7 Ways To Get Out Of A Guitar Playing Rut

Are you tired of playing the same old guitar chords? The same old songs? The same old regurgitated blues pentatonic riffs?

Are the songs you’re writing all sounding the same?

Have you run out of ideas?

The root of writer’s block (let’s call it “guitarist’s block”), is clinging to what is familiar. Writers and players alike need sources for new, fresh ideas, or they will revert to ideas they have already used, or are tired of.

This is what puts us in our musical ruts.

Here are 7 ways to get out of a musical rut, create fresh ideas, and kick-start your progress towards becoming a more advanced, more creative guitar player.

1) Use a capo.

This is one of the easiest ways to create new inspiration.

Using a capo will take chords you are already familiar with and make them sound fresh.

Are you sick of hearing the same Cmaj chord in all of your songs? Put the capo on the first fret. This will turn your Cmaj chord into a C#maj. C#maj is one of the most rare of keys to hear in pop music.

This slight change alone will give a whole new vibe to your songs. Your brain will respond differently to the new vibe, and your still-simple songs will sound fresh and new.

2) Learn a new chord.

Similar to learning a new scale, learning a new chord will give you new ideas. Instead of writing a song around a Gmaj chord, write a song around a Gmaj9 chord. It’s not a typo. Learn a Gmaj9 chord, and you will hear the difference immediately.

More complicated chords bring a different selection of notes to the table. These different notes will lead to different melody ideas, and you’ll have an entirely different sounding song on your hands.

3) Learn a new scale.

Go online, and look for rare, interesting scales to try. Get familiar with the notes in that scale, and start creating riffs and licks. One new idea can lead to another, and another, and before you know it, you’ve got a brand new song that sounds nothing like your others.

If you don’t write your own songs, try playing these scales over your favorite recordings. It’s the same idea as letting yourself be influenced by a different style of music. Except in this case, you are influencing yourself by letting go of the familiar and listening to what the right side of your brain has to say.

You won’t always stumble upon ideas you like, but when you do, you’ll be glad you tried something new. You might just find your favorite new scale to solo with.

4) Listen to music you wouldn’t normally listen to.

Whether you’re a hardcore metal head, or a country-plucker, or a classic rock junkie, your personal taste in music is completely your choice. However, if you limit your listening to one style of music, you are limiting your learning.

Your creative playing style is a direct result of what influences you. If your biggest influence is Eddie Van Halen, your playing will sound a little bit like Van Halen.

Similarly, any guitar riff or chord that stands out to you in a piece of music will likely enter your riff repertoire.

What players don’t realize is these interesting riffs and chords can be found in the most unexpected places. You have to search for them.

The best country licks aren’t all going to be in Johnny Cash’s greatest hits. You may find some ideas in jazz music that would apply to country music well.

The riffs, chords, and styles that stand out to you the most will shape your style. Keep an open mind, throw on some music you’ve never taken the time to listen to, and see what ideas pop out at you.

This idea alone will take your playing to a new level, but let’s throw out some more specific methods of getting out of this rut.

5) Learn a new song.

This point goes hand in hand with the last one. Learn a song that you haven’t learned before. Change up the style of the song, too.

Like I said, the best country licks aren’t always going to be found in country songs. Those are country licks that have been done before.
Start thinking outside the box, learn some new interesting licks from different guitar players, and incorporate them into your country playing.

If you want to take your technique and phrasing to the next level, learn some classical pieces, and incorporate bits of them into your playing.

The best players are the ones who incorporate different styles.

6) Create an abstract chord progression.

Forget everything you know about keys, scales, and modes for a second.

This is one of my favourite songwriting/jamming tools. Take 4 completely unrelated chords, and create a progression with a rhythm. If you can record it, this exercise will be more effective.

Loop your crazy chord progression so you can play along with it over and over. Think about the notes that are in each chord, and try to switch between them smoothly as each chord changes. The contrast of tonalities will open the floodgates of new ideas.

Take the song “Black Hole Sun” by Soundgarden (a little Chris Cornell tribute). The chords in the song seem pretty random, and don’t necessarily fall into one scale. It’s the way Cornell shaped the melody of the song that makes the seemingly random chords work. As a result, it is one of the most uniquely identifiable songs out there.

You can achieve this same effect by forgetting the rules, taking some seemingly random chords, and tying them together with a smooth melody.

7) Play in different tunings.

This is the most abstract method out of them all.

Learning to play in a different tuning can be tricky; you have to rethink the whole fret board.

Instead of learning the same chords in a different tuning, take advantage of this ignorance and put your fingers anywhere on the fret board. Find shapes and sounds that you like and put them together to create something new.

This takes you completely out of the realm of the musical concepts you’re familiar with, and forces you to write solely with your ears.

You are simply remembering what finger positions sound cool, and what changes work well together, rather than restricting yourself to keys and scales.
This method takes a little bit more time investment, but the payoff is much greater.

So there are seven approaches to take when you’re stuck in a musical rut.

Get yourself away from what is familiar. There’s no need to be afraid of new styles or out-of-the-box ideas.

I’ll leave you with this video. Jon Gomm found a great way to think outside the box with different playing techniques and open tunings. Hopefully this will give you further inspiration!