 17, I just sat there and got really into it, I played in 2 or 3 bands at a time, it was great.
Then when I finished school I still kept playing, not as frequently but I enjoyed it.
But in the last year or two I've just found that my desire to pick up the old gitbox and learn a new tune just isn't there....sometimes I'll noodle around for ten minutes but that's it.

Has anyone else had this happen?
It's particularly irritating because I am quite good (Not jaw droppingly amazing or anything but I can play some tough stuff).

Any advice or comments are much appreciated.

feylya

It happens. What sort of stuff do you normally play?

Doctor_Socks

Hey,

That happened to me in the past aswell, only thing is i've gone travelling now and my guitar is one of the few things I really miss from back home. It really is a case of you don't really appreciate it until its gone. If you find yourself in a position in the future where you don't have your guitar you'l really understand what i'm talkin about!

Try to listen to completly differnt genres of music to what you're used to aswell, can help get the creative bug goin again to start playin the guitar or take up another competly new instrument so you can see whats unique to the guitar and re-find what you originally loved about it

Neal_B

I'd be mostly into rock and bluesy stuff, but I have taken classical lessons and bought jazz books and all, ragtime too.

Also I keep buying loads of equipment and not using it!
Think I need an epiphany of some sort....

Thanks for your replies folks:)

Irish Guitarist

Have you considered getting a new instrument? Something that's different but not radically different from a guitar. A mandolin for instance. That way you can switch from one instrument to the other when you don't feel particularly inspired.
You could also try alternative tunings on your guitar if you haven't already done so. That way you'll have loads of new chords to learn and your guitar will almost sound like a different instrument. If you're interested in that here's a PDF of alternative tunings http://eceserv0.ece.wisc.edu/~sethares/alternatetunings/alltunings.pdf
When inspiration fails me I often try tuning my guitar to one of the tunings in that PDF, or sometimes I make up my own tunings. Either that or I pick up my mandolin or banjo.

damonjewel

Neal_B wrote: »

This is really annoying me.
I got my 1st guitar when I was 10 (21 now), Played probably everyday till I was about 17, I just sat there and got really into it, I played in 2 or 3 bands at a time, it was great.
Then when I finished school I still kept playing, not as frequently but I enjoyed it.
But in the last year or two I've just found that my desire to pick up the old gitbox and learn a new tune just isn't there....sometimes I'll noodle around for ten minutes but that's it.

Has anyone else had this happen?
It's particularly irritating because I am quite good (Not jaw droppingly amazing or anything but I can play some tough stuff).

Any advice or comments are much appreciated.

I have had the same problems as yourself and I am nearly forty, I would play for hours on end and then go quite a while without nothing, In my twenties these periods could last for years.

usually these periods would be started with an impetus of creativity of just joining a band, and ending with being in a band that has finally run aground.

I do play for myself but its hard to pick up when you have no focus. however over the past 5 years I have been solidly playing.

My advice for you is as following

1) Like anything in life whether it be your college, work, physical fitness etc is to set yourself a goal.

My own personal goal was to work with a sound\style that is comfortable and although not particularly original, I have my take on it

2) Go out there and meet musicians and fellow guitarists. Look for their analysis and criticsms.

In my case I thought that playing pentatonic blues scales superfast was what it is all about it and therefore I came unknowingly to my own creative standstill. It took a good friend to tell me that my style stank, I was not that impressive and led me to rethink my whole approach

3) Jam, jam, jam

Like a guy who is good at football, doing keepie ups is nowhere as near as good as getting a winning goal. So find musicians who want to play and watch listen and learn from them. Join in and contribute! try to work wit h musicians who may be a level or two above your abilities, playing catch up is easy if you're upto it.

4) Equipment

I see you say you are spending lots of money on equipment. Although you don't specify which, I assume its pedals etc. I don't think that buying pedals is a bad thing as this helps experimentation etc. however maybe the money is better spent on a classical guitar or as mentioned a mandolin. The adjustent is not that difficult and will give you a new dimension to your playing.

I hope my advice gives you some pointers

Neal_B

Thanks for the relpies folks, really helpful. That thing about altered tunings is a real eye opener! I am seriously considering a mandolin or banjo now...:D

_sparkie_

this happens to alot of people with every instrument. put it down for a month, lock it away and dont think about it. then come back to it with some fresh ideas. if that doesnt work try some lessons is a style you have never played before.

MetalDawg

This sucks man, I know cos it sort of happened to me. If you get any good musical ideas write em down in tab or whatever. Also maybe listen to other genres, my hande is MetalDawg but the last year or so I'm infatuated with SRV Albert King, Yes, Rush etc. So dont be afraid to explore new musical territory.
I hope you do rediscover the guitar. Best of luck

fguihen

happened to me around that age. was in 3rd year in college and with study, there was no time for guitar. Once i got out of college i had to get a job and once i had a job i had to keep up to date on new technologies and learn a lot of stuff, so still no time.

About 18 months ago i decided to give it one more go so i got a proper teacher and i have never looked back.

