Making Stupid Mistakes

My advice would be to step away from the guitar for a bit when you start feeling that frustration. Don't keep on and frustrate yourself further. The more you "screw up" the more frustrated you're going to become and the more you're going to "screw up". It's a vicious circle. Calm down. Think about what it is that you're doing wrong, then go back and do it more slowly until you've got it right, then pick up the speed until you're where you need to be.

You're going to keep hitting these "frustration bombs" for as long as you play so you've got to figure out a way that works for you to keep the frustration to a minimum. Don't overstretch yourself, don't play when frustrated. Step back, look at the problem analytically, then do it until you've got it down.

Cool advice! Joe, I can not add anything. Just I can share with you that I had one of these days last week. I had a business travel in the middle. Perhaps I only needed some rest. All is normal again.

I sometimes get into those kind of funks. I usually take a break from playing and do some listening or theory for a day or two, or go see a band play live. Or (occasionally) something unrelated to music in any way. Tends to solve the problem.

Also, a good rule of thumb is not to play your most difficult tunes in public. You're more likely to feel the pressure and screw up. One of the reasons to keep stretching yourself (if you never publicly play your hardest three tunes, you gotta find three harder tunes so you can play your current top 3 live). I don't always live by this rule tho. I'm too into the adrenaline.

when you're hot you're hot
and when you're not you're not.
irritates the heck out of me, but it is true.
how can one be smooth and creative one day and then a few days later
something smelly got left in the room.

Joe. this happens all the time to everybody.
don't sweat it. you will be nervous but ready. the ability you had is still there.
don't touch your guitar for a day or two.
let it miss you. want you.
so when you open the case again it will be so happy it'll sing.
true stuff.

Not playing may be just what the GN Doc's ordered. I was trying to get a couple of recordings better than what I had before, and just couldn't play the songs at all, even changing from an Am to Cadd9 my fingers were slipping off the bottom strings, or bending them down off the neck, driving me crazy!!
let it miss you. want you.
so when you open the case again it will be so happy it'll sing.
true stuff.

I don't know who will be bothered more by it :D

Thanks guys!

I find it quite amazing how I can, say, find a blues lick on YouTube, practice it for an hour or so, fumbling around, go to bed, then come back to it the next day and play it bang on straight off the bat. I think it takes a while for the message to get from your brain to your fingers :)

I didn't pick up the guitar today, and I've got to say it felt kind of weird. I at least pick it up and play around for around 10-15 minutes at the minimum.

We'll see if I can hold out tomorrow as well :lol:

I have not been decent all week. Tonight I said the heck with it and just worked on my EQ pedal settings on an amp. Got that sounding a bit better than before. (Stupid, thin sounding speaker. :evil: )

Like everyone says, it happens to all of us. Not only do we need to practice to sound good when we are in a normal state of mind, we must also learn to sound good when we are not in normal states of mind. (or being?)

When I suddenly can't play the thing I'm "good at" (and this happens almost every day at some point) I change directions and play something I know I'm bad at. If it's going to sound bad anyway at least I'll be learning something.

Try picking up something in a different style - play a classical tune for a while. Then go back to the familiar the next day and see if the "groove" comes back.

Sometimes happens to me. I'll be playing a song with some strange chords, like an Am(add9) - 577500 then G6 - 355000 then Fmaj7 - 133210 using my thumb for the bass notes. No problem. Then I'll try an E - A - B progression and lose it completely.....

I've found, unlike Elecktrablue and other folks, that if I'm having a bad day - a bad guitar day - the best thing I can do is keep on playing. Play through the lows - it might take me a while to get back on track, but eventually, I'll get there. I've spent so long trying to get good at guitar, that now I've achieved "pretty decent" I I have to get better - and the only way I can do that is to play through my mistakes. If I hit a riff wrong, I'll keep playing it till I get it right - I HAVE to get it right at least once before I put the guitar down for the night, otherwise it'll prey on my mind and I won't sleep.

Then - once I've got it right - I'll have to do it again, once might be a fluke, you know? Got to prove to myself I can do it again - and then I've got to prove I can do it again and again.

I suppose I'm a bit obsessive - but seriously, if I get something wrong, I can't rest till I've done it right. At least once!

:D :D :D

Vic

I change directions and play something I know I'm bad at. If it's going to sound bad anyway at least I'll be learning something.

That's actually a good idea, the logic in that is there for me anyway.
I suppose I'm a bit obsessive - but seriously, if I get something wrong, I can't rest till I've done it right. At least once!

I'm the same way, but if I play it right, I still feel that I can play it better and try to keep on playing it better. I think that's a big downfall for me, just never quite satisfied.

Hey Joe

I feel for you all the way with this one.

I watch all your videos and there's nothing wrong with your playing at all. I'm not an expert but I don't think the ability to play just disappears overnight. I would say there's something psychological going on and your putting pressure on yourself because of the gig - not on purpose, I think it's subconscious.

A friend of mine has just turned a professional golfer. He is playing in the Uk at the moment and I keep in touch daily. In his very first professional tournament, he hit two (2) triple bogeys (that's three shots over par - the recommended amount of shots for the hole) - I spoke to him in the evening and he said he can't remember the last time he hit a triple bogey, and played much better on his first practice the day previous....(he played much better the second day as well) :wink:

Pressure, pressure, pressure - subconscious, but it's there....

Doing the first gig is something that would probably send me over the top....

Also, I've just posted a comment in the "what your have learned...' thread - Is it just coincidence that I have been away for five days without my guitar and now I can (nearly) play some good barre chord transitions...Hmmmmm :?

Make sure you get a video of your first gig - I really want to see that one!!!!

Rock on Joe!
D 8)

I'm so used to stupid mistakes . . . it's become part of my practice routine. :mrgreen:

Dylan,

You've got no idea how much pressure I feel, it's INSANE!! I know that he knows I haven't played very long or played out, it's why he chose me, haven't had the chance to get the "big head'

We were just going to play 5 songs, all of which I've never heard of, but I ended up learning them with him (there were no chords on the internet either) and keep practicing them every day, just playing rhythm but some of the rhythm parts are kind of weird with stops and such. Now we are playing 6 (added Chicken Fried :D by Zac Brown Band), maybe one or two more, and when I sent him my finger-style version of "Wonderful Tonight" to get some feedback on the recording (kept hearing noise and buzz), he now wants me to play that SOLO at the party as well. :shock:

I've never in my life felt this nervous or this much pressure minus the birth of my son, so I think you have hit the nail on the head there.

But IT WILL BE the start of something good, I know it. He wants to continue on and play club gigs after that, so maybe I'll actually get paid to make music (or at least get a few free drinks).

I'm looking to bring a couple video cameras, and record the audio separate and do a complete video with this, so there will be video on top of that, plus stills since my family will not be there and really wants to see this.