Hi, I am a full grown adult trying to learn guitar(40). I’ve been playing about an hour most days for about 8 months now and very little before that. My goal is to be able to play a bit of bluegrass with my friends.
im working on the country strumming course. I made it through the Willie Nelson’s and Randi Travis but on lessons 4&5 the patterns are taking me a long time to pick up. My question is should I just grind it out until I get it or should I stick with the more simple stuff for a while. Just getting a bit frustrated with the progress which I’m guessing some of you have pushed through?
some people pick things certain things up quicker than others. Some of the lessons will be easier than others. I have been playing for 20+ years and there is still tons of stuff that i just have to keep trying over and over. The key is to not get discouraged and quit. I know a ton of people that tell me they have a guitar and some day are going to learn to play it. I always tell then to start by learning a couple of chords and then expand from there.
@rinny51 sounds like good advice. Not sure why it took me so long actually to pick it up... maybe that I just never had a good place to practice (which I do now). Plus splurging on a Martin for my 40th helped the motivation :).
Don't have any good advice but I am in the same boat. Been playing for a couple of years and get very discouraged because it takes so long to pick up on just one lesson. Just wanted to chime in that your not the only one.
I came to the conclusion that I don't have any natural talent so the grind is all I have 🙂 I have to remember that it is the journey and not the destination.
I try to enjoy the small accomplishments. What I find interesting is over some time, when I go back to the first lesson (which seemed so hard at the time), that lesson has become easier for me to play, thus I have grown and may not have not have even realized it. And in this I find as you mentioned Darryl that I am on a journey.
Enhancing your guitar skills is a marathon not a sprint.
As you put in the time it will come. I can promise you that.
If you haven’t done so already you may want to take your guitar in
to a tech at a local guitar store or luthier and have them lower the action.
It will make playing a lot easier for you.
Just remember everyone is at a different stage in learning. You will see a lot of people making it look easy. Some got there quickly others had to grind it out, but they all stuck with it and got there.
I have been working on the strumming course also along with local private lessons for about the same amount of time. It takes a lot of repetition on some of the techniques before becoming comfortable. One of the best things I started doing to stay motivated and focused is to start attending a local open jam. Playing with others, especially others that are better players than you are helps give you something to strive for and keep your interest up. I have been lucky in that everyone at the local jam have been very helpful and welcoming. I have been trying to learn guitar off and on for many years, and I noticed the biggest improvement in my playing when I started playing with others.
you are right!
I have to go over the same lesson several times, too, and to try and memorize large chunks of music is really difficult for me. But, you know, just gotta keep working at it.
I go back and warm up using stuff I learned in previous lessons. That’s how I try to get it to stick.
something that is really helpful for me is to break the song into parts, basically unpacking it by measures and then I grind it out For about an hour straight until muscle memory takes over and I feel really good and confident playing it. I usually unpack it 4 measures at a time then move on to the next set of measures. Sometimes I’ll take a couple Maybe three days on 8 measures to where it feels like butter when I play it and then I’ll move on.
Playing guitar - like many other things in life - can sometimes feel like a Sisyphean pursuit.
Those familiar with Greek mythology (and the Albert Camus interpretation) will know Sisyphus as the poor fellow whose fate it was to ceaselessly roll a large rock up a hill for eternity, only to watch it roll back down again. Having scaled the heights after much toil, he experiences a fleeting moment of achievement and satisfaction before the wretched thing rolls back down again, forcing him to start afresh.
I sometimes think of Sisyphus when i'm learning a new lick of Devins. It's a struggle at first, but once you get it, there's a brief epiphany followed by a return to the bottom of the proverbial hill as you move on to the next one.
Camus observed that once Sisyphus accepts his fate he finds contentment. Perhaps even happiness! 😉
