How do you get over musicians block?

[Wegu]

Do you guys have good tips to overcome musicians block? It is more than frustrating, and getting frustrated does make it even worse

Feels bad when you start to doubt yourself, even tough you have written some cool tracks before, but now all sounds shit, all feel shit etc. u get the point.

 

[Fox Mulder]

Happens when things get "less exciting", IMO. My advice is to not try too hard. Failure would only make us more frustrated.
Take a break, change your daily routine, go on a vacation, don't play or listen to music for 2+months.

 

[KHE]

play the stuff with other peoples at the rehearsaal, jam around, change things, involve other musicians ideas, record the tracks. hide it for two weeks, listen again =>

not sure if this works for you, but it mostly always does it for me when i`m writing stuff at by bedroom.

 

[xFkx]

Just play guitar, without the intent to acctualy write something and the subconscious will click in

 

[madbutcher]

I can't remember who the interview was, but it was posted here a while ago and really I liked the explanation the person said that was something like- he doesn't ever see anything as writer's block. Sometimes to get from point A to C you have to go through B and B might not be anything you keep written but it was part of the road to get there so just keep on playing. It was phrased way better, but it was something like that.

 

[Genius Gone Insane]

I go to the museum, get ideas, then draw for few days. No guitar playing.

 

[StefTD]

yeah, just do something different-when I want to write some death metal for example and get a block
I just play some blues on the accoustic guitar or the other way around and so on, listening to different
stuff, draw a bit, go out and take some photos and so on.

 

[prostetnic]

I played and taught myself for five years and now I've reached a stage where I simply stopped evolving. I'm stuck stomping on a single ground. I need lessons, but I have some different priorities in my life right now. Point is, if you've never taken lessons - try it. And try learning a favorite song you didn't get to before.

 

[roy22341]

Try to find a new band you've never heard of before. Listen to their shit. Come back a few days later and suddenly shit will flow.

 

[colton]

Smoke a bowl.

Nah, in all seriousness, having something to write about helps. This is a language after all. Think about what you want to say and sketch out a form. That way you know what you are looking for. Then find the harmonic and melodic material you want to use and start writing.

 

[LeSedna]

+1 to the "new band inspiration". I can almost relate all of my songs to a band I discovered at the same time, and even if they all have my own style some way or another, I can recognize my own inspiration from songs I loved in the band's discographies.

Also, finding another guy with similar interests and workflow for writing music can help you. I have my own musical "soul mate" eventhough we don't write the same music anymore. We have the same way of feeling music, and we understand each other very easily. When we used to write melodeath songs together, we would pass to each other the current version of a guitar pro, and would add ideas, and send it back. Back and forth until the song is finished. He was more the one who would have a tiny idea but a great one, as a start, and I was more the guy who expands the idea and find other riffs to get along with it, and structure the song. It worked very well.