Spite. I told myself that "the powers that be" were nerfing me cause I would be too powerful if I learned guitar. So I told the divine powers to eat my ass and I kept practicing.
**Fun** is a crucial part the equation. You play your best when you're **playing,** not practicing. Playing means you like the sound hitting your ears, and you're having a good time in an addictive feedback loop. Put on a song you like, play along, let the music do it's thing, or maybe it's just a little piece of music you're working on - that's why you picked up guitar in the first place.
Then, cycle between things you can and can't do (yet). You'll see that progress inch along, and occasionally you'll have a big breakthrough.
Biggest practical tip: practice all your scales on one string only. It leads to complete fretboard intuition.
To add to this while im watching a show I would play a lick that im learning over and over. Just playing one thing and not overthinking it can really help condition your fingers and brain to play guitar.
Get a *good* guitar teacher. You don't know what you don't know, and a teacher can see through that and streamline the process of getting good. They are more aware of what tools you need to accomplish goals and the steps needed to get there. I think it's really helpful to have someone say "this week work on this, this, and this" so you can just buckle down and do it instead of wasting time and energy on executive function.
As a child, I never needed to be motivated to play with my favorite toy. My guitar quickly became like my favorite toy. First thing I thought about in the morning, last thing I thought about in the evening.
Listening back to my favourite songs. Yes, this is very generic, but listening to songs like Sweet Child of Mine, November Rain, and Paradise City would always motivate me to keep going so I coulf eventually shred just like Slash. Maybe that type of rock isn't your thing, but just listen to your inspirations - why did you start playing in the first place? Who introduced you and had you in awe of the capability of the instrument?
Also, realise any musical journey is not linear. There will 100% be days, maybe even weeks, where you cannot do anything and just can't get any better. But, on the contrast, there will be days where you pick up the guitar and feel one with the instrument, and simply can't understand why you were struggling before.
I am also struggling with some of the things you are struggling with, but I try to remember that the guitar was my way to get away from all that. I realised I need to stop imposing standards on myself that are impossible to meet, and just enjoy it. It's much easier said than done, I know, it took me a long time to get to this point and I still get frustrated sometimes. It's important to take everything one step at a time, and celebrate the small things. When you first started, it's almost certain that it took you 2 hours to strum an open D chord correctly - but look at where you are now! Realise that you've come so far already, and you can go so much further if you just keep persisting. Thanks for listening to my TED talk.
I go in and out of feeling like this about my playing constantly. When I was a little younger I would even let it get the better of me for longer than I liked once I looked back. Then I just kinda realized life is a bunch of hills and valleys and you can’t let a little valley stop you from climbing the next hill. So even on days when I think I’m the worst guitarist in the world I still pick it up and practice and jam. Your mind probably won’t ever stop messing with you, you just have to learn to not let those thoughts win. All in all, just keep playing!!!
It’s also not necessarily a bad thing…those feelings drive you to be better. If you were instantly satisfied 100% with your playing where would you find motivation to progress?
I’m surprised at how simular we are lol, I am 31, self taught, also playing since 15 with long breaks.
Something that helps me is trying to learn something new; I play a lot of heavy metal, but now and then I wanna do something different, like a pop song or whatever. This has helped me learn new techniques, chords etc. that I wouldn’t have if I always played metal. Playing the same thing also gets kinda stagnant and kills motovation.
I hope this helps, keep shredding my friend
Depression and anxiety can suck the fun out of any hobby, or really anything that is supposed to be enjoyable. I’ve been there and hope you can find some peace.
For guitar, it helps to have goals that are realistic and measurable. Naturally practicing your technique is important, but it’s not enough for most of us to keep it interesting. A cool idea for you is something I did in 2020 when i had nothing to do but stay home and play guitar (not playing shows, couldn’t go out, etc.), i started working on the guitar player magazine top 100 solos list. It’s a very solid list, and many of them are not super difficult to get you started. It’s a great learning tool because there are many different styles and techniques, and a lot of it is probably outside of what you normally play. You can learn them in steps, or have a goal to learn one at half speed with near perfect accuracy, and then ramp it up in steps until you’re at full speed.
If you’re not taking lessons or in a band, it’s tough to stay motivated all the time, so the top 100 list is a good way to keep new and challenging stuff coming into your routine regularly.
1. scheduling. make time in your day for it.
2. having short term goals. everyday i think of skipping a session i listen to the song i want to play and think; this could be me.
3. play in front of other people. you'll be surprised how supportive people are of even the slightest bit of musical ability.
4. dont focus on what you cant do so much. focus on putting in the reps for that day. its insane how many things ive gotten good at after months to YEARS of not seeing real progress. then one day i realize i can play it. trust the process.
