# Game Changer, Rut Buster whatever you want to call it.



## higginsneil (Dec 25, 2019)

Not looking for any short cuts but wondering if there is anything you did practice exercise wise, theory, techniques etc that really took your playing to the next level I’m not looking for a magic pill I practice for a good hour or two per day I’ll be 60 in July I’ve got lost time to make up for and want to get better.


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## JBFairthorne (Oct 11, 2014)

Play with better musicians as often as possible.


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## Adcandour (Apr 21, 2013)

I learned a bunch of "tricks" that made playing fun and made it look like Im better than I am. I was just thinking about it today.

I can post a quick vid of a few things that made a HUGE difference for me. Id have to do it tomorrow though.

Edit: specific to technique


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## higginsneil (Dec 25, 2019)

Adcandour said:


> I learned a bunch of "tricks" that made playing fun and made it look like Im better than I am. I was just thinking about it today.
> 
> I can post a quick vid of a few things that made a HUGE difference for me. Id have to do it tomorrow though.


That would be awesome!! Thanks and Happy New Year


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## Adcandour (Apr 21, 2013)

higginsneil said:


> That would be awesome!! Thanks and Happy New Year
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk


No problem. Happy new year...


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## mrmatt1972 (Apr 3, 2008)

Once I learned the major scales in order by the circle of fifths my eyes opened. Intervals and chords made much more sense.


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## player99 (Sep 5, 2019)

Spider Finger exercises really advanced my playing. Do them for 10-15 minutes twice a day for a month and you will know what I'm talking about.


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## Doug Gifford (Jun 8, 2019)

The four 'p's

Practise, practise, practise. And patience.

Drugs can work, too.


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## Wardo (Feb 5, 2010)

I started playing at about 1:00 this afternoon and its damn near 2020. Played 3 different guitars and worked on songs getting ready for an electric jam because the last ones were acoustic - so maybe having something to get ready for gets you off your ass to sort things out I guess. Mostly I just play a lot and work out the stuff that I'm doing like trying things for a solo etc. Just putting in time and waitin for the thunder.


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## sambonee (Dec 20, 2007)

I’d say learn a lot Of melodies. Also, take one lesson with each of the the top 5 teachers in
Your area. Bring questions, ask them to
Evaluate
Your level of playing and give 3 things to work on. Bring a video camera or At Least a recorder and keep a copy of the lesson. 

Do intervals ear training. There are surely courses and tests to help online. if anyone finds a good online place to work on and test for interval identification please let me know.


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## Budda (May 29, 2007)

Join a band.


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## Jim9guitars (Feb 15, 2016)

Lots of good advice so far, especially Budda's join a band, having a band with a gig in the calendar to prepare for is very motivating. For lead guitar I upped my game by memorizing the 5 main major scale patterns and got them up to speed by playing through them all from open position to beyond the 12th fret using a metronome to gradually push up the tempo. Cycling though all the keys prepared me for playing in any key, major or minor.


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## Lord-Humongous (Jun 5, 2014)

The Caged system helped me along big time.


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## KapnKrunch (Jul 13, 2016)

John Petrucci's Rock Discipline DVD. 

Not just for shredders. 

It DOUBLED my skill on the instrument so quickly that I stopped studying it, just so I could exploit what I had already learned. It sits there on a shelf, waiting for the next rut, I guess. 

I am talking about physical technique here, not knowledge of music. For the cognitive stuff I use Al DiMeola's Guide to Scales, Chords and Arpeggio's -- but that's for the long haul, no shortcuts there.


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## DaddyDog (Apr 21, 2017)

Record your playing. When listening back, you hear things you don’t notice while focusing on what’s next.


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## sambonee (Dec 20, 2007)

KapnKrunch said:


> John Petrucci's Rock Discipline DVD.
> 
> Not just for shredders.
> 
> ...


