BLAH!

[Guest]

Here’s a question that I would love to see turned into a good discussion or some free psycho-analysis: How often do you guys plateau and get into a rut and how do you get out of it?

I’ve been going at it really hard for a few years now and have been surprised that I wasn’t getting burned out or stale. I was getting better consistently and living and loving in the moment (musically). Of late, playing is becoming a drag to me. I’m practicing hard and realize that I’m better because I can play in tune better, get along well with my metronome, read, transcribe, play all my rudiments better than ever before, but when I get together with my guys for a gig, rehearsal or recording session, I just feel sucky. I have no ideas, what I do have, I can’t get through to my fingers, there’s no joy there. BLAH!

I’ve played twice in the last 6 weeks with some guys who I don’t normally play with, who are not quite at the intensity level of the guys I do play with. Both times in a low pressure, social type settings and those have been my best outings by far of the last few months. I played well, enjoyed the music we were making, communicated well musically, the whole lot. So, maybe it’s environmental. Both of my regular bands are in the midst of ambitious projects. So maybe it’s just the pressure, but I’m not playing well and it’s frustrating. What’s worse is I’m not enjoying jazz, which I wouldn’t have thought possible.

Any advice, thoughts or experiences to share? Or maybe a link to your favorite on-line Canadian pharmacy?

Edited February 22, 2006 by TroyK

[rostasi]

Oblique Strategies

[Free For All]

Sometimes I just have to back off a bit. Put the horn down and do something else, walk away.

I've learned a lot from reading the Inner Game books and the Kenny Werner book and things like that. I used to get so frustrated if I thought I was having a bad night- I'd get very self-critical and mentally hog-tie myself to the point that I couldn't do anything. I think it's important to not get too caught up in acknowledging the lows OR the highs.

I've come to realize that there are cycles in the creative process, and sometimes you bottom out. And every time I've felt that I have bottomed out I eventually come out of it, so I tend not to get too freaked out if I feel I'm in a slump. I try not to struggle and force my way out- I just accept it, and this most often takes all the power away from those negative feelings. Dealing with performance anxiety is a similar process- you learn how to "cut off its legs" by not empowering it.

Another thing is that when you learn some new vocabulary on your instrument, it takes some time to assimilate to the point that it comes out in a natural and spontaneous way. It usually feels contrived at first, you almost have to learn it, forget it and then rediscover it.

Anyway, I'd say don't get too worried, this will pass. Know that you are not at all alone in having these feelings!

[Jim Alfredson]

I agree with Paul. You just have to let it pass. One thing that helps me is to not listen to any music at all for a few weeks. This helps clear my head and usually I'll start getting ideas for original tunes and the creative juices will start flowing again.

[JSngry]

Nothing in life is w/o ruts.

I suggest going for a drive and listening to Frankie Beverly sing "Joy And Pain" and taking it to heart.

Seriously.

[Guest]

Good to know others have been there. I know it will pass, I just wish it would do it NOW! Which i'm sure makes it worse.

I generally don't have performance anxiety about playing or playing live, I really get off on it, actually. Recording, however gives me with willies and I'm doing a lot of that now. Could be part of the problem. Also might be that I'm just doing too much. I do feel like not listenning for a while could be good, but not entirely possible.

I'm already booked pretty heavily through March, but maybe I'll take April off.

Edited February 23, 2006 by TroyK

[Peter Johnson]

Or wait till Sangrey moves here and then you two can cook up some serious musica con carne!

[JSngry]

  TroyK said:

Recording, however gives me with willies, however and I'm doing a lot of that now.

Keep doing it, then. Do LOTS of it in fact (if you have that option). The "novelty" will eventually wear off, and so will the nerves. Familiarity may not always breed contempt, but it definitely breeds familiarity, dig?

[JSngry]

  Peter Johnson said:

Or wait till Sangrey moves here and then you two can cook up some serious musica con carne!

Sorry dude, that's a misunderstanding entirely of my own making. See the thread for an explanation.

Some day, though. Maybe!

[Joe G]

A bit of a repetition of what's been posted already, but here, from "The Advancing Guitarist", are Mick Goodrick's thoughts on the subject:

~ Play on the tunes that you are currently playing, but at least twice as slow. (And no double time!) This way, if you start to play any of your "pet licks", it will sound so bad to you that you'll probably stop right in the middle and quite possibly actually start to imporvise, since, at the slower tempo, you'll have much more time (and space) to think/hear/feel other kinds of ideas.

~ Ask yourself: "Is there anything really important in music that I've forgotten about?"

~ Feed a loaf (or two) of bread to some pigeons, ducks, sea gulls, or other types of birds.

~ Imagine a time or circumstance where you could never play the guitar again.

~ Go for a long walk.

~ Cry.

~ Stop playing the guitar and/or listening to music for 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, or 7 days.

~ Stop playing the guitar, but listen to a lot of music for 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, or 7 days.

~ Change the strings on your guitar and polish it.

~ Send your guitar "back to the factory" to either be retuned or recycled.

[7/4]

  Joe G said:

A bit of a repetition of what's been posted already, but here, from "The Advancing Guitarist", are Mick Goodrick's thoughts on the subject:

Great book on the Zen of music. I have to dig my copy up, it's been years since I've looked at it.

My advice: do something else. It clears the head.

[Rosco]

All good advice. I'm another one who dips into the Inner Game of Music book on a regular basis. That's got me out of more than one rut over the last few years.

