ilovefuzz.com

Also, the Eno Cards can be great for this:

http://www.oblicard.com/

Take a walk—an exploratory type with the chance for chance encounters and taking
unexpected turns. If you live in a city, take a zig-zag meander, choose a pattern
of left/1block/right/1block and see where you get to. If you have access to
a rural hiking trail, go on one you've never been on before. Bring water/snacks.

For me I try to switch it up when I hit a creative or mental roadblock. Sometimes
that means switching from one course of inquiry (playing guitar) to something
else (animation). In fact I've found animation itself to be a way to overcome
roadblocks. Insignificant small things, when added up, create something new.
Signification takes care of itself. It's about the process (it should be fun).

After graduating college and working to pay off my debt and being in a dark
emotional place, all I was capable of creatively was to scrawl little things on
a desk calendar while at work. Sometimes a doodle, sometimes a few random
words. My college degree was in a creative field, so the fact that I was creatively
stuck AND wallowing in debt, which was then exacerbated by the fact
of the creative block, which made me feel like I had wasted time/money—all of
that was just too much. But eventually I realized that if I added all the little
small bits together they might add up to something. The resulting animation
was about the workplace and trying to progress creatively... so I called it:

A Work In Progress
[youtube][/youtube]

So... that's one approach.

Or take up a new instrument. It will force you to seek for new things in new ways.

Another thing I try to do is separate the critical mind and the creative mind.
In writing this can be thought of as the "free-write" part and the "edit" part.
Don't edit while you write. Allow yourself to just play and put it out there.
The Eno Oblique Strategies sometimes help with the "play" and "process"
aspects. But the critical mind isn't something to be medicated out of
existence. It is something that can be helpful if you can harness it
and apply it in the appropriate places at the appropriate times. If you
can't find a way to do that on your own, then sometimes medications
can help ease the unsettled feelings until you set up a positive "process"
that works for you (that is sustainable). Taking drugs to be creative often
turns out to be unsustainable.

I also sometimes try to separate the input from the output. If I take in too
much music or movies or creative or artistic stuff at the wrong time it
feels like I'm just squashing down my own creative urges. Sometimes I
crave outside influence and inspiration, and at those times the outside input
is invaluable. But when I'm trying to tease something out, work out a complex
thing (emotional or idea-based) I need some quiet and no outside input
so I can grapple with it on my own and let my little fragile thoughts and
feelings come out on their own. Since I try to delay the editing process
until later, this gives those easily spooked emotions/feelings/thoughts
the security and time and space to come out when they feel safe.

So... depending where you are on that cycle, read a book, watch a movie.
Throw paint at a wall. Take pictures of street corners or the relics of
public telephone booths if they still exist where you live.

Good luck!

Paul_C wrote:time to buy a new pedal !

this works, too but can easily be a crutch

A crutch is a tool.

Having fingers that work doesn't mean that using a spoon to eat is "cheating".

Having a break might be refreshing.

Something I do that never fails to get myself out of a rut is to force myself to write an entire song even if I don't think it's good. Not just noodle and come up with a riff or two, sit down and write an entire song, chords, melody, lyrics. Even if I think it sucks. Every single time, about halfway through the process I start enjoying myself, and it sparks a period of creativity. I don't know if it will work for you but it could be worth a try?

I've been through the same thing a hundred times over the past year or so. Mine boils down to being a lone player (boring as fuck) and not having time to even seek out anyone to play with. If I didn't have 3 kids, that'd be a different story. But I do, so I have to deal with what I've got. Don't get me wrong, love them to death, but it restricts your freedoms a TON when you're stuck at home with them.

So I have had a block per say for 2 or more years. I don't feel like I've progress at all as a musician and in fact feel like in some ways I've gotten worse than I was. But I continue to play because I don't want to lose it all. I used to write a lot and some of the best advice I ever got was never stop. I was told that writers block is just laziness and you have to push through it. It didn't feel like the truth, but when it boils down to it, it was, at least for me.

So find new ways to play, pick up a different instrument. Play the drums or something. Whatever it takes to keep you inspired. Don't give up or let it make you feel defeated because you're not happy with your tone currently. Take some classes on theory and learn about the evolution of music or fuck listen to a different type of music than what you're generally interested in. I find classical can be the most inspiring and makes me want to strive to be better. There is nothing more I'd love to do than play Mozart or Beethoven on my bass or just in general.

For a while now I've been really fed up with bands. I've tried so many times and they always fail after a few practices. Either someone gets bored, doesn't want to practice, or they get poached by already established bands and end up playing bass for a pop punk or post rock band.

Shit, just yesterday I tried jamming with a couple guys and I'm just not feeling it. I thought it'd be more rockin' but they're more into being a doom metal thing and I'm not. Not to mention I got sick of all the fuckin vape smoke. It smelled like some kind of rotten fog machine in a haunted house. No structure either and the bass player can barely play. I'm fuckin done.

