need help related to practicing!

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alright here's how it goes, i really dont knwo what to practice anymore on guitar. im kinda bored with the ususal practice things i do, and im getting frustrated as i'd like to be much better than i am right now. recently i've been taking the job that my brother does with my dad, delivering TV's and i've absolutely no practice time anymore. when i get home im ususally tired as hell and when i do play, im rally sloppy and it sounds like crap which makes me not want to play. i dont even have a metronome for christsakes!! i have my band right now which is kinda in the makiing, we have me, another guitarist, a bass player and a drummer. i often get bored because i dont really know what i want to do with them, and we're too young to play places yet. so it's hard to find places to gig at!!
can anyone give me some advice please? this is really frustrating me, i dont knwo what to do!

-Jim

[tone4days]

Re: need help related to practicing!

coupla ideas come to mind .. take em, leave em, mix em, match em, morph em, whatever ...

take a few weeks off .. pack it all away - dont touch it at all .. in fact, dont even listen to music at all ... totally clear your head .. read a book, see a movie, draw some pictures, take up jogging .. whatever ... just get a different frame of mind working and come back to it fresh ..

try to get a friend of the band's to host a low-key 'back to school' party for the band to play .. get the new band to learn about 6 or 8 songs ... invite a dozen or two friends ... nothing gets the energy focused like a deadline ... rehearse like mad between now and then ... play the set and leave the crowd wanting more ...

go to your local library and borrow some CDs of music you never ever listen to .. learn some of it and wig out some improvisation using it as backing tracks ...

totally change your tone settings on your amp ..you'd be surprised how rolling all the highs off and maxing the bass will get you to play more articulately .. always seems to bring out the swingin' eighth notes in me

hope this helps - i'm sure other guys will be along to give their 2 cents

let us know what you decide

cheers
t4d

[diggamark]

Re: need help related to practicing!

my advice would be the same as above in...

take a couple of weeks off and don't stress yourself over it... If you don't enjoy it and it becomes a chore you will just dread picking up the guitar...

or... go back to your roots.... What made you pick up the guitar in the first place? What did you start playing? GO back to those tunes...

[Biu]

Re: need help related to practicing!

Sometimes when I get in a rut, I pick up a different instrument and just go wild! Usually, I end up doing something cool that I can use on guitar. That might help

[TwilightOdyssey]

Re: need help related to practicing!

You're definitely in a rut! The danger of a rut, of course, is possibility of not being able to get out of it. (Ruts have been called graves with the ends kicked out)

There are two ways out of a rut: you can step away from the instrument, and go back when your creative juices are restored. Believe me, it WILL happen! Or, you can force your way through the rut with practicing new material. For me, I like finding new arpeggio exercises, or I'll buy a book of violin or flute studies and just play through the whole book, until I'm through the dry spell.

It also sounds like you've taken on a bit more than you can chew, with the job, band, and your own personal practice. If you're putting in hours with the band, you may not have enough time left over for practice. My advice: You have a KILLER opportunity here, even without a singer!! Write some totally kick arse original music, and get the band excited!! Then cut a live demo of you guys playing the stuff. You will be inspired and will have something to hand out. A gig will not be too far behind that.

Finally, don't get overly stressed about it, that will only make things worse. We all get into busy spells/ dry spells/ ruts; it's part of the process of doing what you have to do in order to persue what you love. I'm a professional guitarist in a signed band, and many nights I spend more time dealing with business aspects than I do with playing guitar. It leaves me feeling drained and uninspired. So, don't worry, you're not alone!! Just stick with it and everything will be alright.

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Re: need help related to practicing!

thank you all, it's been helpful. i think i may be out of it already, last night is was playing till 4:30!!!! just playing on yahoo and stuff. i know that i dont want to "leave" it for a week and then come back, cause everytime i do that , though i do come back, i end up being really sloppy.
and with my band, we dont really have and source of recording stuff. i've been trying to write songs and stuff but the rhythm guitarist isn't that good and he cant play even my simplest riffs! it gets annoying, but he's learning so i cant do anything. and this job was only for a week and i dont gotta go to work tomorrow so i'll be wood sheddin it tomorrow. and i might be getting some new gear soon so i'll be pretty happy tomorrow. i'll have about $460, so i may get a guitar. maybe some stuff for my band, but i figure that out later. my band has a few songs right now so i'll see if i can record them with what we got. we have a "party song"(van halenish), a thrash song, a normal metal song, a progressive rock song whihc is in the making(hoping to make it 15 minutes long) and we're trying some classic rock songs too(eric clapton rocks!!!) like sunshine of your love and stuff like that. the thing is, i dont really know what i wnat play with them. they're basically all metal guys and then their's me a blues/jazz/fusion/ everything kinda guy. i'll see what i can do
another problem is, i just dont knwo "what" to practice, i think i may get that john petrucci rock discipline dvd to get some ideas.
im at work right now, so when i get back home i'll be woodsheddin it!!

thanks guys,

-Jim

[rhmcfarland]

Re: need help related to practicing!

Taking some time off is a good thing to do, like what the others said. While you're doing that, why not open your mind to some new things. For instance, a lot of guitar greats were influenced by the blues. Have you ever gone out and gotten a copy of Muddy Waters "Rolling Stone" and spent some time just listening? Listening is a skill to develop. Sit down with it and figure it out. Study some of the greats. That's always a great inspiration to me.

[SoCalSteve]

Re: need help related to practicing!

Consider going back to the roots of heavy rock and studying Black Sabbath's Tony Iommi. Get Troy Stetina's Best of Black Sabbath Book/CD.

It's all here: power chords, palm muting, string bending, vibrato, slides, hammer-ons and pulloffs.

Heavy emphasis on the pentatonic scale, especially e minor, plus the songs are timeless and a blast to play.

Good luck and have fun with it!

[OffTheWallPaul]

Re: need help related to practicing!

Hi, this is my first post. I was going to lurk awhile, but two cents are burning a hole in my pocket. When I get bored with what I've been doing, I lay off for maybe a day. Then while listening to the radio, a song comes on that just moves me. Then I gotta pick up my guitar and figure it out. Easier nowadays with digital radio stations. In the old days I had to tune my guitar to the song first - some wax is slower than others (pitch goes out).

[Vasshu the humanoid typhoon]

Re: need help related to practicing!

I usually find some music I really do not dig very much and play along with it, or use something unusal to jam along with, keeps me doing other things than I normally do.
Or I just sit and play some funky rhythmhooks, noodle along to something on the cd-player.
Or I sing some lines and try to play them.
Melodies and rhythm is what makes music fun.
And if you are just worn out, do something else, play some games, go out and do something on your bike or just enjoy life outside
The sun and nice air cures alot of things

[\m/(00)\m/]

Re: need help related to practicing!

thanks guys
you all rock!!!!!!

lately i've been coming up with different exercises and stuff like mixink the dorian mode wioth the blues scale and stuff like that over blues progressions and stuff.
by the way i forgot to tell you this, i love blues!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
cant get enough of it
i was going all out stevie style on my les paul and my fingers a re dead right now. it so freakin awesome!!!!!!

[Dime59hum]

Re: need help related to practicing!

And?