Here's something I like to do when the rut strikes: Play some music you wouldn't normally play.

In a hard bop group? Try jamming with a rock band.

R&B honker? Play some classical etudes.

Sound like Lester Young? Do an imitation of Albert Ayler.

I had a slump a few years back and got out of it by having a weekly jam with some rock playing friends of mine. The music was less demanding than the changes-based jazz I'd been playing, so I was able to 'switch off' the cerebral part of my musical thinking and just play. And I became a better jazz player because of it- I learned out to tap into that 'feeling' of just letting go while playing, even when things get demanding. I learned something by taking everything back to basics, which should be obvious but so often isn't.

(Oh, and everything they played was in E or A- the horn players hated keys )

Take yourself out of your normal 'comfort zone'. And allow yourself to fail at it. At the very least it's palette cleansing and you may discover some musical resources you didn't know you had.

Edited February 23, 2006 by Rosco

[Soul Stream]

Live life and quit thinking about music. Music is the soundtrack to your life. No life, no music. Play songs you like. Play them a lot to the exclusion of everything else. Play the same song for two years and you might scratch the surface a little. Listen to instruments that arent what you play. Listen to kinds of music you don't play. Don't listen. Don't think. Next time you feel like you have to practice, get a piece of paper and draw instead. Quit watching t.v., hang around some 8 year olds for some intelligent conversation. Listen to bass players. Go exercise. Don't play. Play for 8 hours without stopping. Play for 3 minutes without stopping. Stop every 3 minutes for 8 hours. Find someone over 60 who plays that you respect and watch them play and ask yourself why you like what they do.

Uninteresting people make uninteresting music.

...just a few thoughts off the top of my head here at 2 a.m.

[Jim Alfredson]

Another thing that always gets me out of a rut (continuing a thought of Soul Stream's) is to go see a player, on any instrument, that really kicks ass. Listening to records is one thing: Seeing it done live is another. Every time I see Dr. Lonnie Smith play, I get inspired.

But for me, it can be any musician, any style, as long as they are damn good. I was watching clips of SRV last night on youtube.com and that inspired me because he was such a visceral player (despite his obvious mastering of technique).

[Robert J]

I was in an overall slump for the past 2-3 years creatively, and not just music. I felt difficulty in writing words, communicating freely and I could no longer do the book and music reviews that came automatically for me.

Some of it was attributable to an increase in my alcohol and weed consumption – a vicious cycle of trying to find a solution and creating another problem.

One thing that helped me out was Julia Cameron’s “The Artist’s Way”. It is a 12 week program (chapters in the book - not 12 step AA!) to help people in a range of fields get unstuck. You don't have to be an artist.

There are various exercises, but 2 constants are the “Daily Pages and the “Artist Date”. The Daily Pages require you to write 3 pages freehand every day, whether you want to or not. The point is regular work. It could be any old crap that comes to mind, but often you get in a groove by the 3rd page. I’ve been doing this for the past year now, helped by a 40 minute train commute. The Artist Date is treating yourself to something once a week – usually something you’d think of as frivolous or even selfish. It could be going to an art gallery, buying a book, taking a stroll in the park, buying some candy you enjoyed as a kid, etc. It’s not a major item/activity, but something regular to feed the soul.

I was reluctant at first, but oddly things started to happen. She mentions certain “co-incidences” that will come about in this process as well. I’d say a big one – among others - would be meeting Barry Harris on my Chicago trip and having him invite me to his Toronto jazz workshop. Now I feel a real burst of energy after that weekend workshop and through using his book/dvd (see the other thread).

Anyhow – I found that stressing about the slump is not the solution. The groove will come back if you’re open to it. Even if you experience the dark days for a long time. Unfortunately I wasted much time learning that – but I’ve also learned not to stress over the past either. That’s pretty bad energy too.

[Joe G]

I did the Artist Way course in the 90's when that book first came out. It was quite helpful, indeed.

[Soul Stream]

Yes, to echo Jim. Get on a plane and go see Dr. Lonnie Smith play a gig. If you aren't inspired after that, check your pulse. But seriously, I've noticed since moving from the northeast a few years ago, I've become less and less inspired to play. I got spoiled getting to be around people like John Patton, George Braith, and Ben Dixon. Also hanging with people my age who are great and inspiring players like Adam Scone, Ian Hendrickson Smith, Al Street, Eric Alexander, ect. Not to say there are not world-class players here (because there are), it's just not the same scene with the same comraderie. I think those of us that are more isolated from other like-minded creative people have a harder time of it.

[AllenLowe]

try something you haven't tried before - listen to music you haven't heard, read something you haven't read - I crave novelty as, for me, it's what keeps me going personally and musically. Compose on a different instrument. Write using only one chord. Write with no chords. Play free. Play on chord changes. Just do something different than what you're accustomed to doing -

[Robert J]

I found a fun thing - soloing by using one or two fingers in my right hand only. I've even tried a thumb only solo!

[Free For All]

  Robert J said:

I found a fun thing - soloing by using one or two fingers in my right hand only. I've even tried a thumb only solo!

I tried that, but my slide keeps falling off.

[Robert J]

OK, then a variation? With extra or no slide grease? Left hand slides, right holds? WWED? (What would Eno do?)

[7/4]

  Robert J said:

What would Eno do?

He'd set up something that would play it's self.

[Free For All]

[7/4]

  Free For All said:

Exactly. Harp player breaks it up by bowing the 'bone.

[Robert J]

Gimme that!