What to Do When You're "Stuck in a Rut," Part 2

The traditional advice often given to the bride when selecting her wedding attire, was "Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue." I have no idea what that could possibly have to do with music. But since you can literally do just about anything to break out of a rut, let's apply the old adage to our current situation and see what happens.

Something Old?

Go back to a technique you haven't worked in a while and take it deeper. Or broader. You once learned a bunch of open string chords, go back and learn them all over again in different fingerings/inversions/positions. Maybe you learned your diatonic scale positions across all six strings, but did you learn them on two or three strings? You learned "Eruption" when you were 16, now go back and figure out everything you missed the first time. Do you play the "lazy version" of "Rock and Roll" or those old Rolling Stones songs? Get back into it and learn the little nuances you missed, try the open string tunings the original artists used, or challenge yourself to write a completely new arrangement.

Something New

Change something about your guitar, amp, or setup. Do it all on the "clean channel" or use a radically different guitar setup. Rewrite the solo with half as many notes. Play around with open tunings for a while. Explore a completely new style you have never studied before. If you've been really drilling on techniques, work on theory or composing songs. "Compose" a random melody by assigning numbers to a scale and "playing" phone numbers until one catches your imagination. Figure out new fingerings for all your "go to" scale positions. Change up the groove entirely. Do it in a different mode. The theme song for the television series, "Weeds" featured a different recording every episode. These were really interesting, because as well as being different grooves, styles and instrumentation, they also reinterpreted the melody of the theme song in different modes. The original Ionian mode sounds a lot different from the remake in Phrygian mode! It's worth perusing the opening title segment of the shows just to see the examples at work.

Something Borrowed? Absolutely!

This could mean anything: borrow the changes to an old song you don't know well and write a new song with them. Pick one of your favorite players and learn a dozen of your favorite riffs by them. As an old guitar teacher once told me, "Good guitarists borrow, great guitarists steal." Either way, take note that there is a lot to learn from your predecessors. Learn your favorite instrumental or vocal melody by ear. Play it in the dark until you own it. Can you make your guitar scream like Aretha? Study how the other instruments' parts work and learn them. Learn to play air drums (hitting the correct drums, not faking) or the bass lines to your favorite album. I guarantee the people you play with will wonder how you improved so quickly on your own parts! Bass players, learn the guitar or keyboard solo and make it your own. Learn the other vocal harmonies. Invent new ones. You get the idea.

Something Blue...

The blues are such a universal language among musicians, not only because they establish the foundations of most pop music styles, but also because they focus on the expression of emotions. Think of the most emotive songs you have ever heard. Choose one and try to learn the melody with the same expressive intensity. Here's where your string bending, grace notes, dynamics, and vibrato need to be at their peak. When you study a song this way, you increase the "emotional vocabulary" of your hands; learning this makes your technique more expressive and emotive. Great stuff! Now, challenge yourself to play the same passage in a different mood: try playing it angry instead of sad, or optimistic instead of broken. These exercises help keep your playing grounded in your heart and soul and will help you connect with the audience.

If you utilize these techniques to keep your playing and your music fresh, you will frequently stumble on new ideas that will inspire growth. By shaking up your familiar routine, you will learn to free your mind from old habits and delve into entirely new avenues for your music. Give it a shot and see if you don't inject new life into your playing and new spirit into your music. Have you tried any of these techniques? Let us know in the comments below.

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