What do you guys do when you hit a plateau?

[jfrey]

Start back at easy stuff, make sure your fundamentals are good, work your way slowly back up until you're playing stuff that's more difficult than your current skill level.

[foxyg]

when I hit a plateau, and it happened several times, I got out of it by making a concious decision to learn new things from the basics up. example of my first: from a blues rock plateau boredom , I hated jazz SO.... I learned it anyway : that actually opened my mind to a lot of cool stuff and idioms that eventually made their way into my playing. that was just one of them ( the 1rst one). but it really made a difference. so yes, if you dont know what to do you with yourself, learn about what you *think* you hate, then you may end up love, respect, or borrow from it .

sorry for the 'heavy and serious' first post as a newbie

[D.o.S.]

I hope it doesn't hit back.

[hbombgraphics]

When I get stuck, I tend to switch instruments or tunings for a while

lately I have been playing bass almost exclusively which is pretty cool
then when i go back to guitar I use my picking hand differently which opens things up

[Bassist_Diver]

The last time I hit a wall/plateau I just stopped playing and writing for about a week and focused on other things. Getting my mind out of the "create and write" mindset gave that portion of my mind time to rest and when I got back in it I had a slew of new ideas.

[goroth]

Metronomes are good for breaking through barriers. Pick a tempo and don't change it for an hour or two. Play scales, riffs, songs you know, songs you don't know. It's great fun and has the benefit of really tightening your technique. Doesn't have to be fast, you just have to stick to the tempo.

Another thing I'll do is only play with upstrokes. Which sucks, haha. Or to lead everything upside down - if I normally start with an upstroke I'll start with a downstroke etc.

They're the two main things I do.

[leaves turn]

This is why I picked up synths and a sampler - I like making noise but sometimes I don't want to make it with a guitar. Sometimes my guitar just doesn't sound right. Breaks are nice.