I need some new thoughts of the physics of playing. I’m ready for a extra gear in the box


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## CathodeRay (Jan 12, 2018)

Did not think I would be a fan of loopers, let alone consider them a rut buster. 
(I'd borrowed a couple and it was a meh experience.)
Then I got one that synced up with a beat box so there's no tap in/out, just play.
In a couple of minutes you have a band to practice with, where no one gets bored or fall out of tempo.
You can concentrate on melody, phrasing, rhythm, learn to dial in better complimentary tones and really listen to the whole mix vs just 'your' part. 
Your musical third eye starts to appear.
Screw ups result in zero self-consciousness, so you experiment and push boundaries.
Made me a better live player almost immediately.


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## Adcandour (Apr 21, 2013)

I get that everybody likes to say join a band and play with others, but he's talking about technique and exercises.

Joining a band doesn't teach you how to do those double stop things or finger tap or play arpeggios. 

I'm extremely busy today, so I'll have to post tomorrow. there's a Hal Leonard thing I've got a dig up that is really good too. I'll try to play a few things from that.
The stuff I'll do a demo of is literally things I sat down with and did slowly for 30 minutes to 40 minutes straight for a few days until i got it.

It's stuff that sounds super cool and feels great to play. When you look at it at first it'll seem hard, but then all that melts away and you'll realize how simple it is


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## Doug Gifford (Jun 8, 2019)

Adcandour said:


> Joining a band doesn't teach you how to do those double stop things or finger tap or play arpeggios.


Because the band doesn't much care about that stuff. Which is well worth learning.


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## Lola (Nov 16, 2014)

Practice, patience and passion. 

I put in a great amount of time into the things I can’t do whatever that is atm. 

I have been practicing the spider for the last couple of months religiously and have noticed a good improvement in my alternative picking. I do this every time I pick up my guitar. I practice with a metronome and practice 1/8, 1/16 and 1/32 notes. I practice it everywhere on the neck.


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## Adcandour (Apr 21, 2013)

Doug Gifford said:


> Because the band doesn't much care about that stuff. Which is well worth learning.


But the OP does


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## bw66 (Dec 17, 2009)

higginsneil said:


> Not looking for any short cuts but wondering if there is anything you did practice exercise wise, theory, techniques etc that really took your playing to the next level I’m not looking for a magic pill I practice for a good hour or two per day I’ll be 60 in July I’ve got lost time to make up for and want to get better.
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk


What are your goals?

To me the weak link for most musicians is rhythm. 

Get out you metronome and find the speed where you can play a tune (or exercise) flawlessly while locked in to the tempo. It will be surprisingly slow. Move the metronome up a notch until you can play it flawlessly again. Repeat until the desired speed has been achieved.

Then set your metronome for half of that speed (assuming 4/4 time) and try to stay locked in rhythmically. Once you have that down, set your metronome so it only clicks on the downbeat.


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## Budda (May 29, 2007)

If you play in a band with solos @Adcandour they do care about those things


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## Chito (Feb 17, 2006)

IME, joining a band or playing with others will in a lot of ways improve your playing. Techniques and stuff you can learn but they are useless if you don't get to use them in the context of playing those techniques within a song. You can also learn some of these things from other people you jam with.


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## Dorian2 (Jun 9, 2015)

Use a metronome and pay closer attention to your picking hand. And every good guitarists picking hand. Focus on your picking hand with a Metronome, playing chords, scales, arps. You'll also want to decide which picking technique you wish to use, but typically get the alternate picking down ASAP. Slowly and without mistakes. One thing that works for me, but can be detrimental to your mental health as it WILL cause suffering, is to play something at the top possible speed cleanly without a mistake 10 x in a row. Make a mistake, go back to 1. Doesn't have to be a long exercise neither. Make it a 1 octave major/minor/pentatonic scale somewhere comfortable on the neck for you at this moment. Use the metronome religiously. Did I mention a metronome?

That's the stuff to do on your own. Join a band/group/friends and it will come together eventually.

Use a metronome.


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## Adcandour (Apr 21, 2013)

Budda said:


> If you play in a band with solos @Adcandour they do care about those things


Sure, but I dont see any of that in the OP it seems pretty specific to me.

People like to project themselves, naturally. Had the OP mentioned in a band setting, I wouldn't have bothered even replying.


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## Adcandour (Apr 21, 2013)

Chito said:


> IME, joining a band or playing with others will in a lot of ways improve your playing. Techniques and stuff you can learn but they are useless if you don't get to use them in the context of playing those techniques within a song. You can also learn some of these things from other people you jam with.