I still find it difficult to make time to practice, but on those days i do, and it starts flowing you remember why it was totally worth it.

Sometimes priorities force you to take a break, or you just get bored with it. dont get rid of it. take a break. some night, you will be out, see an awesome band and be inspired to pick it up again.

For the moment, try to make some short term goals, like learning some songs you always wanted to play but never got time to, or learn a new technique or something. just 15 mins 3-4 times a week to start wtih. youl find youl get back into it again.

best of luck.

(one more thing, i always find purchasing a new guitar or some other gear really spurs you on to play more!)

Neal_B

Thanks for your replies, it's nice to know that it seems to happen more often than I thought. I've actually gotten into some flamenco stuff recently so might give it a bash and see what happens :cool:

Dangerous Man

You might also want to consider the possibility that you haven't actually lost interest in your guitar at all. It could just be that you have more pressing matters to think about. I know that when I have a lot on my plate or when I'm particularly stressed - the guitars don't get a look-in. However, when things are normal, I'll find myself happily playing them (or cleaning them, or re-stringing them.)

sponsoredwalk

If you're good enough at guitar so that when you come back to it you've not only NOT lost the gift but are actually more creative then you needn't worry. In fact, enjoy those bursts when guitar seems like something new. The younger me would never think this, but the younger me slowly noticed it was true and is now recommending it that you do take a break every now and then.
Also, take up another instrument. Big definite, even a 17 euro harmonica or free drums - bang your hands and tap your feet.
Sounds like BS but I taught myself drums doing this and it worked, it's crazily addictive too and expands your musical outlook to include drums in that frenzied process called songwriting. I swear the key is getting your body to adapt to the double kick snare, double kick snare, while your hand doesn't copy your foot.:P:P:P:P:P:P:P:P:P:P:P

manic mailman

if your getting tired of the standard stuff of learning songs from band setc you should try out listeing to some instrumental stuff or classical or whatever and try transpose msuicfrom different instruments its a fun way of tryingsomthing new and even if your not good at reading music(i can barely) you can still start off with simple stuff and work your way up

dbrowne9212

heres my advice...

watch the movie "It Might Get Loud" --recently released featuring the edge, jimmy page and jack white.

As Jack White says in the movie there is something about the sound of every guitar that is unique, interesting and beautiful.

If you have found that you are not playing the gutar anymore then i would definately sugest that you either pPlay with other people or at the very least play FOR other people. Sometimes a bit of encouragment from other musicians or the experience of someone else enjoying your palying can be all you need to get you excited about playing again.

Lastly, you say you can play some pretty tough stuff... well why not try playing something simpler. often the rather tedious process of lerning complicated guitar parts can just feel like practice (which isn't really the fun part of playing) and you can end up getting bored pretty quickly.

sometimes some fun gear to play with can really help too... especially if you play electric. I like to sometimes "relax" with my delay setup playing something like "Bad" by u2 (for example) which is reasonably simple but achingly beautiful and can really knock peoples socks off.

slipss

Just thought I'd through in my suggestion, kind of inline with Irish Guitarists'. Maybe try to learn an instrument totally different from guitar. I hadn't been playing much guitar at all the last few months, similar situation to yourself, when I did played it would just be messing around for 15 or 20 minutes then getting bored.

So anyways got a keyboard for christmass there and have been playing more guitar and enjoying it more than I have for a long long time (along with learning the keyboard). In particular working out and playing guitar tracks like Sweet Child O Mine on the keyboard or learning to play piano pieces on the keyboard and then working them out for guitar has kept me enraptured for the past couple of weeks. Also just being able to play guitar for a while and then take a break by switching to keyboard and switching between the two has kept things feeling fresh.

Also I've started to get more into learning musical theory and applying it to writting my own stuff on guitar which has really picked up my interest in playing again so that might be worth looking into if you haven't done it already.

stevemcf

You say... "Also I keep buying loads of equipment and not using it!"...

I need some, please post

Seriously, look at Sonny Rollings, one of the greatest jazz sax players...

"By 1959, Rollins was frustrated with what he perceived as his own musical limitations and took the first – and most famous – of his musical sabbaticals. To spare a neighboring expectant mother the sound of his practice routine, Rollins ventured to the Williamsburg Bridge to practice. Upon his return to the jazz scene in 1962 he named his "comeback" album The Bridge at the start of a contract with RCA Records, recorded with a quartet featuring guitarist Jim Hall and still no piano. The rhythm section was Ben Riley on drums and bassist Bob Cranshaw. This became one of Rollins' best-selling records."

So you see, something can come from nothing.

Steve

bazmaiden

I can def relate to this when i finished college and got a full time job, say over a year, i don't have that same urge i had to pick up and learn new songs. Sure i noodle around play some scales, sweeps etc but just not interested in playing an entire song through.

Basically now in the last 6 months I have borrowed my friends bass and I am learning songs and listening to songs in a differnt way its def interesting but weird because I was so into my guitar, even had people saying that i was obsessed with it.

Anyway thats just my experience, maybe i just need to find some more people to jam with to get some life back into it