Stuckness is no fun, but it comes and grabs us every once in a while. Over the course of 15 years of playing the guitar, I’ve found myself stuck on plenty of occasions. What works to break us out of our stuckness on the guitar? Here are 7 approaches that have worked for me in my Nashville guitar lessons with my students.

1. Be very organized in your guitar practice. Keep a practice notebook in which you keep track of what you’re doing on the guitar. Write out your goals clearly. Make sure you know exactly what you’re trying to accomplish, and then set about applying everything you’ve learned for how you can master new things on the guitar. The more organized you are in your approach to practicing, the more difficult it’ll be for you to believe those voices inside of you that try to make you feel stuck.

2. Learn some new music. Often, stuckness sets in when we’ve been bogged down doing a certain thing or playing a certain way for a while. So, if you’re feeling stuck, consider checking out an entirely new approach to making music. Try a fingerstyle guitar song if you’re used to playing with a pick (or vice versa). Learn the most popular song currently playing on the radio. Do something entirely out of character for you musically and watch as the world takes on a different sheen. Stuckness has a hard time hanging around when you’re switching things up so drastically.

3. Take a lesson. Often, one good lesson with a great teacher will completely launch you into a new phase of rapid guitar learning. So, if you’re feeling stuck and you haven’t had a lesson in a while, find a teacher and take a lesson. Failing that, check out a new DVD or guitar website and follow through some new exercises. There is an embarrassment of guitar riches available for us all around. Use them!

4. Do some scales. Nothing can help you refine your technique like scales. These may not be the most fun to play, but if you stick with them every day for a while, and you practice with great attention and focus, you will absolutely notice the difference in your playing. The scales approach is for when you’re really rooted down deep in a stuck period. You may have to fight your way into doing the scales every day for a while, but if you pay close attention, the benefit you’ll see in your playing will fuel further scale practice, and pretty soon you won’t be stuck anymore.

5. Check out some live music. Nothing inspires like watching a truly great musician share their gift. Stay open to different styles of music, and get out and watch as much live music as you can. You’ll be reconnecting to why you wanted to play guitar in the first place–the simple joy of playing and singing and sharing music with the world.

6. Bring back the fun. If you dip too deeply into seriousness around your process of learning how to play the guitar, then it’s easy to feel stuck and unmotivated. Fight against the feeling by bringing back the fun! This means get together with friends and jam, play along with your absolute favorite tunes, take a deep breath and remember that it’s called PLAYING the guitar and just generally chill out and remember how lucky you are to be able to play guitar at all. However you do it, bring the fun back into your journey with the guitar.

7. Perform. How long has it been since you got up in front of people and showed your stuff? It’s easy to feel stuck if you don’t have a clear opportunity to show what you’re working on and experience the delicious give and take that comes with playing for a crowd. From open mics to full gigs, figure out how you can get in front of an audience and make yourself do it. You’ll be amazed how inspired you feel after a session playing out. You’ll remember why it is you’re trying to get better, and you’ll have a clear vision of what you want to be able to do the next time you’re up on stage.

Stuckness isn’t your enemy; it’s really just a clear signal that you need to shake things up in your guitar playing. From learning a new song to working with a teacher, any number of strategies can work to help you bounce out of your current plateau. Mix different strategies and find something that works for you to help abbreviate your stuck phases and maximize your giant leaps on the guitar.

Matt Coffman teaches guitar lessons in Nashville and offers free online guitar lessons through his website http://www.stringloveguitar.com.