By Ronnie North

Every now and again we as players run into a creative wall, or for some reason our Playing just stops progressing temporarily. When that happens what seems to work for me more often than not is first to step away for a bit- sometimes a few hours or even better take the day off and do something else. Go outside and have an adventure. This is always great for a player reset.

When I’ve been in this situation in the past, I’ve just stopped and gone for a quick golf round or  hit the skate park. If you would rather not do that sort of thing and keep playing, then a cool alternative is to go randomly online and maybe try to play something you normally wouldn’t do or even try to learn one of your favorite songs you’ve never played before. This will take you out of your comfort zone and make you think and visualize your playing in a different light.

Recently I was just bored and I learned the Keyboard Parts for a Gary Numan song on guitar just as an exercise. Learning to do keyboard parts on guitars is a little challenging since their intervals are way different than they are laid out on a guitar neck, so you will sometimes have to do weird reaches to get the notes to do it. Next time you get stuck give it a try and see what happens… you will be glad you did. And who knows? Maybe it will open you up to some cool new licks and song ideas.