That's not true IME. I don't play in a band and I don't find all the techniques that I learned as useless. That's where I get my joy from playing, when I actually spent time learning.

I play for me. I think I'm happiest that way.


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## Wardo (Feb 5, 2010)

Adcandour said:


> I play for me. I think I'm happiest that way.


IMO, that's the only way to do it.


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## Adcandour (Apr 21, 2013)

Finally got a video link. I don't normally talk in a video, and I didn't want it to go on forever, so it may be abrupt and difficult to understand.

Anyway, the basic gist is that these are two things that I spend some significant time practicing that were completely out of my element.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/681jGebtZ6mn5J5o6


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## laristotle (Aug 29, 2019)

the 'slap' sounds cool.


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## Wardo (Feb 5, 2010)

I don’t know what the fuck your sqackin about you play pretty good. Keep playing.


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## Adcandour (Apr 21, 2013)

Wardo said:


> I don’t know what the fuck your sqackin about you play pretty good. Keep playing.


You just proved my point  Those techniques make it _seem_ like you are better than you actually are. I am full of 'tricks' that I enjoy playing. My point with the other thread was to point out that categorizing people into beginner, intermediate and pro isn't really easy. The metrics are weird. I* literally *can't do 80% of what was posted in that video (I believe we can all learn, but I won't). I can't even change cleanly from one major chord to another. I'm not kidding.


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## Wardo (Feb 5, 2010)

Adcandour said:


> ... make it _seem_ like you are better than you actually are.


Kinda sums up the human condition right there ... lol


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## Lola (Nov 16, 2014)

Adcandour said:


> But the OP does


Yes yes and yes. I care very deeply about what I am playing. Whether it be learning and practicing my latest solos or just doing scale runs. Perfect practice makes perfection.

I like to think while I am playing. I just can’t go in blindly. I have to know what I am playing, why and how it fits into whatever I am playing. They say, curiosity killed the cat! Not.


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## higginsneil (Dec 25, 2019)

Adcandour said:


> Finally got a video link. I don't normally talk in a video, and I didn't want it to go on forever, so it may be abrupt and difficult to understand.
> 
> Anyway, the basic gist is that these are two things that I spend some significant time practicing that were completely out of my element.
> 
> https://photos.app.goo.gl/681jGebtZ6mn5J5o6


Anymore stuff like that you want to share I’ll gladly watch what you just did there was set off a fucking light bulb in my head instead of playing more note which is what I seem to want to do I need to let notes breath with bending and vibrato because that sounded awesome also that picking thing you did sounded like something you’d get taught by Bonamassa or Billy Gibbons ffs. Awesome thank you!!!


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## Adcandour (Apr 21, 2013)

No problem, thanks for the compliments.
It's funny you mention Joe Bonamassa and Billy Gibbons. I literally use that one technique to do a ZZ Top tune and I mix it with another weird thing I do with my finger to give my notes of vowel sound.

I was on the the fence about posting a Joe Bonamassa lesson that I learned with @davetcan ages ago. It sounds phenomenal when you get it right, but you'll never end up using it in a jam environment

If it's the single note stuff that you're interested in, I'll try to think about a couple of techniques that I do that makes simple playing sound better.


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## Dorian2 (Jun 9, 2015)

In the end everything you play on guitar is some kind of "trick" you've learned along the way. Loved the Vibrato and the right hand technique. You have a great feel for the guitar adcandour. You're comfortable with it and it shows.


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## higginsneil (Dec 25, 2019)

Adcandour said:


> No problem, thanks for the compliments.
> It's funny you mention Joe Bonamassa and Billy Gibbons. I literally use that one technique to do a ZZ Top tune and I mix it with another weird thing I do with my finger to give my notes of vowel sound.
> 
> I was on the the fence about posting a Joe Bonamassa lesson that I learned with @davetcan ages ago. It sounds phenomenal when you get it right, but you'll never end up using it in a jam environment
> ...


Hell yeah my teacher tells me to steal as much stuff as I can from other guitarists!!!


