This article was contributed by Guitar Jam Trax - www.guitarjamtrax.com

When playing your guitar becomes a chore, Fret Not!

Someone wrote in recently saying that in the past few weeks, playing guitar had become a chore, and they had lost the energy to play guitar. This can happen and is a frustrating rut to get out of. The cause of the problem may be hard to pin down, and can vary from person to person. But, with some good ol' logic and determination, you can turn this dynamic around and get your self back to a fresh and fun attitude towards your guitar. Let's step through the problem with this thought process:

Main Question: "What Changed??"  - This is the most logical question to ask yourself. Your initial answer might be: "Nothing, one day I was a guitar god, then next day I am having trouble playing as well..." Computer Repair Technicians and Doctors will tell you that if often takes a few gentle nudges to get a patient to realize that something in-fact might have changed recently that might have caused this sudden problem, you just need to dig a little deeper sometimes.

You might want to ask yourself the following:

a) Did you recently start a new job? Possibly you are doing particularly intense physical labor? Maybe there is a great deal of stress on your job? These types of dynamics (especially when so sudden) can really be a shock to your system. The overall effect can be that your body is fighting back and telling you "Hey, I'm tired... we're not gonna rock so hard today!..."

WORKAROUND: Try to determine what has changed in your life recently. Don't overlook any change. A change that has nothing to do with music (i.e. a new job, breakup with a girlfriend, family crisis, etc..) could very easily be taxing your system and as a result, your body just doesn't feel as up to the task of playing guitar. Try to rectify that change, or at least be aware that it is affecting you and will hopfully only be a temporary issue.

b) Did your playing routine recently change? - Maybe you normally play gutar 1 hour a day, every other day. Suddenly, in a fit of inspiration, you played for 5 hours on Monday, then 6 hours on Tuesday and wednesday...etc.. Maybe you normally gig once per week, and do two 45-minute sets, and last week you did 4 gigs in one week and each gig was 5 sets... Any way you slice it, this is a change. As fufilling as it might be emotionally, your body may be reacting to the new demands. Creatively, these kind of spirts are great and inspirational, but for your body, it's like your boss suddenly asking you to work all weekend, and stay late two nights this week... with no notice.

WORKAROUND: If your playing schedule changes dramatically, make a special effort to increase your healing time. Stretch more, relax more, and as ironic as this sounds: Put your guitar down more often. Your body needs rest. Playing more guitar is great and any teacher will encourage you to do so in the interests of better learning, but, know your limits and know when to rest, espeically if you are suddenly playing alot more than usual. IMPORTANT: Pay particular attention to your hands!! You hands (especially your left hand, or whatever had you fret with) does most of the work and your hand / fingers really get a workout when you play, treat them well and give them the rest they need.

c) Did your guitar change? - It may sound silly, but your guitar may have changed and you don't realize it! If you use a Maple neck, the neck may have shifted due to the weather change (not un-common in the spring and fall when the weather starts to change). The result may be that you are having to work harder to play. Especially if your action is a little bit higher (neck has curved back in towards the bridge a little). Maybe because you did alot of playing in a short amount of time, the strings are particularly dirty, meaning they are harder to keep in tune and don't sound quite as bright or snappy.

WORKAROUND: Take your guitar to a qualified techician and have a propper setup done. At minimum, change your strings if they are old / dirty.

d) Are you just bored? - The obvious answer might be: "No man, I was on friggin' FIRE!... then sudenly my body / hands are not responding..." Believe it or not, sometimes if you are really playing the same style or songs alot, you may be sub-consiously becoming bored. We tend to be stimulated by new ideas and new concepts. 4 days ago, the stuff you are playing might have been new and exciting, but maybe after a few days, you have grown tired of them and just don't realize it.

WORKAROUND: Try something new! - Ride the recent surge in your motivation by looking into new styles and techniques that you might not normally consider. For example: If you like Rock, take a few Jazz lessons. If you like Jazz, take a few Rock lessons, if you like Blues, check out some twangy country-style tele pickin' riffs. Do what you love, but being aware of and conversant in more than one style, espeically styles that you are not in-love with will not only make you a more well-rounded musician, it can also keep the jamming / practicing time fresh and exciting. You would be amazed at the ironic effect of infusing a style you are not so into into the style you like. For example, I like Blues and Classic rock. But a friend of mine got really into country-style Telecaster twang playing once. He really did his homework and nailed that style after about 6 months of hard work. I was so inspired, I borrowed one of his books and learned a few of those techniques. Then on a gig one night, I was doing a real Rock-Blues solo, and withouth realizing it, finished the solo with a kind of Albert-Lee Tele bend. Someone walked right up to me after and immediately complimented me on tossing in some country riffs during a rock-blues solo. it was a cool feeling and really inspired me to push myslef into other areas that don't necessarily interest me.

Summary: I know this was all very general. Since I don't have many specifics from you other than you were rocking, then your body seemed to have given out, I just gave you an overall set of suggestions to try help you to diagnose the problem yourself. Some of this may sound overly-phyilsophical, but after 30+ years of playing, I can promise you that I have encountered all of these dynamics at least once in my playing.

We live to play guitar, so guitar is part of our life. And, other parts of our life can affect our guitar playing. So, just roll up your sleeves, figure out what the problem is through some logical analysis and the process of elimination. Once you figure out the problem, get back to what you love most: Playin' that Guitar!

 This article was contributed by Guitar Jam Trax - www.guitarjamtrax.com