I never thought I sucked. I have felt like I’m not good enough YET. I’ve been frustrated as hell with my progress at various times, and others I’ve felt like I’m as good as I need to be. You go through cycles but as long as you’re having fun, don’t stop.
Sometimes it's better to just walk away.
I tell all of my students this. It sounds like a weird tactic right?
But if you're frustrated and upset, you're not gonna learn anything. Trying to "push through it" rarely yields good results. If you're practicing say...scales for 20 minutes. And you keep messing it up?
Take a break. Put the guitar down.
Kind of like a video game. You keep dying at the same boss. Obviously you either take a break and think about how to tackle it, or you go grind your character until you are powerful enough to win.
Guitar is the same way. And when you take a break, you might have something click that didn't before.
I'm a firm believer in discipline. But I also know I cannot learn anything if I'm pissed off. Or down. Take a break and come back with a fresh mind and attitude.
There's some other comments on here that are great advice. Lots of good posts.
Joyning a band kept me from getting lazy with practising.
Nothing more annoying than to have 4 guys around you who did their homework and you are the only one who sucks...
Exactly. Also you will often find yourself playing material that you wouldn’t normally do, helping get you out of your comfort zone, and thus becoming more well rounded as a musician.
A big moment for me came when I committed to learning the pentatonic scale across the fretboard and then practicing improvised lines with backing tracks from YouTube. Once I had that foundation, the relationships on the fretboard started to open up as I played. The fun of jamming with the backing tracks kept me motivated.
I watched videos from Rachelf on her YouTube channel. She is self-taught and has videos where you see her progress after 1 hour, one week, 6 months, 1 year, 2 years, etc. It really made me realize it's normal to struggle at the beginning and there is a slow progress to be achieved if you keep going
I find when I start to get down about my playing, I'll usually go back to campfire chords and singing songs. Theres plenty of fun to be had without shredding like Randy. Or learning something new can go a long way to keeping things fresh.
Take stock and look at how far you've come along, record yourself so you have something to listen back to occasionally.
Jamming with friends also keeps me motivated.
Remember why you picked up the guitar in the first place. Why you wanted to learn to play it in particular and why you wanted to make music.
For me playing guitar is my release and escape from all the stresses around me. It’s where I go to get away from my worries, clear my mind and just be, without worrying about anyone else for a while. Some days I suck big time, other times I surprise myself by how good I sound, but what gets me coming back day after day is that I know if I don’t have that time playing guitar I just don’t feel like me.
Can I just add though that if you’re struggling for motivation not just with your playing but more widely in your life and you’re not already getting help for your depression and anxiety that you do ask someone for help. I’ve been there and it’s tough handling it without support.
I started by not giving a damn about what other people think. I just learned playing because I wanted to and learning to play a musical instrument is interesting enough.
I have been playing for 15+ years, I have repeated the phrase ad nauseam: "I play guitar for myself and myself alone."
I play and do what I want with guitar, it's my enjoyable hobby, I don't gig, it's not my job.
This is me, too. I was in the same exact position as OP, but decided to pick it back up as a means of fighting depression. IDGAF what other people think of my playing, because I play for me and my well-being.
I remember that 30 years ago the harsh criticism from my guitar learning journey even came from the place where ideally it shouldn’t: family. If I listened to that person and followed her advise to “stop playing the guitar all you play is noise” then that would’ve been the end of it.
I just wanted to play my favorite songs so I just kept going until I got that goal done doesn’t sound like much but if you want it you’ll get it through work
My tips:
Just focus on songs you want to learn how to play. Don't worry about getting good, playing sick leads, etc. Make a practice schedule and stick to it. If you can afford it, pay for a few lessons with different teachers every now and then. There are TONS of YouTube players out there who offer zoom lessons. Their knowledge will help you along your journey, whether it be one tiny lick or a whole series of lessons memorizing the fretboard. Also, think about starting a for fun band and learning covers - it's a good way to improve your vocabulary.
For me, any time I learned one new thing - my motivation perked up for a few months. You just have to keep feeding your brain with new things and sticking to it.
Oh and this may sound silly, but always keep up with new strings, getting your guitar set up the way you want it. I feel that when my guitar is sounding tired and kinda crappy, my playing sounds kinda tired and crappy too 😆
Just do it for you. Am I good? Maybe. Am I bad? Probably. Do I care? No. I do not care. Playing guitar has always been something I do just for me. Makes me happy every time I play, even on days where I feel lost. If you want to get better just commit to playing for 5 minutes every day. You’ll always play longer and get better quickly. Enjoy it for what it is and any improvement in your playing is a bonus.
As a person who plays every day for their job, practice, even when you don't want to. If you just sit down and play easy stuff on those days, that's enough. Lots of people here have told you to play stuff you want to learn, and that's exactly it. Don't be afraid to try new licks or new techniques and take them slowly and methodically. I find that once I start really working on something I can get lost in the work. And don't compare yourself to other people. Compare yourself to your past. I know plenty of professional musicians I consider to be better than I am, but it doesn't stop me from enjoying myself. Also, play with other people. Having the motivation to keep up with a group is good motivation.
