Hi everyone,
Tony's been bush so I thought I'd fill the quiz master void while he's catching up.
Well a few people have been expressing a feeling of being stuck, unmotivated or unable to stay focused, hopeless - like beginners again or even wondering why we're bothering at all. I know I'm right in it at the moment. I'm playing, but not enough and ... well I feel like I've lost something. I know my emotions/state-of-mind and health really effect my playing and ability to apply myself, so those things might be stopping me at the moment. Maybe it's marsh mellow-syndrome (getting distracted by the next shiny song) - but I don't think that's it the moment). Frankly, I'm hoping that I'm just really pre-menstrual (many women will really recognise the feeling hopeless and useless, which often comes at that time) and that I'll find my motivation in under a week.
I'm not looking for sympathy here. I'm just curious and thought that delving into this a bit more might help a heap of people. I know I'm not alone in this after Willem's thread, but just how many of us are there?
So how often do you experience these sort of feelings about your playing?
What works to get you out of it? Do you just wait it out or do something specific?
Thanks.
Michele - (waiting for her motivation to come home).
Motivation - when it's off visiting someone else, it really SUCKS! - so how do you coax it back?
How often? Actually, quite frequently.
What do I do about it? I try to play through my crappy mood. And if my crappy mood gets the upper hand, I put the guitar down for a little while until my guitar calls me back (my guitar is very persuasive).
What do I do about it? I try to play through my crappy mood. And if my crappy mood gets the upper hand, I put the guitar down for a little while until my guitar calls me back (my guitar is very persuasive).
yeah I get that at regular intervals - probably every few weeks
A short break is normally needed. I find carrying on playing the guitar when feeling negative about it just doesn't work.
I tend to feel like that when I focus too much on learning new things and not enough on enjoying what I can already play.
When you are learning new things you are constantly making mistakes and it can become frustrating.
Going back to playing something that is familar can work wonders
A short break is normally needed. I find carrying on playing the guitar when feeling negative about it just doesn't work.
I tend to feel like that when I focus too much on learning new things and not enough on enjoying what I can already play.
When you are learning new things you are constantly making mistakes and it can become frustrating.
Going back to playing something that is familar can work wonders
Hi Michele, I am with Daryl, as I also get visited by this feeling fairly often. When the guitar does not want to talk to me, I leave her alone for a little while. After a day or so , if the feeling remains, I try to find a song that I could learn easily for a quick gratification. Or I take an easy song that know and try to add some embellishments that either Neil suggests or that I find on Youtube.
Normally, to limit the underachievement effect, I also try to work on many songs ( 15-20 which includes older songs that I am keeping alive, or nitpick to improve) at the same time to try to spread the repetitive feeling. But this approach has the drawback to slow down the pleasure of mastering a song. However , and I am sure it is different for everybody, but I have more fun into mastering a technique than a song (which comes naturally when the song' s technicality is overcome). I also do not set a time frame to complete a song. It is important to have goals, but guitar is a hobby, there should be no pressure.
Marc (having fun playing, today)
Normally, to limit the underachievement effect, I also try to work on many songs ( 15-20 which includes older songs that I am keeping alive, or nitpick to improve) at the same time to try to spread the repetitive feeling. But this approach has the drawback to slow down the pleasure of mastering a song. However , and I am sure it is different for everybody, but I have more fun into mastering a technique than a song (which comes naturally when the song' s technicality is overcome). I also do not set a time frame to complete a song. It is important to have goals, but guitar is a hobby, there should be no pressure.
Marc (having fun playing, today)
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neverfoundthetime
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How often is my motivation out to lunch... very often! And I'm willing to bet that what you are describing Michele is pretty much par for the course for 99% of the folks here at some time. I think its an inevitable part of mastering skill and I see it in everyone I coach in my working life.... quite often just before they make a big jump in skill or performance ability. It's the quiet before the storm, the learning plateau before the rise in learning. But it probably doesn't feel like it at the time. I would say that I am in a slump too at the moment and I get frustrated at my slowness in learning which is both real and imaginary. Good example: last night while watching soccer on TV I pick up the 6 string and rip off two different licks on two great songs and it was easy and full of power and zing and I'm thinking... wow, where did that come from?! It was just hidden away in the invisible progress which is going on all the time, step for step, often without you realising it.
What to do? What do I do? Just keep going. Somehow, anyhow. If you have to, just force yourself to pick the damn guitar up a couple of times a day and do anything with it. Find a song you absolutely love and see if its possible to play some of it. Record one you already do quite well and post it here. Talk to a friend about it and have a glorious moan about what a bitch it is. Listen to some post TGers have made. Do something different, leave the guitar standing for a few days, take a break from TG posts. And know you will come out the other side at some point.
