done

Been at this for 5 months and am seeing no improvement what so ever. Go back and forth trying to change to different chords and still always stop and fumble to get it right. I would think after this long something would be getting better but it's not. Seen online that everyone can learn to play guitar but I don't think that is true what so ever. I think some people just have to say that's for the other guy. I think by now I would be able to play a simple song and keep up with Lisa on "begin again" but she leaves me in the dust and I just keep fumbling. I find Myself now just getting frustrated and mad and have seen online that if your not having fun with it you probably should stop. I have always admired anyone who can play guitar and wished I could play like they do.So I practiced almost three hours a night non stop for 5 months and have now decided I suck and it's time to throw in the towel. game over. I would like to thank Lisa for her time and lessons and also Mike. At least I know I can give my guitar to my grandson and it won't go to waste. best of luck to everyone.

Originally Posted by: danaandkim

Been at this for 5 months and am seeing no improvement what so ever. Go back and forth trying to change to different chords and still always stop and fumble to get it right. I would think after this long something would be getting better but it's not. Seen online that everyone can learn to play guitar but I don't think that is true what so ever. I think some people just have to say that's for the other guy. I think by now I would be able to play a simple song and keep up with Lisa on "begin again" but she leaves me in the dust and I just keep fumbling. I find Myself now just getting frustrated and mad and have seen online that if your not having fun with it you probably should stop. I have always admired anyone who can play guitar and wished I could play like they do.So I practiced almost three hours a night non stop for 5 months and have now decided I suck and it's time to throw in the towel. game over. I would like to thank Lisa for her time and lessons and also Mike. At least I know I can give my guitar to my grandson and it won't go to waste. best of luck to everyone.

If you choose to come back to this thread, I wanted to share a thought; slow down. Go very, very slow.

I'd be willing to guess that you might be thinking; 'well, I already am going slow'. And I'd grant you that. But I'm not sure that from your post, that's what I'm getting.

From your post, you did tell us that you were practicing often and for long hours. That is great and shows dedication. That is awesome and many people will never even get to the point of trying that hard.

My observation is more about how you're practicing. This gets to the point of slowing down. You said you're trying to play along with Lisa and keep up. Eventually we all want to keep up to something we're learning. It may take a very long time to get there or no time at all.

I little life motto I have is; if you've failed 9 out of 10 times, you've succeeded. The first 9 times only taught me what I did wrong.

Thus my observation, don't try to keep up with Lisa. Don't keep up with anyone for that matter.

If you aren't quite to the point where you can play along with at song at speed, so be it. Work on only one chord change until you get that. Then go to the next and so on. For example, if you have a song part that is Am-D-G. Practice the Am to D change. Only that change. Do it really slow. Get used to your fingers going to that place. I'd say just to drill on that. Once you feel like it is a little comfortable. Then do the D to G change. Do the same until that feels ok. Then string them together. Key here is to get down only one thing at a time and do it slowly.

In posts I've made to similar questions recently, I give an example of a song that I'm learning. I've been playing for 30+ years and am a solid player (played in bands yadda yadda). Like many guitarists, I skipped things I didn't want to do at the time. I was in to metal so I never learned 'strummy songs'. Major weakness. Both in the type of chords, chord changes and strum patterns. Strum patterns I'm ok with. But some songs do have funky chord changes.

The most, most recent example is Frampton's 'Show Me the Way'. The opening chords of the main strummed rhythm is a brain teaser for me. Without going in to long detailed chord description, the 1st chord that is simple to fret as a D in the 7th position. But, the second chord (C#) only requires me dropping one fret from my ring to my middle finger. Neither finger wants to cooperate for this little chord change. One finger! My middle finger wants to lift, not the ring.

So, I go slow and I've been playing for decades! It happens.

So, there's that. Food for thought.

I completely agree with Jeff. I heard Lisa recommend you stick to one thing and try to master that. Just one thing. It could be a chord change, or chord progression, or maybe even a song. Regardless, choose one thing and try to master it.

I tried that, and at first it feels you're just falling behind on all the course content since you're just sticking to one thing. It feels you're just doing exactly the same thing every single day while others are doing something else or far more advanced. Well, once you overcome that feeling and stick to your goal of mastering something, good stuff starts to happen. All of a sudden you can do something really well with your guitar, regardless of what that is and how minute it may seem in the whole realm of playing a guitar. The important thing is you CAN do something really well (almost to perfection) with your guitar. The takeaway....you can indeed play the guitar and can now move to the next mastering goal. To my surprise, once I was able to sort of master one thing, the next step seemed to be a bit easier, or at least not as daunting.

One thing which helped me overcome this "I'm falling behind" feeling was to continue watching lessons, even if I only were so-so with keeping up with a song or a strumming pattern. That helped me "stay" on track (at least psychologically since there's no real timeline to learn each concept). I could always go back to lessons and "master" concepts.

I hope this helps you reconsider your position and come back to this wonderful world of music. Time is relative, and each of us have a right time for everything. We're unique in every way, and things will happen for you at the right time.

I am so sorry to hear of your frustration, and I do think I understand.

It is SO challenging and difficult to pursue our interest in learning to play, without falling into comparisons and ‘shoulds’ and getting discouraged.

Learning to play is a preciously personal process - it will be a different experience for every single person who takes it on.

Dont let anyone else (or what you might imagine others would think or say about you) clutter the scene if you can possibly help it.

Ads go on about who can and should do this and that, but they are ads. They don’t know you personally.

Take a break if you need a breather, but when you come back, try your very best to ignore outside expectations of what your experience should be.

This is about you and joy - and nothing else.

All best wishes, Lisa

Well, here's a question- Do you want to play guitar? Here's another question- Are you preparing for a world tour? Don't mean to sound sarcastic, but here's my two cents. If you want to play guitar, then play it. Stupid sentence, right? Well, not really. If you really want to play, then take Lisa's course over. This time, like the others above have said, take it slowwwww! Remember, you "want" to play. You don't have to play. Do not put a timetable on yourself. Wear out the loop buttons. Take one bit of one lesson at a time. Don't look forward. Your goal is to conquer very small goals at a time. Also, three hours a day for a beginner may be excessive. When you have enough background to start playing regular songs, you may want to extend your practice sessions. But now you are trying to build fundamentals, which at time could prove a bit boring. You and your body and your mind works less and less efficient after minutes, not hours. Cut your time down to maybe 30 minutes of less. Take it up again later in the day if you want. As to the second question about the world tour- yes, there are people that pick up an instrument and can just play better than most. But most of us have to be drilled into learning stuff. I can guess that you will never perform with the likes of Clapton. If you don't, then your goal is to practice in short bursts and try to repeat slowly the things that give you problems. The only one to impress is you. It's hard, this guitar thing. Don't get frustrated. Enjoy the learning. Just Enjoy!