New guitar player for the billionth time.

This instrument frustrates me so much sometimes. I love the stupid thing and the sounds that can come out of it, but I never manage to wrap my head around it completely. Which makes it worse because I am a gear-ophile. Recent life changes have left me really wanting to learn this time completely. I am not used to things being hard for me to learn and the guitar is one of those items apparently. I get some of the theory and I read music, although not as well as I used to. Let me rephrase I read notes, was a trumpet player, so chords and other items are Greek to me. No idea why I am writing all this other than to vent and well those life events mean I am single so no one here to vent to. For musical reference I am looking to someday play some classic rock and rock and metal rhythm guitar. Lead is fine but those hard driving riffs are what made me want to play. So anyway nuff about that thanks for reading.

Hi. I think you speak for a lot of people there. The desire to play is strong but it's hard to achieve and takes lots of time (for everybody!). I've somehow managed to make some progress in the last year (through GT and Hal Leonard and other books) and I'm really pleased with that. One day I might just be able to walk the walk and play half decently, which is my main aim :)

Have fun though because if you get too overwhelmed it can spoil a beautiful thing!

I can relate to the frustration of guitar. I was a sax player for 8 years so, although I can read music, the set up of guitar is much different. For me it is looking to make weekly incremental improvements. Being older I don't really have any goal in mind other than playing something that sounds good (although I still have dreams of playing in a band in front of people!).

Of course, everyone's measure of improvement is different. For me, getting around the C, G D, A, Am, E, F chords is success so far as so many songs are based off of those basic chords. But to someone else, that's kindergarten stuff.

I can relate to you guys, been playing like 2 and a half years now and i do feel like I'm stuck in the box. I do know lots of chords and some theory, I even help persons who play much better than I do with scales and chords, but I just can't seem to play by ear no matter how hard I try and it really gets to me.

I try to remain positive and it helps. Now my focus is on reading notes and I see improvements.

But with GT in 2 days already I'm a bit better and can only improve, i love it. With GT anyone can learn. Just keep at it, take it slow and lets all tell ourselves that guitar playing like the pros is going to happen.

Wilcon - we speak the same language!! The frustration can drive me nuts sometimes! But its because I expect a result straight away, and when it doesn't happen I hate it!!! With two children, a husband, dogs, turkeys, chickens and everyday hassles, its sometimes hard to find enough time to practice. Being left alone to get on with it can be nigh on impossible too!! But then, almost out of the blue, something I've been struggling with just happens! Without me trying too hard, usually - now thats a great feeling. Makes up for all the tough times!! :) :)
The 9" of snow we are under here in England is a great excuse for more guitar time!!! :)

Understanding more and more. Feel like I need to live up to my gear at this point. I know exactly what I want to sound like at least.

Originally Posted by: happyjuicegirl But then, almost out of the blue, something I've been struggling with just happens! Without me trying too hard, usually - now thats a great feeling.

I have experienced this often. Usually I will start working on a particular song and I am barely able to make it sound like it should. So I leave it and often not even think about it again. Several days or even a week+ later I will try it again and things seem to fall into place.

I have subscribed here for just over one year and some of the things that seemed impossible when I started (Open D chord was the first real challenge) are getting easier even if they are not quite automatic,,,, yet.

I've read through most of the postings here and it's clear that most of you are, or often get frustrated because you're not progressing as quickly as you'd like. Well I, then, find myself in good company because I end up there myself quite often.

But you know what? After reading through all of these discouraging messages, I actually find myself somewhat encouraged. Not because I'm happy about your struggles but because it shows all of us that none of us are any more deficient than everyone else.

As much as I hate to say it, the old adage "misery loves company" seems kind of applicable for all of us. There have been many times that I thought that I just totally suck and I should give it up. Seeing that I'm not alone encourages me because I realize that it's not a huge challenge just for me, but a huge challenge for everyone else too.

So... I encourage all of you to consider this and just keep on trying; that's what I'm going to do. One of these days we'll start a new thread named something like "Remember how we used to suck? Just listen to us now!"

Thanks for the encouragement everyone. :)

I agree. I feel better knowing I am not the only one who wants to learn faster and doesn't as fast I think I should. I will look forward to the "Hey look at me now thread."

Me too! I'm still a newbie, so it may take some time....!! ;)

Dunno. I was messing with basic power chords today and just strumming around what sounded good. Was a good feeling to hear something like music. I also got a vintage 70's Randall amp that made an improvement. It sounds warmer and nicer than the little Line 6 amp. It sounds like what's in my head more.