How do you get out of a rut?
 

When you're stuck in a rut musically how do you get out of it?

What's your method? Learn a new style? Play a different instrument? Go for a walk?

H&B.

But really, I find some new music to listen to. Or spend a few days in Beethoven land.

Then H&B.

magic mushrooms, ftw!

i'm dead serious. google the latest research at the leading institutions. some researchers are finding medicinal benifits from the psilocybin molecule!

this is not an endorsement,.. just food for thought.<hint>;)

Usually a guy with 4WD and a strap can pull me out.

I play in a funk/r&b band. When I feel like I'm in a rut, I've been changing my gigging bass from my normal Ibby 6 string fretted to my Schecter 5 string fretless. It makes me have to focus much more on my playing (the fretless isn't in normal rotation), and I can't rely on popping and similar tactics that I heavily rely on with my fretted basses.

Buy yourself a new bass to play
Always works for me

I go for a walk then come home & play piano or keys as it requires a completely different method of playing than bass or the guitard

I have had a few times where I was in a rut. I found that not playing for a couple of weeks and listening to something different than what I usually listened to helped me to get out of it. Last year, I had gotten to the point where I was totally bored with playing and actually decided to give it up. I put all of my gear on Craigslist. The next day, I got a call from a guitar player who is well known in my area and we started a band. I took my gear off of Craigslist and have had more fun in this band than in any other I have been in.

Why are you in a rut?

Band break up

Not in a band

Never been in a band

Your band us going nowhere

You don't like the genre your band plays


Blue

Go out and sit in w another band.. Best if applied after many adult beverages in a different city

...awesome... :)

Play another instrument.
Talk a break from playing for 3-4 weeks.
Play a different style of music. Latin usually gets me back on point. The Clave' is powerful.

completely true for bass players at least

get yourself a lot of work (gigs, session) so you dont have to be creative. if you cant then play a different instrument or take a break. mew equipment may help as well. different styles too

Never tried it but I heard that tuning your bass differently will get you mind looking at things differently. For example tune your bass E-B-F#-C# (or some other combination in 5ths low to high).

I like the question as it may apply to many things, but as Music is the our drug it's a great topic.
I just heard some great music on Sirus radio and took me to another place. Screw work for the next half hour this is more important I said to myself as I just listened , enjoyed and thought how important it is.
So I guess what I am saying is ... search out some music that takes you to another place and reminds you why you do what you do.
Get on that Wave and see where it goes !

Nothing seems to stir me up and make me feel more vital and alive than identifying an unsatisfied passion and pursuing it relentlessly for a while. Doesn't have to be related to music, either.

Sometimes, it's caring for a friend who's sick or needs help.
Sometimes, it's making revisions to one of the courses I teach.
Sometimes, it's completing a new carving, sculpture, or design.
Sometimes it's a vacation - a literal change of perspective.
Sometimes it's a hike, or a day spent walking through a park or museum.
Sometimes, it's a new instrument, piece of music, transcription, solo, or technique that I'm woodshedding.

What it boils down to, for me, is refusing to focus on the negative; seeking something invigorating and constructive that fuels a positive state of mind.

I build a new instrument when I'm in a rut. My current build is a fretless P neck mounted to a cruddy guitar body and random parts that I had laying around.

If I can't build an instrument or can't get out of it I pick up a new instrument or style of playing.

Insult her, and don't pay for the meal.

I try to clear my mind from whatever I've been too involved with, and try to find whatever really wants to come out. Find some fresh inspiration, maybe something I've forgotten about. If I've been playing lots of rock/metal, maybe turn on some old Marvin Gaye and see what happens. That sort of thing.

Here's how I break the "rut":

I have a home studio. When I get to feeling like I'm stuck, I'll randomly pick a style of music (that isn't my normal thing) and write a song in that style. I try to make it sound as close as I can to the genre I'm imitating.

Usually before I'm done, it has sparked something new and the rut is broken.