How to avoid burnout with guitar (and keep progressing)

[@LuciusVulpes]

This works for basically any hobby. The best way to avoid feeling burnt out especially when that hobby requires a lot of practice, is to simply not do it all the time even if you feel like you should be doing it all the time. Truth is the average human brain isn't wired for monotony.

[@CrypticJasmine]

This explains exactly why I have been struggling with my job - monotony!

[@ncsludgefactory5445]

I love the monotony of practice

[@davidhartman5594]

I'm LOVING this newer content thats been coming. Not many high level players like yourself can sit down and be real and talk about the more "negative" and unproductive, if you will, side of things. These kinds of videos you have been putting out like Wheel of Riffs, Shred M.D. and all this have given me a HUGE wave of inspiration lately and I've played more in the last week and a half than in the previous several months. Thank you so much, Dean. I really hope to catch you guys at a show in the Midwest U.S. sometime soon and maybe even get to chat for a minute or two.

[@ernesto3251]

Dean: you have to... Ride The Waves Of Frustration Matt Heafy: we have a new song boys

[@VanechkaGomuncul]

😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂 U right:)

[@LegendaryK4]

What the caller explained is almost exactly what I was feeling earlier this year. Been playing for 15 years, I think I am just an okay player but others have told me otherwise. Either way the BIGGEST change I made that helped was to stop comparing myself to professional guitar players that get literally paid to play. This isn't my job, its a hobby. So what if I will never be able to play a single Archspire song, I'm not in the band. Its allowed me to really dig into writing my own music and not comparing myself to professionals has made it really enjoyable again.

[@ncsludgefactory5445]

It’s still fun to listen to these bands dude Infant Annihilator Egg album blows my mind I’ll never be able to play that shit hahaha But it’s fun to try

[@SuperJohan64]

"I consider myself okay.. ummm.. but I'm dogshit" I can relate

[@eugenesis8188]

Talking to literally anyone i know in real life, im really good. Talking to Dean, im dogshit.

[@martyrofgrenth2136]

That was the realest self criticism I've heard in a while.

[@Grus0]

My impending burnout is work, not guitar. I work from home, and it consumes every waking hour if I let it. You've inspired me to close the laptop and play some games for the first time in months. I didn't realise how much I needed that reset. Thanks buddy.

[@technicaldeathmetalhead]

I also have a remote gig (and also a physical job too). My biggest advice is, and I say this with love, is touch grass. Like be outside. Let nature be your Spotify and just breathe. Religious or not, it may make you appreciate God and just life more. Also, PLEASE take some rest and protect your mental health bro. I don't know you but I know we all need rest.

[@Grus0]

​@@technicaldeathmetalhead Appreciate your words mate, and you are 100% correct. It's so important to get outside maintain that connection.

[@P.dripps92]

As soon as I might feel "burnt out " I start learning a song that I love listening to. That always helps me get back into it! Guitar and drums

[@Jmann410]

Same

[@paulwingert9993]

This is the first time I have seen Dean talk about Social Media and its problems for musicians, really nice to hear you also have that take as such an amazing player:)

[@Z0mb13moon]

Not gonna lie, the analogy with "riding the waves of frustration" helped me out several times. I started watching your content when i prepared for my final exam for my apprenticeship 2 years ago and the advice helped me with some issues there. Nowadays it helps me with frustrating parts in video games or just regular daily stuff at work. It's not just a good advice for avoiding burnout on guitar, it's a great advice to avoid burnout on almost everything you do. Anyways, thank you Dean and have a good day!

[@AugustBurnsSam]

I was pretty burned on guitar, but lately I've been learning some Gypsy Jazz and Swing and it not only has revitalized my playing but also has improved it by like, 200%.

[@naturaljoe759]

Totally agree. When I tend to go in phases as to what sort of stuff I learn, I get more excited when I pick up the instrument. I find it also helps fill in the gaps in my abilities and makes that super hard riff I was struggling with for the longest time maybe just a little more natural.

[@JustinCox-s2t]

Creativity is not a faucet that can be turned on and off. It is a cycle of torrents and droughts.