So much of progress is perseverance in the face of obstacles. It makes sense to accept the frustration, boredom and low motivation which will assuredly show up form time to time as part of the inevitable progress you are making. Two things I always encourage young sports-performers to do is make a list of all the practices they do, what they did, how long, when. The other is to not look for progress every week but to look back on 3 or 6 month periods and judge the progress. If you do the second you will always see considerable improvement which you didn't notice day to day. If you do the first you can look back at all the work you have done and even if you can't feel the progress, you will know that it will inevitably have a positive effect. It makes sense to take a balanced view with a longer perspective when times are tough and energy is low. It will seem obvious when I say this but its worth thinking about; low energy = low mood = low motivation. High energy = good mood = higher motivation. Anything you can do to pick up some energy will help a lot whether its snacking on a chocolate biscuit, drinking a strong coffee, taking in an inspiring movie or song, spending time with good people or watching the sun set. All helps nudge us up to a critical level where motivation is waiting for us.
What to do? What do I do? Just keep going. Somehow, anyhow. If you have to, just force yourself to pick the damn guitar up a couple of times a day and do anything with it. Find a song you absolutely love and see if its possible to play some of it. Record one you already do quite well and post it here. Talk to a friend about it and have a glorious moan about what a bitch it is. Listen to some post TGers have made. Do something different, leave the guitar standing for a few days, take a break from TG posts. And know you will come out the other side at some point.
So much of progress is perseverance in the face of obstacles. It makes sense to accept the frustration, boredom and low motivation which will assuredly show up form time to time as part of the inevitable progress you are making. Two things I always encourage young sports-performers to do is make a list of all the practices they do, what they did, how long, when. The other is to not look for progress every week but to look back on 3 or 6 month periods and judge the progress. If you do the second you will always see considerable improvement which you didn't notice day to day. If you do the first you can look back at all the work you have done and even if you can't feel the progress, you will know that it will inevitably have a positive effect. It makes sense to take a balanced view with a longer perspective when times are tough and energy is low. It will seem obvious when I say this but its worth thinking about; low energy = low mood = low motivation. High energy = good mood = higher motivation. Anything you can do to pick up some energy will help a lot whether its snacking on a chocolate biscuit, drinking a strong coffee, taking in an inspiring movie or song, spending time with good people or watching the sun set. All helps nudge us up to a critical level where motivation is waiting for us.
I, too, am enjoying reading everyone's contributions to this thread. Like everyone else, I often experience "slumps" in my motivation. As Mark said, I notice it most when I've been working on a piece and I've got it to the point where it's learned but not polished. I find that last stage, the polishing (or attempting to polish, anyway) the most frustrating and discouraging. That's when the thoughts of "I suck" or "Why do I bother?" start creeping in. I was experiencing this the other day with a song I have been working on, and so I took a break for a day and just played some fun songs. I went back to look at Tangled Up in Blue, a song I meant to learn and never got around to, and learned to play a campfire version of it and had an absolute blast.
I think many of us are high-acheivers who are always setting the bar (or barre- hehe) further and further away. And that's great except that you can end up feeling like you're always underacheiving. So, as other people have said, sometimes it's good to take some time and just play some really easy, fun songs. I can get re-energized if I spend some time just strumming and singing for a day or so.
I also need to work at not comparing myself to other people. I'll see a video that someone posts that looks (to me) perfect and I'll think, "My playing isn't anywhere near that good." But I also know that my playing is better now than it was a year ago. So I need to try to just compare myself to me.
It's funny, because my whole life I've been a dabbler with hobbies. I can't even begin to count all the various hobbies I've started over time and haven't stuck with. Guitar is the first thing that I've kept with for as long as I have, and despite the occasional drops in motivation, I mostly still feel really enthused about it. Guitar playing seems infinitely enjoyable. There are always new songs or new techniques or new styles to learn. And even "beginner" level playing is fun.
Lastly, Shel, I think having friends to gripe with is a helpful thing. And if I can gripe to you, you can gripe to me.
Suzi
I think many of us are high-acheivers who are always setting the bar (or barre- hehe) further and further away. And that's great except that you can end up feeling like you're always underacheiving. So, as other people have said, sometimes it's good to take some time and just play some really easy, fun songs. I can get re-energized if I spend some time just strumming and singing for a day or so.
I also need to work at not comparing myself to other people. I'll see a video that someone posts that looks (to me) perfect and I'll think, "My playing isn't anywhere near that good." But I also know that my playing is better now than it was a year ago. So I need to try to just compare myself to me.
