New001...
I completely agree with you man!!! Awesome points, awesome insight, and awesome bands you named.
People always get in my car and never understand my playlists. I'll go from NIN to Muse to the Beatles to Dillinger Escape Plan to Motown to Rx Bandits. As a musician (or if you want to be a musician) closeminding yourself will not allow you to be a musician. Look at Eric Clapton (Old school rock, reggae, blues, etc...) You have to atleast get involved with different styles.

One trick (and this goes along with what I said before and maybe I didnt get into detail in what I meant by listening to bands and jamming with them) but what I do is put on my comcast music stations and flip through them to different channels. I'll play along with some blues stuff for a bit and move onto motown stuff to even 50's big band (which not alot had guitar so that's fun) but you have to keep yourself open minded to be a true musician.
I'm sorry but when I was younger I said F... music theory not because I dont think it helps but soooooooo many people put themselves into a box with music theory. MUSIC is soul!! It's emotion and no matter how much you read and how much you learn if you dont have emotion and feeling and heart in your music then what is the point? Watch August Rush a lot of people miss this point. Robin Williams is your musician who doesnt go by the book but plays from emotion and feeling. When August Rush goes to the Music school they teach him music theory and August pushes music theory to being emotion. There's a seen where Robin Williams says they'll suck the emotion out of him and it's sometimes true. I honestly can name 3 people who were awesome at playing and then took music theory and got heavily into it and pow I hate playing with them because everything has to be by the book. August Rush heard the music because he had emotion and put it all together with music theory.

Dont get my wrong I'm NOT saying this happens all the time NOR am I saying Music theory is bad I'm just saying that music is emotion and so if you mix TRUE emotion (being sloppy, not going according to chords progressions, etc...) and mix in music theory to a point then you could kick some butt.

My advice. Try to find the reason why you play... Why you picked up guitar and why you continue wanting to play. If its because you love it and put your heart and emotion into it then never give up. If you play because you want to be famous and get chicks (which I dont think is the case) then sell your stuff because we dont need ANY more of those!

When I get home somedays and I really want to play but when I start to play and cant come up with anything I turn off all the lights except for a small light that literally just puts off a glow and I just get in the mood. Playing live on a stage in front of people brings out emotion and so if I cant find that at home I just make it feel like I'm at a chill mellow show and just jam out.
Not thinking, just hit the record button and feel the emotion. Feel the music flow.

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"All the world's a cage and we are animals knocking on the glass." - ETID