[@dtrmnts]

This helps a lot. I basically had a 2 months of a huge creative streak and wrote an EP. All i have left to do is mix and master it but I don't have the motivation to do it. Part of that is chronic depression and adhd but this helped me realize it's ok to just step away and finish it when my brain wants to. I felt so guilty cuz I was super excited to put it out there and start playing it live but now I couldn't care less.

[@jows7595]

It helps me to say, "ok, lemme just edit these few drum hits or whatever and I'll leave it alone." 5 minutes worth. A lot of the time it turns into an hour or more. Just saying 5 minutes makes the task seem smaller and easier to start. Less pressure. When you go for longer than 5 minutes it's a big win.

[@cbsaulren]

Riding the wave of frustration is great advice. I refuse to quit until I nail it that one last time and then I can take a break and let it settle. There's always a recovery period as well. Don't neglect the digestion process.

[@dorsia6938]

Giving feedback, I really enjoy these types of videos. Things about mindset and sort of the abstract mentality about how you think about these sorts of things. Really insightful and helpful.

[@etobicokeguitarschool]

Yo Dean. Watching this video again, this is some pretty great perspective, especially coming from a high caliber touring guitarist like yourself. I may share this video with some students of mine who need to hear it. Thanks for sharing!

[@Ryo7_7]

Good advice. I get burned out every now and then from playing guitar but, a little break makes a lot of positive differences. 🤘

[@AlteredPhotons]

Ride the wave of frustration. Or as some call it, persistence. Music is such a dicey thing to pursue, but the only ones who make it are the ones who are persistent. Same goes with every single occupation or hobby. This is a great video

[@twisted239]

Good talk Dean... those are issues musician often don't talk about and it's great you introduce the subject. One thing you didn't talked about though is how learning or mixing a song can make you sick because it's running in your head again and again. Sometimes I have sleeping problems because of that. Would be interested to know your tips on that since it's something you can't avoid if you want to learn the song and/or finish producing it. Spacing more your practices helps but doesn't get rid of the issue. I also often get bored listening to songs I wrote and lose interest before recording them. But I need to practice them to record them tight, so it's an infinite loop of never ending frustration. I struggle a lot in general in music because of that... kind of a love/hate relationship.

[@poser_disposer]

It helps making music with other people who are serious about making music. It really keeps you accountable to improve, and it's easier to push through the feeling of wanting to get distracted when you have those types of people around you when you are playing.

[@eldarsafarov9302]

Same with videogames, always blame myself for playing games, not guitar. Especially when you see really cool guitarists on KZbin or see how people write cool songs, and at that moment you seem to be doing something wrong

[@monkeyaskswhy]

Great question. I feel like it's super pertinent to newbies too. This is one of the reasons why the advice I always give to those picking up guitar for the first time is to buy something they like the look of. Even if it sounds like shit or it's old or weird or whatever, that spark that you get whenever you look at your guitar will have you more excited to play it and you will naturally pick it up and play more often. It's that inspiration and excitement at the start that is so much more important and keeps you going so that you end up learning a life-long skill

[@azuretigers5562]

Very good stuff Dean

[@DriFD3S]

Thank you, Dean. Your advice today resonated with me. Your words were helpful and gave me inspiration. Thank you again. You rock.

[@graemeoliver744]

This is such good advice. It applies to anything too, not just guitar or music. Your brain needs time to assemble things.

[@ceceliataylor84]

2 videos in one day, nasty work! Thanks Dean😊!

[@DoodleLVdrums]

@8:05 when I decreased going on my phone I became better. Everything you said was great. Awesome video; this has to have been the most valuable advice applicable in all areas of life.

[@celecoxibnonsteroidal5659]

Thanks Dean I needed to hear this in a professional non-shredtacular context. I will also apply this wisdom to actual guitar playing.

[@guyrozanes9832]

That’s why guitar routines are important, combining learning theory, leaks and playing songs should be a must thing. So for example warmup with learning new scale modes or whatever for 30 minute and then switch to play songs and back and forth.

[@randyredreveal]

Man, this video just crawled inside my brain and knew I needed it. Thank you, Dean.

[@ZakkFazio]

Same boat as the caller but I haven’t touched mine in months. Been 5 years since I’ve had any motivation to play but I still ingest guitar content daily.

