Some days we can riff like there’s no tomorrow, on others we can’t break past the wall, so how can we reignite our creativity?
We guitarists can be an impatient bunch. So often, we expect to put our favourite axes down better players than when we'd picked it up just an hour or so previously, whether that's by nailing a new sweep picking pattern or writing a killer song.
In reality, that’s not how it works and creative ruts can cripple every guitarist, no matter how experienced or talented. Breaking out of creative ruts is something every player has to endure, but thankfully there are some pro-backed hacks to help you.
Where has my creativity gone?
Wrestling with your state of mind can be a tall order, especially when you want to create, but nothing inspiring comes. A lack of creativity is never down to a lack of talent. Writer's block has direct ties with your psychological state, and it can haunt your playing asa result of stress and disassociation. Social media can be a dangerous place too; we've all been left feeling inferior after seeing other players killing it.
Understanding why these blocks happen can represent half the battle, and more often than not, sprinkling a little freshness into your routine can make all the difference.
New tunings
Embracing something new is the easiest way to break out of frustrating cycles, and diving into a new tuning can help you look at the fretboard – and your instrument as a whole – in a completely new light.
Soundgarden’s riff monster, Kim Thayil does this all the time. So much so, in fact, that nearly every song on Superunknown is in a different tuning. If you’re used to playing in one particular tuning, and you’re feeling bereft of ideas, new tunings will force you into playing with new shapes across the fretboard. Or even just dropping or raising every string – from E to C standard, for instance – can make the same old riffs sound very different. That can spark inspiration and energy into your playing.
To make the most of a new tuning, try lean into what they do best. Drop tunings open up new scale shapes that wouldn’t be possible in standard tunings. Open tunings are great for playing a shed load of open strings, and if you’re playing in the key of the tuning, any open string at any point will work, musically. Use this as a point of focus and see if it unlocks new ideas.
If you haven’t tried DADGAD yet – a tuning MMA chief John Browne and many others think is the G.O.A.T for metal, maybe it’s time you branched out.
For inspiration as to what new tuning you should check out, try searching for tabs of some of your favourite bands – bonus points if it’s a band you’ve never tackled before – and see what they use. Save your brain power for creativity. If it works for a band you like,, it'll likely work for you.
The tone zone
Keeping with the theme of newness, simply refreshing your tone can help pull you out of the mud. That could be as simple as recreating the tone you like on a different amp, or completely flipping it on its head.
If you usually love a brutal high-gain tone with scooped mids, try a thicker, warmer tone with low gain – low gain tones sound heavier anyway, just ask your local scientist. Or strip the overdrive away completely and embrace shimmering cleans.
If you’re a plugin user, download a free trial of something new. Explore the presets, get lost in new sounds, and see what comes out of you and your guitar.
A special shoutout to MMA member Greig Sills for this idea. The power of community and talking to fellow guitarists, who will likely have experienced the same things as you, can be huge.
Modeller user? Dust off your old amp
Plugins and amp modellers unfurl a sea of possibilities at your fingertips, but many people still find the feel of a real amp unbeatable. John Browne's Monuments live rig still relies on real amps.
IDLES' Lee Kiernan concurs, telling Guitar World: “I love real amps. I love the way a note feels. If you take that away from the speakers, it just starts feeling sterile to me.”
So, if it's been a while since you've plugged into a real amp and felt the push and grunt of a tube amp and pushed cab, treat yourself. The fresh sensation may stir something in you.
Nature documentaries
Speaking to Guitar World, Clayton King, who you may know from his red-hot Instagram riffage and a right-hand technique that could pulverize diamonds, offered two brilliantly left-field tips for ending dry spells.
“I’ve got two things. The first one is really weird: I've got a second monitor in my studio. I’ll throw up Planet Earth or some nature documentary; something that matches my mood. Having something visual as I'm writing is such a game-changer for me. It helps shift my perspective and prolong my flow state.”
King has two computer monitors in his home studio, but using your smartphone as the second screen is a great workaround. There are also lots of video backgrounds on YouTube that can create the same effect. It’s a killer method too if you, like me, are a visual learner.
He says he is typically drawn to underwater documentaries, but what you put on is at your discretion. The great thing is, if you’re working on a particular song with a particular mood, you can try to find a documentary or some visuals that match that. Doing this allows you to tap into different senses, putting sight and feelings above hearing, in a bid to find that creative spark that you know is inside of you.
Limitations
“The other thing is that I really like self-imposed limitations,” King explains. “I’ll say, ‘You can only write in 3/4; you can only write on these two or three strings; or use these couple notes; or whatever.’ I feel like you can get paralysis by analysis sometimes by having so many options. I find it easier to dial it in. So I’ll do one of those two things and I’m out of the rut in 10 or 15 minutes every time.”
From personal experience, limitations can be a fabulous way to retune your brain. That might be writing in an unfamiliar scale, limiting yourself to a certain tempo, or selecting a few notes. It helps to stop you from overthinking things, which can be a roadblock to new ideas.
There are plenty of other ways to approach it too. The most important thing is to try and relax. Forcing ideas will likely only lead to more frustration, but changing your approach to writing, both mentally and physically, can help reap some rifftastic rewards.
For more guitar tips, technique rundowns and internet-breaking hot takes, head to the MMA blog page.
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