inspiration for playing..

[_tom_]

Nope I tried it for a while then got sick of practising and getting nowhere.. maybe I should try it again sometime though. Can you recommend some good funk bands to check out?

[Underground_Player]

Well I played along with some Parliament stuff for the best part of an hour earlier today (ahem yesterday!) which is pretty fun. It's like a test of stamina as well, 'cos you're playing the same freakin' riff for 5 minutes at a time!
I think it would improve anybody's rhythm playing, 'cos even though the riffs are quite basic, you've got to nail it over and over perfectly, and by the end you're totally zoned in.
  PDT_027
To be honest I can't see how anyone could just sit down and listen to funk, you've either got to dance to it or play to it.......if you're up for doing either of the above _tom_ then Parliament get my vote!

[donovan.x]

Chic...(I think thats how its spelled)and belive it or not "Stayin alive" is a killer riff to nail and sounds awsome if you chuck in some percusive attacks on the strings between notes. As for sweep picking, there is a really good instructional video by Marc Seal on ultimateguitar.com, its a pick and grin "Steal this video" special and it explains it perfectly. Good luck, sometimes you just need something exciting to bring it back.....also for me chopping gear and playing new guitars/amps helps.
The rythm guitar on rappers delight buy the Sugar hill gang is a fantastic piece to learn very groove orientated and I think that was a Chic riff.

[Searcher]

Something I've been doing recently is going to the iTunes shop and listening to the clips of songs there.  Then I work them out on the guitar.  It's  good ear training stuff, though most of the songs are quite basic, four chord jobs.

It's good for those moment when someone spots you with a guitar and says play me something!  Cause these are the kinda songs they're gonna wanna hear and I don't really listen to the radio and I certainly don't buy the CDs.