[@44DoubleZer00_Studios]

This happens to me similar to illustrations/drawing. I force myself to draw and realize nothing comes up, and I realize that just putting down the pencil and taking a walk, playing games, family time, etc. it helps SOOOOOOO MUCH more. Hell I've taken months of not drawing/playing guitar, and when I come back again, it just feels like picking them up for the first time, but knowing everything that I've learned, but improved. And yeah, social media has us very f***ed to the point where you see someone doing shows, and you're not. It's just messed up. The moral of the story is that if your body and brain say "we need time to relax, we can't work with this burnout," take a break. Just sit aside or walk at the park.

[@subterraneanguitartech]

I just took two months off guitar but I'm back and it feels great!

[@lebarak69]

Loving all this new content!

[@vitalr3mains720]

That was a great answer. Gives me hope thanks

[@CrypticJasmine]

Ohhh this is good. The part about “you keeping fucking that part up even though you weren’t before” the wave of frustration.

[@di0__0ib]

some excellent advice right here. I needed this one

[@naturaljoe759]

Social media in general creates FOMO, and the feeling that everybody else has these amazing lives and abilities, but what you are seeing is only the tiny snippet they want you to see. You don’t see the 100 times they screwed up playing that lick in the last few days, what the voice on the raw track sounded like, or what they look like without makeup, filters and Photoshop.

[@zulu3594]

I find while practicing or writing, its a lot like lifting, in the sense that once ive hit a point where my mental or physical form is shit, it's time to take break. A break can mean getting up from your throne, to taking a day off, a week, or perhaps a creative hiatus. If you can ride the waves of frustration in tandem, i personally find i come out more progressed as a musician overall.

[@williamchestnut3473]

Yeah this is really good advice that is applicable to more than just an instrument. Thanks Dean Daddy.

[@8KilgoreTrout4]

It's also ok to take a break and then revisit! I've been playing like 30 years almost, seriously.. I've had like 2-3 periods where, for whatever reasons, I either didn't have a guitar or just didn't pick it up for a year or 2. I play at least little every day now, and sometimes all I do is hold my guitar and play very little. Just don't force it IMHO

[@NateSmith87]

Started playing guitar at 16, learning by ear, tabs, a background from drumming since a child, played piano/studying music..etc, and I'm now at 36 getting guitar lessons to learn more past what I don't know/wanting to create what I hear in my head, and after 6 lessons, as someone who does everything myself, it's overwhelming, and that wave of frustration is SO real. But you gotta ignore that and keep studying.

[@infinidominion]

A fun unexpected source of information is old guitar magazines. Sometimes people are giving them away in stacks and they still have a ton of info to glean, which these days is only further enhanced by the internet

[@JosePineda-jn8jk]

I know not everyone has a super wide range of listening preferences but, for me trying out other styles has been the biggest thing to help burn out for me. I learned a Stevie wonder song and then it made me want to borrow ideas from the song to make something metal. It ended up making a killer song (at least in my opinion) that sounds way different to my normal stuff, and it inspired me to get back to writing again.

[@non_brewed_condiment]

Wow Dean really is Canadian with this Double Double drop. Thanks bud!

[@wesleytrott6397]

EXCELLENT ADVICE!

[@baconshreds1772]

I'm currently going through my 2nd burnout on guitar since I started. It sucks because I love guitar more than I love most people. The burnout happened because I paid for online lessons with an insane online figure who specializes in tech death (mainly necrophagist and death). I went from barely being able to play death metal to actively being able to play and practice tech death riffs and sweeps in 2 months. The burnout is killing me and i'm glad this video came up.

[@Basserino84]

I put music down for 7 years. I had two bands with a 6 month span of that time break up in the face of diversifying their material (in one) and get scammed by our organizing member (in the other.... and a good friend was involved as well, so). So I looked at my stuff at the time and justified stopping/"getting serious about a career". It was both productive and counterproductive doing other things, but suppressing my natural creativity. And part of the nature of working is they typically want that same brainwave equal to what you'd put into "art" in their festivities. So picking up an instrument, remembering the things that occurred before I had a nexus, and then trying to create (and yea, to an extent, changing strings has positive effect) just locks things up. I just feel like I'm playing what people want/ expect me to play.