It's funny, because my whole life I've been a dabbler with hobbies. I can't even begin to count all the various hobbies I've started over time and haven't stuck with. Guitar is the first thing that I've kept with for as long as I have, and despite the occasional drops in motivation, I mostly still feel really enthused about it. Guitar playing seems infinitely enjoyable. There are always new songs or new techniques or new styles to learn. And even "beginner" level playing is fun.
Lastly, Shel, I think having friends to gripe with is a helpful thing. And if I can gripe to you, you can gripe to me.
Suzi
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Music Junkie
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Michele:
Chris is right, I think.
Most of us get there in anything we do, not just the guitar.
I go through them from time to time, but I love the guitar so much, that I can usually just pick it up and strum through some older stuff and feel pretty good about how far I have come. What really can get me down, from time to time, is seeing how far I have yet to go.....
Taking a break for a day or two can help some folks, but it actually makes things worse for me. My fingers stiffen up and when I get back to it, I feel like I have lost so much. Kinda like how it takes you a year to lose the weight you want, but a week to gain it back.... :woohoo:
Another comment that was spot on was that made by thereshopeyet. Find an interesting topic, kind of like this one, and get your juices flowing. For me, I can find a lot of enjoyment out of sitting down with my son and working with him on his guitar homework. It is fun to just hang out and it always motivates me, cause I know he is going to surpass me here pretty quickly....
You can always sit back and think of how many adoring fans you have at TG as well. I know that all my friends here bring a big smile to my face, and motivate me through their posts and accomplishments.
Remember to smile and enjoy the ride.
J
Chris is right, I think.
Most of us get there in anything we do, not just the guitar.
I go through them from time to time, but I love the guitar so much, that I can usually just pick it up and strum through some older stuff and feel pretty good about how far I have come. What really can get me down, from time to time, is seeing how far I have yet to go.....
Taking a break for a day or two can help some folks, but it actually makes things worse for me. My fingers stiffen up and when I get back to it, I feel like I have lost so much. Kinda like how it takes you a year to lose the weight you want, but a week to gain it back.... :woohoo:
Another comment that was spot on was that made by thereshopeyet. Find an interesting topic, kind of like this one, and get your juices flowing. For me, I can find a lot of enjoyment out of sitting down with my son and working with him on his guitar homework. It is fun to just hang out and it always motivates me, cause I know he is going to surpass me here pretty quickly....
You can always sit back and think of how many adoring fans you have at TG as well. I know that all my friends here bring a big smile to my face, and motivate me through their posts and accomplishments.
Remember to smile and enjoy the ride.
J
Michele,
Oddly, my guitar playing is one of the very few things that doesn't contribute to my depression, although it suffers from it. I've often wondered why everything else in my life can look bleak and terrible, yet the guitar is the one safe place I can go to and feel at least competent.
When I experience feelings of darkness, I try to do something with the guitar that will feel fresh and that I can experience a success with. For me, that's learning a new song. Not a difficult song; not one that's going to chip away at my already fragile sense of self-worth, but one where I can score a fairly immediate success. That's how "She's Not There" came about. After downloading the chords, I was playing it in about 30 minutes essentially the way you saw it in the video.
I think for people whose moods are pendulous, guitar playing should exist to make our lives better. Not worse. It shouldn't be a source of frustration. It should ease the frustration. So, all I can say is that if what you're doing with the guitar is causing you more pain, do something different. Change it up. Allow yourself to quit worrying about all the things you should be learning on the guitar, and focus on treating yourself to a day (or two, or three) of just having fun. Remind yourself that your brain is preoccupied with other things, and allow yourself to make mistakes without beating yourself up.
Oddly, my guitar playing is one of the very few things that doesn't contribute to my depression, although it suffers from it. I've often wondered why everything else in my life can look bleak and terrible, yet the guitar is the one safe place I can go to and feel at least competent.
When I experience feelings of darkness, I try to do something with the guitar that will feel fresh and that I can experience a success with. For me, that's learning a new song. Not a difficult song; not one that's going to chip away at my already fragile sense of self-worth, but one where I can score a fairly immediate success. That's how "She's Not There" came about. After downloading the chords, I was playing it in about 30 minutes essentially the way you saw it in the video.
I think for people whose moods are pendulous, guitar playing should exist to make our lives better. Not worse. It shouldn't be a source of frustration. It should ease the frustration. So, all I can say is that if what you're doing with the guitar is causing you more pain, do something different. Change it up. Allow yourself to quit worrying about all the things you should be learning on the guitar, and focus on treating yourself to a day (or two, or three) of just having fun. Remind yourself that your brain is preoccupied with other things, and allow yourself to make mistakes without beating yourself up.