Musical slump or loosing intrest? (Page 1 of 2)

You are probably having other issues in your life which are over riding your desire to play guitar.  It happens to all of us from time to time.  Look at other parts of your life and try to become more comfortable with some of them, if there are other problems you are facing.  It is truely a mind thing.  It will come back.  Just keep playing.  Good luck, selso.

Not to spill the beans or nothing but I did just go through a pretty bad divorce. The thing of it is, in the past every time we fought it was at least worth a song or two. Now it's just blah. Thanks for the advice. I guess I just need to get over my self.

Hi Selso,

I feel your pain with the divorce thing, that sux brother ! Holler at me anytime if you need to get things off your chest. As dark and painful your divorce seems, it would be a good idea to jot down your thoughts/feelings during this difficult time. 1) It's theraputic to write during times of rough, personal ordeals 2) You'll probably get a darn good song(s) from your words/thoughts..

As far a the musical "rut" you're finding yourself in at the moment my advice to you would be this; Don't think about it so much and go see a concert and/or some local live music. That always seems to work for me. Sometimes the people I see are so much better than me that it makes me wanna sell my guitars ( haha) but after my feelings of inadequacy fade then the inspriration sets in and I'm determined to become a better musician !!!!

All the best, hang in there Selso !!! The sun will shine soon......

Peace and Guitars,
SouthPaw41L

Selao sorry, been there done that. It gets better, that may not sound like much, but it does. Take sometime and regroup, you don't even have to make any long term plans. It's a new dawn, it's a new day, it's a new life.
As for the guitar you may want to take a break. I know I tend to plateau out, now and then., and I'm suprised how things work out when I come back to it.

Sorry to hear about the divorce and hard times you're going through.  A couple winters ago I went through a period where I hadn't written a song in about 3 months and thought maybe the well had gone dry.  I forced myself to sit down and write a list of things that had made me happy/brought a smile to me in the past. I ended up taking a few items from the list and they each became a verse in a song I wrote.  After that it felt like the flood gates had opened  and I wrote a half-dozen more over the next month.

As far as not listening to music - when I'm in the "writing" mood I never listen to music.  I don't want my songs to be influenced by something I've heard or they might just end up being a caricature of someone else's song. Some of my favorite tunes I've wrote came from turning off the radio while driving on a long trip and just watching the scenery and what's happening around me.

I'm guessing the stimulus which drives each of us to return to playing and writing is different, but given time it will come to you.

Good luck,

DE

At age 39, after playing in barrooms for 24 years, I looked over my tune list and saw nothing but crappy tunes. I got a job delivering mail and never picked up a guitar for three years.
After that time I began to hear some really cool tunes. I decided I would like my friends to enjoy these tunes as much as I did. I began to collect cool tunes and make a songbook of music that only I liked. I swore never to play and sing another song that turned my stomach.
One cannot make much money with that attitude but jump starting a party is easy.
toots

Hey man, I can't say that I'm sorry to hear about your divorce. If it wasn't working out, it probably wasn't meant to be. I know you probably can't see that or think about it now...but later on you will look back and realize you made the best decision. Now you can focus on you and what makes you happy in life. Don't worry too much about playing perfectly right now...it will come back when you're not so distracted by the other events in your life. The music will always be there (unlike people) waiting for you with open arms.

Be safe and talk to God some (If you're a believer)...He really can change things!

God bless,
Dm

Well, Russell I have to give you the prize for the longest sentence and three divorces.  Them women just don't know when they have a good thing.  What I didn't mention in my previous post about my divorce and the fact that it made me pick up the guitar again and practice that much harder to get away from the pain. When we split up, or when I was kicked out, I should say, she kept my guitar out of spite, so I went immediately and bought me a $150.00 Ibanez.  She got most of my money back then too.  Everyone hang in there.  It always gets better.

Selso... I hadn't even read this before I commented on facebook about your post sounding like song lyrics... so, there's something there for certain.

I'm sorry to hear you're going through a rough time in your life... life can really suck sometimes.  If it were me going through this yuck and guitar slump I would set the guitar aside, put on some earphones and blare some music that I enjoy listening to.  One day soon you'll grab the guitar and start playing a bit and next thing you know you won't be able to stop.  Find a popular song that speaks to you... makes you cry, or makes you mad, or just MOVES you in SOME way and you'll find a desire to want to learn it.  Best wishes my friend!

Amy

Hi Selso, my wishes for you echo all the others posted here.  FWIW, I have never been thru a divorce, but, I've had some pretty bad times scattered throughout my 55 years of existence and what got me thru all of them was my natural stubborness, and love of music and nature.  Taking a hike with a tune that I loved running thru my head was great therapy.

I call my guitar lessons the best form of therapy that I have ever done.  You'll get the feeling back eventually, just don't push it.  Take your time and make sure you give yourself some serious "me" time and do the things you love and treasure to feel better.

Good luck!  We're pulling for you!

You're probably right about the idea of ending a marriage if it's not working, but if you're the one being divorced it's hard to believe in such an idea. I've lost so much because of my wife's decision to divorce, including the woman I loved, my job, my savings, and my health.  Some really wonderful things are going to have to happen before I'll be able to look back and realize any of this was for the good. On the other hand, my ex-wife seems really happy now.