What happens when you are horrible at guitar?

[Bearstripes]

May be the wrong place for this so if so lemme know.

I need guidance. All of a sudden I am terrible at guitar. Like something that was easy to me is now super hard and I can't wrap my head around gettin back into the groove. I have had bad days before but this is consistent to the point where every time I pick up a guitar I'm like what the fuck am I doing.

I just started playing in a band and honestly the past few months I haven't been playin that much so I can def say I'm outta practice but like this is ridiculous and makes no sense.

I am not really worri d about the why as much as how to fix this I'm totatlly self taught so I don't really know where to look or start. So if any one has any secrets that would be rad and if not I guess I'll just turn on a bunch of delay til it sounds good

[humandingus]

hey!

it's ok!

i feel like you kind of answered your own question. you haven't been playing much. play more! a lot more. find an exercise for muscle memory sake makes you feel comfortable and do it to the point where you don't have to think about it. do it when you are doing daily activities that don't actively need your hands.

do you feel this way when you are playing alone or is it just weird in a band setting?

also, just to make sure, is this exclusive to guitar? are there other things going on in your life that don't feel like they used to?

[codetocontra]

Work on some warm ups patterns for dexterity. Maybe play along with a drum machine or metronome. Try recording practices, even by yourself at home, then you can hear your mistakes from a different perspective, maybe some things aren't as noticeable as they felt or maybe your timing needs to improve in another area.

[hotknife]

Start a youtube channel.

[actual]

Make ambient.

[Bearstripes]

I notice it more when I am by myself. Like eve Ythinf just seems off as if my hands won't work together. I think what it really is is that I am just out of practice. Gonna try with a drum machine cause that sounds like a good idea. Anything else?

[friendship]

What are the things that were once easy for you that you're now having trouble with?

[Jwar]

Isn't this why we have pedals? To cover up our lack of skill?

[friendship]

Start a youtube channel.

this made me L-O-L

[Benn Roe]

This has happened to me before. You'll work through it just by practicing again. After one of my long-time bands stopped playing, I basically didn't touch a guitar or bass for over a year. When I tried to join a new band, I felt like I had no idea what I was doing. It got better.

[jrmy]

I notice it more when I am by myself... Gonna try with a drum machine cause that sounds like a good idea. Anything else?

Yeah, drum machine, or even just a metronome. Don't be afraid to play passages reeeeeeeeeeeeally slowly over and over again before trying them fast.

I had a disastrous moment last year when my band played a show and my hands suddenly couldn't comprehend a part that I had been playing flawlessly for like a year. It was kind of scary to experience, especially since it was one of the primary hooks of the song... thankfully, it was a pretty noisy section, so nobody in the audience was any wiser... but I literally had to retrain myself to play it after that show, using the "slow it down, parse it out, play it over and over" technique. Haven't had a problem (with that part, at least) since. Always weird when the body doesn't cooperate...

[Muff_Diver]

Play more with the band. Playing with people is hands down the best way to get back into it. The muscle memory should all be there, but nothing brings it out better than the human interaction of jamming.
I think that the mental/physical aspect of having to follow and work with others with inherent flaws and subtitles, as well as the psychological effect of being with people vs alone really brings out and improves the truest playing one is capable of.

[resincum]

liquidate all your pedals and get into modular

[Bearstripes]

I agree with the playing with people. That has always been the best for my playing as it does make me play better and honestly boost my confidence and what not. We have only had one practice so far and that was also. I was pretty sick so I wasn't in it anyway. Over the past few months I really haven't been playing that much and last night I went to play and was just like what the fuck I suck now. I know playing with people will help but I really wanna learn new things and get better (or at least back to where I was) on my own

[Bearstripes]

Or should I just start a YouTube channel?