r/guitarlessons • u/Fresh-Philosophy-126 • 1d ago
Question Not burnt out yet, but starting to feel it. What can I do to regain motivation?
I really enjoyed playing guitar from the start, and it would be the only thing I would think about for the first few months. I got pure ecstasy when I got a riff right, doesn't matter how simple. After around 6 months of playing it started dying down from like 4-6 hours a day to 2 hours a day, when life got busy. Now, 3 months later the motivation died down drastically. I'm tired of learning easy riffs, and when I try hard riffs/songs I'm just not good enough. I started with a practice routine including scales, rhythm, improv , finger exercises , chords and technical stuff.. Its working, but it feels like a chore, more than the ecstasy I'm used to.. I'm probably not the first person to have this problem, so I want to hear what others did to solve this problem...
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u/D1rtyH1ppy 1d ago
Play music with other people. Find someone that is close to your abilities and play songs. Make playing guitar fun
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u/Fit_Surround_3889 1d ago
Do you have a favorite artist? A group you listen to someone much you know every song by heart? A style of music that you love? Do a deep dive on the artist. Buy a song book, learn that style, and learn the scales they use and techniques. Start practicing the solo's... just learn the intro to every song, open the song book and pick a random page, and riff everyday. This approach could be fun as you start to learn as much about your favorite band as you can. Learn about the artist, who they studied, how old were they when they started to play how old were they when they wrote the songs you are trying to play.
When you deep dive on the same artist you might get bored of a song but as you move on to same songs by the same artist the learning is accumulated since it builds on a style and technique that helps learn the next song. As you continue learning the same artist it keeps getting easier as you learn their sweet spot and go to scales...
Your fun level goes up, you learn your favorite songs...
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u/menialmoose 1d ago
As far as the inspiration driven aspect can take you, have to back this advice cos, OP, it sounds like you’re clear-headed enough to be capable of extrapolating what you need to work on from an approach like this.
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u/MrVierPner 1d ago
I really like to focus on comfort. Getting as flowy, groovy and relaxed as possible while playing a simple major scale brings me a lot of satisfaction, not necessarily ecstasy but It's my preferred way to relax on guitar. Get some blues licks, or a line I make up and try to completely relax. Like the jazz guys on piano or guitar, where their fingers, whole upper body is just in a complete state of relaxation. Maybe try that!
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u/Bloodygooch 1d ago
Buy a new guitar! Sort of kidding but it always motivates me when I have a new axe in hand!
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u/Esyel_01 21h ago
Put on a backing track and try to improv. If you can get a looper pedal, loop a few chords and improv over them, a whole new world open up.
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u/ziggymoto 1d ago edited 1d ago
The old way of practicing is to do a little of a bunch of stuff everyday. So "spend 15 minutes each on a whole bunch of stuff". The new way is to spend 1 hour each on 2-3 things until you get good at it.
In general though if you have 1 hour or less in a day, pick one skill and bombard it with focused practice until you get good at it.
Are those "easy riffs" really easy? Are you sure? Have you really mastered them?
So the way to keep motivation going is to master a skill and it gives confidence that you can master other skills. And like dominoes falling the skills are aquired until you are awesome on guitar.
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u/Fresh-Philosophy-126 1d ago
You made me question myself there... I'll try to play those "easy riffs to match the recording.. And ill try to Hyperfocus instead of doing multiple things, but that's kinda what I have been doing... Playing in maybe 1-2 hour sessions where i focus on only , lets say Improv and scales...
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u/ziggymoto 1d ago
I will say improv is one of the hardest skills. You need to have both vertical and horizontal navigation at a high level (utilization of scale patterns), picking mastered, and scales mastered with focus on scale degrees (intervallic functions). I'd say it's an advanced skill requring getting really good at multiple lower order skills first.
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u/menialmoose 1d ago
‘Mastery’ is a moving target. Embrace this. Don’t torture yourself, but playing along with the thing you’ve learned is maybe the next step in self-appraisal. If you can’t actually tell whether it’s good enough don’t stress—just revisit later, it’s amazing how your ears and perception become refined over time. With sufficient application, suffice it to say.