[@freidmaen]

I appreciate you, Dean

[@relaxwithriffs6682]

Changing strings to guitar burnout is what putting on nice clothes is to depression - really good advice for sure 😅🙏🏻

[@Hedonite]

The wizardry shirt is so fucking insanely hard.

[@sirbythedoor3498]

Great Video!!! I was dealing with this for the past few years BIG TIME but last summer (not the one that just passed the one before it) I had the worst bout of it yet. I hated everything my playing, tone, vibrato, bends, picking, my old videos, my newer videos, anything I had ever done and was doing in the present on guitar I just hated all of it. For the first time since I picked up the instrument I thought "hmmm maybe this isn't for me?" I just got so unbelievably frustrated with it. What I did is similar to what you described though, I was able to convince myself to "ride the wave" as you called it and just see what happens. So I would play even when upset but I also knew I loved the instrument, so I need to actually reassess the situation and I took a step back and just took it all in. "Well I'm able to play this song or section and I couldn't before so why get so upset that I cant do this part yet?" Learning the Guitar is a journey, a REALLY LONG ONE lol speed bumps are gonna happen and sometimes they're gonna hurt. If you just can realize what is going on though, that your brain is screaming for you to just rest a little and give it a break for an hour, a day, maybe even a week if you feel you need it, even if its telling you you should be playing like you mentioned, play those video games! Your well being AND your guitar playing will both improve greatly if you start to really hone in on your body and brain! This might be a mumbo jumbo rant no one understands but I don't know its nice to see a player as INSANE as you are talk about this topic, as its something I've dealt with way too much, BUT much less over the past year!

[@Jmann410]

Solid advice

[@qwqwwq3010]

Best guitarist channel on KZbin. authentic approach to content. Big ups dean Could you touch on why your dummer split ways sometime in a video. Thanks

[@kevinrampersad9202]

Hey great advice Dean! 😊👍

[@craksracing0com708]

"every body gets there"....says the guy playing such a unique virtuous stuff he is probably right, but many of us would need 2 diferent lifes apart from that super nice tips and thinking loved it

[@DereksDigitalDesigns]

Very helpful! Thanks Dean.🤘

[@riffnastyhubanks5714]

Lamb the legend

[@notsure1135]

New scales. Works for me.

[@edunogues23]

Thanks for this video man🫶🏼

[@veenoir1991]

Good morning my dudes

[@kieran5302]

🍳🥞🥓☕

[@thomascoolberth2648]

Gonna separate my bedroom from my studio. Thanks for this.

[@ace4evr]

Not Keith Merrow chillin in the corner just skull and bones 😂💀

[@TempleGuitars]

That's Keith Marrow!

[@Luemm3l]

well, I hope Dean has not more bones to pick with him, guy looks already worn thin...

[@kieran5302]

I love lamb.

[@Kanik666]

The caller at the beginning really threw me off and had me asking myself "Houdini?"

[@superbarnie]

Viewer: How do I keep practicing more? Dean: How to practice less

[@LoudnheavyMF]

Watching with a pack of strings in my hand as your saying to change my strings

[@darkais776]

Great, great advice. I’ve been experiencing this for the past two years. My situation is a bit different though, lost motivation after losing my brother to cancer two years ago. Sitting down and practicing guitar, now makes me feel like I’m losing out on my life and experiences. It’s frustrating, because guitar was/is my only outlet. I’ve tried to snap out of it and forced myself to sit, but man. It’s just not the same. Any advice???

[@ElevatedLevetator]

Im just discouraged to play cause of learning theory is so mentally taxing.. its not fun at all, but i want to master it. But it just makes me not wanna play instead

[@jordanrush1988]

Any time you learn something on theory, go try it out on guitar. You’ll retain it better and it’ll make the process more enjoyable!

[@ElevatedLevetator]

@@jordanrush1988 i do that, but the mountain of things o havent learn is so big it ruins the enjoyment, it feels useless: cause i only know this and that chord that works in 1 key, over the whole neck, but then i gotta change the chords manually for every 12 keys and that is so mentally taxing it just makes me want to quit or learn songs by tabs instead, its not enjoyable at all

[@thanebear]

Thanks bru

[@fransringo323]

If I may add something about this. If I aim something hard like playing riff of Archspire, I will left frustrated as I cannot fathom how to play it. Play something easy like my guy said in this video, and continue slowly.

