I agree with the other dudes - you need to find a tune you want to be able to play and go learn it. It'll be inspiration in itself. The first song I learnt after the open chords strumming along type stuff was 'Stairway to Heaven'. I considered it a right of passage for a guitar player, and it isn't as hard as you might imagine. Fair enough, the solo might be a bit much but the rest will help you with your chord knowledge and your overall technique. It also give you the ability to repell sales staff in music shops... :D

Earthman, if your notes are buzzing play open strings - maybe 'Nothing Else Matters' by Metallica intro or similar - might help you get back in to it. I'm a big believer in self fulfilling prophecies - if you pick up a guitar expecting it to go bad, you increase the likelihood that it will.

Polansky, look for a book called 'Chord Chemistry'.... it really helped me back in the day - it'll have you understanding some of the theory but by playing chords rather than having to use a ton of brain power (and the focus here is on the chords, the theory is a nice bonus)... learning can actually be fun :eek: Keep up the drumming as well - having a good grasp of time will help you massively once you get over the hurdles you currently face.

I don't know if it helps you guys at all, but we've all been through this, and we've all come out the other side. It's like everything else, if you want it enough, it'll happen. I've been playing for 20 years, and although my hurdles are different to yours, I still have them.

The best advice I can give as a teacher is, if you're taking lessons and not progressing as you wish, you either need to have another word with your teacher to get him on track, or find another teacher. As Mark has said, the teacher should be taking you where YOU want to go.