Not really sure why I'm posting this at all. If I want back on the horse just do it, right?
Long story short; about 5 years ago I stopped playing pretty much overnight. Tendonitis, tinnitus and a break up all collided at once and I haven't really played since.
I'm feeling like I really want to get back to playing now though. Started to do some beginner's exercises and chord swaps to get the fingers moving again, but I'm holding off my old practice routine as it's probably too much (I used to swear by the Vai 30 hour routine!).
Anyone else had an extended lay-off? And how did you get back into it?
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Buying the new guitar started what is now an obsession with buying guitars (although I'm on a hiatus right now form buying). Joining a band was the best thing for me. It made me practice and aim for something, and i started to learn songs i never would have.
To be honest, though, I'm getting pissed off with musicians being unreliable asshats (along with everybody else I've had to deal with in the industry in my capacity as a band member), and I'm considering knocking it all on the head for good. I can't stand playing covers - it bores me to death - and the originals scene in this country is just plain broken and pointless. If I do take a break for another 10 years, I'll be way too old for anyone to take me seriously playing the music I like (if I'm not already), so that's basically guaranteed to be the end of it.
Currently trying to decide whether I'll be able to make peace with that in myself.
So you thought interacting with loads more of them on a forum was a good idea because.... ?
It was a few years later when I met someone new that I was encouraged to pick up the guitar again. I was asked to play in a band that was playing a large wedding. I went from hardly playing at all for a few years to suddenly learning an unfamiliar 20 song set. It was really good for me. And while I've only played live a few times since then - as my kids get older I know I'll be playing more. And guitar is one of my prime hobbies once again.
Though the irony is I spent more on it now that I ever had. Managed the first twenty years of playing - including lots of live stuff at uni - with just one guitar. Now I'm mostly a study noodler and I have six.
I used to be a bass player and gave up in the early 90s, just got fed up with the hassle that came with being in bands. When my last band split up I put my basses away and never touched them again.
After about 8 years (late 90s) I was walking along Denmark Street one day and saw a sunburst Tele in the window of Rockers and for some reason I had to have it - went in and bought it and taught myself to play it.
I haven't normally included personal info like this in information online but I've just thought sod it, why not.
I have had years looking for short cuts ..there are none......getting really annoyed and down about things that I couldn't do that other players could ...also not productive
These past sort of 6 or 7 years I'm not bothered ...I practise more than ever ...work on things without trying to find a short cut that throws me off the lines....don't care the least in what anybody else plays or dosnt play ..I can appreciate it all ..but just enjoy music more and what comes out is me .no competition anymore just a love for playing guitar....
I started again from the beginning and only progressed to the next stage when I felt I knew my stuff. After a few weeks of an hour each day, we were contacted by our landlord to say the house was being repossessed, so all was packed up, but a short time later I got a job in a local covers band as bassist and been playing with them in three or four lineups since!
After a long period of grieving, and it took me a few years to recover from my sad loss, I started to pick up my guitar(s) again and gradually got my fingers working. I was rusty. My accuracy and timing were off, not noticeable playing unplugged, but heard loud and clear through an amp.
I started back on the Minor Pentatonic and Major Scale Patterns, and then used the various techniques - up/down slides, hammer on/pull offs, bends/release bends, etc - on licks and riffs using the scale patterns. I also had to practice fast chord changes - basic major and minor chords - my fingers weren't responding as fast as my brain could think.
I had to work on my vibrato and tremolo picking, and increase my speed on three notes per string.
It all started to come together. What I found is that it is like learning to ride a bike in that one does not really forget how to do it. The difficult part was hardening my finger tips and building the stamina to play runs up and down the fretboard for extended periods.
Once you get back into playing, it is amazing how much you remember and how quickly you start playing smoothly again. Put in the time and you will be rewarded.
Good luck..