With any activity that requires dedication, there is always going to be times where you feel unmotivated and uninspired. Let's have a look at the possible causes for these periods:
-Burnout: You've been going at it for too long with no chance to spend some time away and rejuvenate. You may have even caused yourself some injury. The burnout can be physical, where you've pushed your body to its limit with no rest.
Burnout can also be, and usually is, psychological as well. If you've been pushing the same exercises day in, day out, forcing yourself to keep focused on minute movements and speed increases then your brain has seen only the same metaphorical 4 grey walls every day. No variety. Apart from the first time you teach yourself a new routine of exercises, after that there is very little to keep your brain stimulated. There is no 'thrill' to keep its interest aroused. More on this later.
It's not just lack of stimulation that can cause psychological burnout, though. Even if you've been super inspired, if you've been using your creative juices up constantly you'll reach a point where it feels as though the well has run dry.
-No visible progress: This one's a killer. How do you stay motivated to pick up the guitar when all that seems to come out is crap ( to your perspective ) ?
Why can't I get better at XYZ ? This one can be particularly cruel to guitar students who are feeling prone to self doubt in their playing. Too much of this ongoing lack of progress can be the thing that causes them to put the guitar down for good. Can you blame them ? No. We all want to enjoy what we're doing and get something out of it and this leads me on to my main tip for staying motivated:
TIP:-Keep it Musical ! If you like to drill exercises, no problem, but find some space in your guitar life for playing something that sounds like music ! Why do you think classical musicians developed etudes ? It was to practise technique whilst playing something that sounded nice to play and didn't make you feel like sticking your head into a cement mixer. So... remind yourself why you fell in love with the guitar in the first place and stick on a cd and jam along to it. Forget progress for a while. Get back some
SATISFACTION in the sounds you are getting from your guitar.
I think it's important to regularly do something on the guitar that sounds good to you. If that means you need to play somebody else's song to do it then so be it. You need to hear
YOUR guitar doing something that sounds
GREAT whilst it's being played by
YOU.
It's no wonder people feel like giving up if nothing they ever do on the guitar is giving them that satisfaction, that big grin you get when you play something that just sounds cool. You stand a greater chance of getting that buzz if you play something musical because music sounds good, exercises generally don't. Playing music means you can be accompanied by some of the best musicians in that genre (if you jam along to your fave albums) or you could be reciting something written by some of the greatest players ever. When you attach yourself to that greatness, it can't help but make you feel a part of it. There's immense satsifaction in hearing your chords synching up perfectly with Hetfield or EVH, or whoever it is. For that moment, your guitar is doing what it was built to do - to be a machine of music.
That is why we do what we do. That is who we are.
When we lose sight of that, it's no wonder we can't find a reason to pick the guitar up.
So my tip is to keep it musical. That's just 1 tiny point. There's loads more advice that the rest of you can give so
please share your stories and tips for inspiring yourself and getting that motivation back !
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Ben Higgins Staying Motivated - Let's Share Tips Sep 11 2014, 10:52 AM