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## jdto (Sep 30, 2015)

Great thread. I want to bust out of my own apathetic rut of the past few months and learn some new stuff.


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## Lola (Nov 16, 2014)

Rut Busters:

You're stuck listing to the same bands and songs since high school. Your playing and musicianship is stagnant, spinning its wheels in quagmire of the same old same old. I get the picture. We've all been there.

We work hard to reach a new plateau, and once we get there, we lose sight of where the next challenge will be and we end up in a valley. This is a very common occurrence for young musicians and older, more experienced musicians like me.

But fear not! In this blog post, I will offer some different perspectives and solutions on how to break out of that rut to further your musical and personal growth.
Learn How to Read Music: I always thought this was a no-brainer for musicians and guitarists, considering that sight reading was and is such an important part of my musical training. I found out that this is not the case. Learning how to read music will definitely get your fingers and brain moving in ways you're are not accustomed to. Make it a challenge, physically and mentally. If you already read music, I suggest reading a piece from a different genre such as classical or jazz.

Check out the scores from some famous composers such as Mozart and Beethoven. If you choose to do that, don't just follow the main melody; read and transcribe the the oboe part or the viola part to the guitar. You'll hear ideas and melodies you've never heard before. If you really want to break into something new take a piece of music, turn it upside down and then sight read it! Now that's a sure-fire way to break out of a routine. 

Strategies for Soloing: Here are a few suggestions to break out of the normal patterns we have been playing for years. Try soloing on every other string. For example, play a solo in E minor pentatonic and only use the first, third and fifth strings to play licks. Then alternate and use only the second, fourth and sixth.

Compose a solo using one pitch all over the fretboard, but vary the phrasing, dynamics and rhythm to create something new. Play a solo using only your first and third fingers, then your second and fourth, etc. Get your pinky involved in soloing more. Create licks and phrases utilizing only your third and fourth fingers. Instead of playing scales, play more arpeggios so you can see across the fretboard, not just upwards and downwards.

Put It Down: There, I said it. Why are we so afraid to not play for a week? Am I advocating becoming a slacker and not practice as much as we should? Absolutely not! But sometimes you have to walk away from it, especially when you have hit a wall with your playing. There are times when I am on vacation that I don't even want to look at a guitar.

When I come back to it, I am usually more fired up than usual, and that's when I usually forge ahead onto the next level and challenge. Body builders often take weeks and sometimes months off to allow their body to heal and grow. I think the same can be said for guitarists and musicians.

If you do this, you must have personal accountability. There's a fine line between putting something down to come back to it stronger and being lazy. Be honest with yourself and listen to that inner-voice throughout this entire process. You know when it's time to get back to it.

Now get off this Internet thing, pick up your guitar and play, just like yesterday — and make a difference. And I mean it!


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## Lola (Nov 16, 2014)

Btw I found a new to me band Airbourne. They have the sound I like and their songs are not overwhelming to learn. Their songs motivate me to learn. 

I noticed how much playing the Spider for a while has helped my playing. I notice it when I am learning stuff and how much smoother my playing sounds!


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## Jim DaddyO (Mar 20, 2009)

Better a Rut Buster than a Butt Ruster.


Sorry, I couldn't help it...back to the regularly scheduled good advice.


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## Doug Gifford (Jun 8, 2019)

Can't completely recommend it, but a serious illness can sometimes help you focus. Had pneumonia about eight years ago. After a month or so lying on my back wondering if I'd die, I found my priorities had shifted and I began to focus on what *I* wanted to achieve rather than on the trivia of modern life. And over the next year, I created a CD of my material that I'm still proud of.


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## CathodeRay (Jan 12, 2018)

Doug Gifford said:


> Can't completely recommend it, but a serious illness can sometimes help you focus.


Meditation may result in similar introspection with a slightly lower chance of death. (Previous experience with both.)


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## Sketchy Jeff (Jan 12, 2019)

Budda said:


> Join a band.


... that pushes your skills in directions you want to go

that practices together at least kind of regularly

that plays real gigs on actual stages to living audiences

often enough that you need to keep on top of getting stuff ready

not so often that you no longer have time to get out of whatever rut you happen to fall in

j


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