Just disgusted myself with my own playing.

Sync

Jetsam1 said:

Could not for the life of me get a sound I liked, Ended up just turning off the amp and am now considering if there is any point continuing with the charade............. When all the virus is over considering just getting rid of everything. I really struggle to find any enthusiasm any more.

20 plus years and it may be over,

Do you have a decent singing voice?

Nothing more depressing or isolating than being a guitarist who can't sing and especially when without a band. 

Try an acoustic or other orchestral instrument (if you play any) for a while. Stripping it right back to something that has and is one defined sound does wonders. 

MattNovak

Turn the gain way up and play the intro to War Pigs, trying to control the feedback. Works for me.

chotu495

Some days i have the boxing gloves on, and nothing sounds good. Other days, i’m just an average self-taught guitarist who isn’t wearing boxing gloves. Hang in there dude. Strange days, indeed. 

ICBM

To add to what I said earlier - if you've been liking the sounds you get with the Pod through headphones, do you have something like a hi-fi you can connect the Pod to? That should - in theory - give you something like the same sound in the room. All you should need is something with Aux inputs either on phono or mini-jack connectors, and the appropriate cable.

hotpickups

I’ve so been there. Still do on occasions and I’m about to buy a tuition course from this guy:-

https://www.guitarplayback.com/

These downtime’s were forced to have at the moment is prime time to purchase a course I feel   

If not, got any gear you’re selling lol? Only joking keep at it it’s the only way 

JohnCordy

I got asked this question the other day on a livestream so this was the way that I think about breaking out of this kind of hating my playing thing!

DB1

Yes, as Mark @guitars4you said, it's the doodling that sometimes grates on me. I find that I don't really have the will or the energy in the evenings to learn much new stuff (I have stacks of Truefire courses) but end up piddling around doing the same things a lot - I often think, 'oh no, not this shite again'.

Sometimes something as simple as a new chord, or chord progression kickstarts things again though - I found a nice couple of chords the other night and then worked out my own progression, which was entertaining.

Keep going though - most of us feel like you feel at some point.

Blaendulais

my playing is so shit the delay note sounds earlier than the note i play mostly

Nikc

I made the mistake of recording myself the other day - thats it no more playing in public I'm total crap - so I know how you feel

carlos

On Monday evening I couldn't play this Herring lick at any speed whatsoever. Tonight I've started playing it a fast tempo and flawlessly. Sometimes it takes work to get there and patience.

soma1975

I bought the Elevated Jam Tracks pack and out them on shuffle so I never know what's coming up next to play with. 

TheOtherDennis

If you like, I'll make a recording of my playing - and you'll realise really, really quickly just how good you actually are!

carlos

carlos said:

On Monday evening I couldn't play this Herring lick at any speed whatsoever. Tonight I've started playing it a fast tempo and flawlessly. Sometimes it takes work to get there and patience.

Today I really got my tempo up on this and wrote it down across 5 positions all in A. 

Jetsam1

Not trying to play metal! Just a bit of a general malaise creeping in as I am working at home and not having the change of the commute. Been watching some recorded stand up comedy and did a little bit just accoustically during the day.

guitars4you

Nikc said:

I made the mistake of recording myself the other day - thats it no more playing in public I'm total crap - so I know how you feel

I recall years ago asking my guitar teacher 'who should you listen to' to improve your playing - He said 'yourself' - Then you can hear what is good/bad and improve accordingly - Kind of makes sense - So see it as a positive to work on

Ted

I have nothing like your experience

But my advice is if you are prone to self criticism, don't just despair at everything. Select just one  specific aspect of your playing that you are unhappy with, and concentrate just on improving that one thing.

The principle of breaking an apparently insurmountable big problem down into small problems I think might work well in guitar practice.

Springywheel

rossi said:

Try learning all those jazzy 9ths ,13ths ,diminished and then string them together randomly while noodling .its amazing what comes out .

Haha, Guilty! 

PeterGrey

As gringopig said, try a looper.  You don't need to have ambitions to be the next Ed Sheeran. PLay a lick, loop it and then you can concentrate on dialing in your amp!

mburekenge

Go easy on yourself. Remember that your ear develops faster than your skills...