So I'm making a change. I'm just going to write stuff alone and if possible, I'll grab some friends to play live if possible. Right now most of them are already in 2 or 3 bands.

It sucks but I'm just sick of people's shit. Maybe people will hop along once I get things going for myself. Sometimes when you're in a rut you need to step back and get some perspective and then push on through the bullshit. That's my advice.

Seance wrote:A crutch is a tool.

Having fingers that work doesn't mean that using a spoon to eat is "cheating".

I disagree.

A crutch is a tool, but its something to lean on and put your weight on. A way to work around inability or pain. And there's no shame in that. None. But saying a crutch is a tool and comparing it to a different kind of tool as a way to encourage what could become a bad habit doesn't help anyone. Tools can be used improperly. A hammer can open a window just as easily as a working hand, but when you have to keep replacing the glass doesn't it become counter productive?

there is no "cheating" in music. Its about the sound or should be.

The_Active_Conundrum wrote:

Seance wrote:A crutch is a tool.

Having fingers that work doesn't mean that using a spoon to eat is "cheating".

I disagree.

A crutch is a tool, but its something to lean on and put your weight on. A way to work around inability or pain. And there's no shame in that. None. But saying a crutch is a tool and comparing it to a different kind of tool as a way to encourage what could become a bad habit doesn't help anyone. Tools can be used improperly. A hammer can open a window just as easily as a working hand, but when you have to keep replacing the glass doesn't it become counter productive?

there is no "cheating" in music. Its about the sound or should be.

NSFW: show

also, using a spoon to eat when you have working fingers can be a handicap instead of a help. Have you ever made angelhair pasta poured it fresh from the colender and tried to eat it with just a spoon? shit hard.

Yes. I know. I'm a waiter.

All tools can be abused. Eating is necessary to life. Our bodies are physiologically built to respond to food.
Our brains release dopamine and give a "good" feeling in response to food. But some people over-eat or have eating
disorders. Does that mean that saying "food is necessary for life" is encouraging bad habits and forcing people
to have eating disorders? I don't think so. But as a waiter, perhaps you have a different perspective on that.

Moderation is essential in everything in all aspects of life. Buying pedals can become an addiction. People joke about it,
but it can become a serious problem. But that doesn't mean that buying pedals is always bad no matter the circumstance.

And your angel hair pasta example shows that it isn't the fact of using tools that is at fault, but using the wrong tool for the job.

So. A crutch is still a tool. The expression "that's a crutch" is attempting to get at the idea of using something
unnecessarily. But that doesn't mean that crutches aren't necessary if you have a hurt foot or broken leg. A figure of speech
can be shorthand, and that can be evocative and useful. But there is also a limit to the utility of a figure of speech, and it
also can easily turn into a cliché.

Drinking a beer can be a nice way to relax. If a person can't drink one beer without drinking until they pass out,
then that's a problem. But that doesn't mean that people who can drink one beer and stop there have a problem.

My advice to "take a walk" also has the idea of moderation implied in that. I'm not suggesting that anyone walk
until their feet bleed or develop an addiction to the dopamine released during exercise.

Since the OP said they felt stuck, then any short-term solution might help to get them out of their current particular hole.
The problem with human psychology is that people think that the thing that worked in that specific situation will always
work for all situations. This is where bad habits and addictions set in.

I agree that there is no cheating in music. It's all about using the right tool for the job at hand. And the impact of that is best
felt if things are used in moderation and in specific places for specific impact... otherwise with every instrument blasted
up to 11, the apparent volume and emotional impact of the music is actually diminished.

paulandpaul wrote:might help you or somebody.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B7DDJk ... view?pli=1

thank you for this!

OddKnowledge wrote:

paulandpaul wrote:might help you or somebody.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B7DDJk ... view?pli=1

thank you for this!

When all else fails it's time to go DISCO

My general response to this is to take a break and come back to it. I get frustrated and burnt out on music a lot, especially when I'm doing lots of work on various projects. I'll usually take a break and play with field recordings or something to break up the whole "create a thing" cycle. It can be really inspiring to just go take a walk or a hike or something and record it.

Stop listening to music. Sounds counterintuitive but it helped me.
Also I for a while when I woke I would write three pages of whatever came to mind. It's really cathartic. The first couple of days I felt raw like I ripped off a scab.

I second the notion of Eno's Oblique Strategies.

There is also something 'workman'-like you have to adopt about your craft. I used to go into the studio even if I wasn't inspired and force myself to do something. Download drum samples if that's all you can do. Or play with a synth-patch or an effect until you have something new. You don't always have to write.

Third, get a book on composition. Not theory, that's different, but actual composition. This is the one I recommend, it has many exercises for how to approach music in new ways.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/0193171074/