Originally Posted by: bluefoxx

Originally Posted by: JeffS65

Though I've been playing since the early 80's, before I started that final (and successful) time, I had a few prior attempts though with less than ideal guitars. Two things happened when it finally stuck: (1) I had a guitar that wanted me to play it (my first guitar was a Les Paul), and (2) I felt the need to just play. When it 'stuck', it didn't matter if something was difficult or not, I just wanted to play. Even when stuff seemed more challenging, I just didn't care. I enjoyed it whether easy or hard.

Some of that is mindset; not thinking of guitar as 'work' but as something that is to be enjoyed. Even when you're working on hard stuff and not getting that 'thing' you're working on out of the box.

One of the first songs I learned on guitar was Led Zepperlin's 'Black Dog'. It's never been an easy song to play. Truthfully, I didn't think of it as a tough song in as much as it was something I wanted to play so I just stuck to it until I started making it work. Sure, once in a while, I might have used an adult word or two getting the pattern down but never did I think what I was doing was actually work. Even when I was working at it, and not getting it, I still wanted to play.

This kinda sounds like where you're at. If you embrace the fact that you will always be learning on the guitar, it becomes that things that will always keep you engaged. Some stuff will be easy and others...not so much.

Good Luck!!

Thanks JeffS65! What you're saying definitely resonates. Especially the part about the mindset. Learning an instrument is something one can do over a lifetime. Even professionals and legends always have something to improve or learn; and they need frequent practice too.

I think of learning how to play guitar differently now than I did ~13 years ago. It used to feel like a chore to practice and learn things. This time I'm appreciating the slower journey. I understand that there is a need for building strength in my fingers, hand, and muscle memory (you mean I can land all of my fingers in chord formation at once rather than one finger at a time?).

Lastly, I agree that having the right instrument will help inspire us to keep playing on it. As I mentioned, I feel that I have tiny doll hands (obligatory SNL image below).

So when I started learning guitar again, switching from a larger acoustic guitar to a much smaller acoustic guitar (or even to an electric strat guitar) was a very welcome change. It just reduced the challenges that I had to face when starting out, and I feel that I can soon play other guitars now that I've overcome some obstacles (like developing soft calluses, hand/finger strength, and hand flexibility).

Black Dog sounds like a challenging (but fun!) song to learn as one of the first songs to learn. Sounds like the key is to have fun and be inspired to keep going.

Cheers

I love the SNL Dooneese skits! It has that 'I shouldn't be lauching at this' quality. Yet, I do.

Glad you found something that works. Good luck!!