A struggling musician once said that the road to becoming great in any element in life takes 3 things: patience, consistancy and passion. As a musician I undersatnd that it's not easy to become the best at what you do. When I first started it was a struggle because there is no one to help you. There is one thing that I definately take away from that musician is that persistance definately pays off. Way back when music was just starting off there were no support systems in place. Now in 2011, it's about taking your skills to another level. Here is my advice to any musician who is stuck in that rut:
1) Ask for belp when needed
One the things is that sometimes as a musician we don't like to ask for help because we thing we know all the fancy chords or the slickest runs. The truth is that if you want to grow as a musician you need to be open to the different areas of support that is out there. This may be shed sessions or in other terms (jam sessions here in North America), seminars or just taking lessons from a friend.
2) Ask yourself what can I do differently to become better?
Sometimes the answers may lie within yourself whether it may be you having problems with whats gping on around you. The best remedy may be to just take a break if you are stuck in a rut we musician's call it a "music roadblock". The key is find your focus and remember what brought you to where yo are today being a great musician. Finding your passion and fire will get you out of this rut.
3) How can I challenge myself?
Sometimes, it gets boring playing the same style over and over again. You need to challenge yourself by stepping outside of your comfort. Find things that you can do as a musician to challenge yourself. This can be in the form over playing new music, creating music styles such as techno, jazz, fusion. This is all left up to your creativity and your imagination.
Becoming a successful musician is not an easy task to do. However, if you ask yourself these questions and ideas. You will definately be on your way to becoming the next great musician.