Inspiration comes in many forms. For myself, it sometimes comes on in waves. It's not always there and occasionally I feel like things take a dip until something else comes along and inspires me to try harder to better myself.
A few years ago I remember telling a few people that by the time I reached 25 I wanted to be able to look back and see that I'd given things a good go. That I'd tried to be the best guitarist that I could possibly be. I see now that perhaps I was initially a little naive in my thinking.
Every day I can try a little harder to be the best I can be. Every day I can try to cop the tone of a favoured guitarist or a lick from a legend. There's always more knowledge to be gained and more experimentation of how to apply all of the things you've learned to develop your own style.
So what is it that inspires me? Almost everything. I try to look beyond things at face value and try to take something away from it that can inspire me as a guitarist.
I look at other people, bands, artists, photographers, illustrators, sports teams, athletes, engineers, companies etc. and I see their desire to be great and to try harder and to better themselves and that inspires me to try and achieve the same thing with my playing. I listen to other musicians and try to work out not only what they played but why they played it. I ask myself the question 'what if I try this?' A LOT when it comes to playing guitar and as a result I feel much less scared to try new things.
Whilst all of this inspires me, the thing that inspires me most is the feeling I have within me that I've got more to give and perhaps I'm just getting started. I feel like I have the potential to be a better player than I am and that drives me to keep going.
All of this coupled with a completely positive attitude is what makes me the player I am today.
I hope that from reading this you can take a little inspiration and perhaps look in other places that you may not have considered before to find your own inspiration. There are no rules.