[@xenonvinc]

...anyway, good luck I love you, Dean

[@sebp3442]

Ive always wondered what the cananda sign in the back mean

[@joe1edgeley]

Its an ironic misspelling of Mr. Lamb's motherland, Canada

[@DeanLamb]

IT'S MISSPELLED?!? DAMNIT!!!

[@Donjuanxx]

I should have listened that before i got injury..sad, but it’s ok

[@dishpapa1143]

Thanks dead 🤙

[@gabriellongworth]

Come back ‘round to Detroit again soon now ya hear!? 🤙🏻🤘🏻😎

[@horner1641]

As a drummer i kind of wish i didn't have to go to my space and just be able to play the second i want but its completely different instrument i guess so few have the luxury of that

[@laynefuller]

My way of dealing with it is just playing another instrument. I play drums and guitar and just bounce back and forth when I get burned out or bored.

[@TheStrykerProject]

Great tips, Dean, thanks very much. I suffer greatly from burnout or, more likely, crushing self doubt. When I get frustrated playing, I just set the cursed instrument aside. Some days, though, I really feel "it" flowing. Here's a similar question: how do you deal with 'tone burnout'? I think I get that much more often.

[@YanLuccaCloth]

The way this video ends is real as fuck LOL. It's basically that, everyone is doing stuff and you're not, anyways, good luck. 😂

[@LuckyPkerz]

Dean u losing weight? Those cheekbones are shining!

[@skatemetal5062]

Sometimes I'll take a few days off and then it's all new again.

[@kevinblakemore6445]

Hey Brother long time. Hope things are going good. Doing a new project

[@peachieboi8728]

So it’s like edging? Because I do that every day!

[@MrScrofulous]

New music.

[@TheChoosenOne1698]

I tend to be too focused on just "getting good" and get burned out pretty quickly with guitar i believe. I like the Instrument and i love the music i try to learn, but my Progress feels so slow. Im often worried that im learning the wrong technique and wasting my time.

[@toemasmeems]

lol i love the keith merrow reference (he's my favorite) but is there an inside joke im not aware of?

[@krzto]

The skeleton has the nametag Keith 'Marrow'...i.e. bone marrow...skull cap...

[@TaylorDanley]

Yeah but how do you avoid burnout with guitar AND KZbin AT THE SAME TIME?

[@DeanLamb]

Hire a producer. Hi Matt!

[@PickledTyrant]

My exact problem is I can play fast af at least imo but my pinky burns hard whenever I push it 😢

[@jows7595]

Some days guitar sucks. You pick it up and it sounds shitty and it's like your hands are full of syrup. I just put it down those days. Edit drums or some shit. Guitar is a part of my life and who I am. It's never gonna go away. If I don't play one day or 2 or 3 in a row it's not the end of the world. The guitars will be there waiting for when you're ready.

[@davelanciani-dimaensionx]

totally off topic, ... my wife noticed your "Cananda" sign.

[@WarrenBey]

Crazy. Everytime I pick up my guitar I come up with cool stuff. But I play a lot of different stuff. I don't JUST play death metal. I love country, blues, all metal and classical. Only music I can't ever get into is Jazz. If you have burn out play something new. I've been trying to write a song in the style of The Cure meets Emperor today 😂. Burnout means your just doing the same shit all the time. The guitar isn't your problem. It's your limited dogshit taste that's the problem.

[@HaRDc0r3z]

i count the hard riffs in 'sleeps'. as in, 'that riff will take me 3 sleeps to get down'... i play a riff until it feels like i'm not gonna get any better, i dont get frustrated, i play something different until i hit a wall or i sleep. the next day, that riff plays better; then you just repeat. an easy song will take me 1 sleep, a sylosis song will take me 3 weeks, but that sweep off of Sylosis - Empyreal is forever... you gotta be rip van winkle to pull that shit off...

[@Slurps6969]

I would have accepted you sacrificed hairs for the hair god