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u/Nestinetto 1d ago
Seems like a tutor who is able to pick songs/riffs of the right level for you could solve the thing. Or playing with someone. Sometimes even easy stuff feels way more fun when played together.
And... it's important to remember: every passion has its longevity, just like with partners. As the time passes, it's vital to find some deep and maybe not that greatly fun yet pleasurable things to transform your passion into love👌
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u/Fresh-Philosophy-126 1d ago
I usually play with my friend that started at the same time I did , and with the same passion.. I actually convinced 2 of my other friends to start playing bass and drums , and we are slowly starting to form a band , and learn songs, But I'm in my senior year , and the final stretch recently started , and thats probably partly why I'm getting so negative.. As soon as were finished with the finals , im going to schedule tons of band meets.. I think im going to be much more positive then..
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u/Nestinetto 1d ago
Wow, that's cool. Then, maybe it’s better to take care of the rest of the fire for music inside and play steadily every 1-3 days, but only as long as you enjoy it. At least, to begin, though. And then - happens what happens.
It could be a way to survive till everything gets not that tight, I think
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u/menialmoose 1d ago
I encounter students in their equiv senior year backsliding almost inevitably. It’s rough. Only so many hours you can allocate.
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u/menialmoose 1d ago
You’re right you mightn’t be the 1st person to encounter this. There may actually be someone somewhere who didn’t.
Just to clarify: as a beginner you commenced a 4-6 hr daily practice routine that included scales, technical exercises, improvisation… etc? I’m an actual routine?
Okay, taking this at face value, set up a timed daily practice schedule, work with a metronome and record in a diary your bpm, and any stumbling blocks with each section and work on those. Play only at tempos you’re able to, however slow (staying honest with yourself).
A clear, scheduled, timed, prioritised where necessary practice plan, where you record your progress circumvents ‘motivation’ like you wouldn’t believe.
Getting good at guitar sucks giant ass, which in your heart of hearts you already know, but … welcome, have a pleasant stay. For years. Slowly enough that you’ll be hard pressed to notice your own improvement.
Make a plan that clearly prioritises your most important near term goals based on the shortest practice duration your life’s busiest periods will allow.
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u/jasonh83 19h ago
Get some lessons with a teacher who plays the type of music you like. A good teacher will ask you what you want to learn, ask you to play a few things you’ve been working on to see where you’re at, and will guide your lessons. A big part of the value in paying for lessons is the person will tailor the lessons based on how you’re doing and what interests you, unlike courses that follow a fixed plan or random YouTube videos don’t give you enough structure. Real time feedback on technique is very valuable. My guitar playing and my motivation has ramped up since I started taking lessons 3 months ago, and that was after 6-9 months of doing it on my own with books and YouTube.
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u/XanderBiscuit 17h ago
It’s pretty common advice but the trick is to be challenged but not overwhelmed. There has to be something you can learn that is just slightly more advanced.
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u/PvDWarden 11h ago
You have to find a way to make it fun for you. If it isn’t fun, what’s the point?
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u/LuckyHorror7729 5h ago
Look outside your usual genre and see if anything will draw interests by other styles. Find local players and jam regularly if that’s an option. It will give goals and bring back the fire.. or just take a break and come back to it. I do that on occasion and it helps.
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u/Son-of-Infinity 5h ago
Try to balance the technical learning with fun guitar exercise
Can you play by ear? Try jamming to a song and finding the notes to it. I usually have fun doing that and feel like I’m gaining experience.
Creating your own music: come up with 4 chord progressions on your own, record it on your phone, and then solo over the playback. Put everything you’ve learned so far into practice.
As you come across limitations you’ll be more motivated to learn more in my experience.
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u/Proper-Application69 1d ago
Learn at slower tempos
I would sometimes take a week off and when I returned I’d be blown away by what I can do and be reinvigorated.