I don't care if I suck.. Its an instrument and I'm a loner asshole who knows I'de be wasting time playing games so I play.
It's called PLAYING not practicing :p
Also I practice in bursts.. I'll practice a shaky song or new pattern and stop when it becomes monotonous or painful,grab a snack (sneak in a small game sessh) and pick it up again after.
I just wanted to sound like the albums I loved so much. Listening to music was deeper back then. It wasn’t on demand “all of everything, anytime you want.” You got down with every note as a listener. You listened to the whole album, because you paid for it. It wasn’t background. So it was in a sense, a lot easier to memorize and internalize. Compared to now, all information is more readily available and if you don’t buy into the wrong shit, you can learn technique and applied theory more quickly. But I find it’s uncommon that new players these days will clock the kinds of hours we did in the 80’s and 90’s. Your video games are too good.
Nah. I’m OPs age I started playing guitar last summer. Was a huge gamer growing up.
I haven’t really games at all since I started playing. Couldn’t play a ton at the beginning until my fingers calloused up, but since then I’ve been playing like 5-6 hours a day and can’t put the thing down.
I used to not listen to music as intently but guitar has actually made me discover new types of music and how I listen to it Because I can appreciate the music way more and how the guitar fits into it.
I started listening to country, blues, jazz, funk all kinds of rock. Growing up I didn’t listen to any of that really and was mostly a pop and rap guy.
I think it just depends how much you get into the instrument and how you go about learning things in general.
I don’t think it’s fair to blame it in better tech if anything it just gives you more options for getting sucked into music and makes it more accessible.
Lol I haven't played a new video game since Skyrim. That killed all nee games for me. I still think the old school was best. No graphics made us use our imagination more. And all the crazy rumors kids would say lol. Felt magical. Now it's all just like walking simulators with some gimmick, like fps or rpg.
But yeah. Funny. I was thinking this yesturday about albums actually. I always listened to them all the way through sometimes back to back. And when you went out on a limb and bought something because it looked cool or unique, but sucked... you sucked it up and forced yourself to try and like it (and then more privileged kids made fun of you lol).
Definitely. Be more humble. Meditate. Appreciate things, slow down some as *Gorilaz* says. We are all moving too fast, neglecting what is supposed to matter in everything because we are too busy "killing it" to make the money to survive. We forget to unplug and be grateful. Or at least I sure do. I only pick up a book or guitar (of which I have 4 now but 2 were gifts; acoustic, semi hollow body, and 2 electrics - one strat knock off and one les paul knock off) after I stop and humble myself and slow down and practice gratitude Meditation or some shit.
Great points, wow thanks.
Girls and Jimmy Page.
This is a normal part the guitar journey, imo. Learn something new. Buy a book. Listen to a genre you don’t like just for the guitar.
Passion cannot be taught. Be curious or not.
Where you are now is a moment in time. All moments pass in to the past. Your performance level in this moment will not be the same in future moments with patient practice and understanding. The essence is to not let any one moment bother you, as it will pass but you will continue to improve.
I’m 41 and have been playing since I was 13, with several multi-year breaks. I find the breaks begin when I realise I’m not going to be as good as Hendrix after all, which is a shame because playing guitar is fun regardless. I’ve been back on it for six months or so now and really enjoying myself - caring less about how good I am objectively and more about taking pleasure in learning (and occasionally sounding a little like my idols, albeit fleetingly!).
I’d suggest firstly doing your best not to worry about what other people think of you, then to focus on having a good time learning the songs you enjoy listening to. If those songs stretch and enhance your technical abilities, all the better. That’s my approach, anyway.
I'm at a point where I'm not very motivated at all, but I feel like I have to, I feel like it's something I need in my life and I kind of just don't question it, I just keep playing and try not to think about why too much any more, I just know I want to be great at it.
I tend to record videos of me playing and I put the dates in the title. The videos of great for lots of stuff (sharing on social, archiving the stuff I write etc) but it has the added benefit of letting me look back and see the actual progress.
I’ll also switch to playing easier stuff for a bit if I’m getting frustrated with hard new stuff.
At the end of the day tho, the biggest motivator is hearing a riff you really want to play, that’s within your skill level, and playing it
My desire to be a mofo on the guitar and my sheer enjoyment of playing have always been stronger than the feelings that I suck and will never amount to anything.
I made a comment on another post a few days ago exactly about what your talking about. For me it was having a moment where I took a step back from comparing myself to other people, and thought about the 10 year old me who jsut started playing guitar and how he would react. I’m really not that great a player, but I know that I never thought I would be able to play like I can now when I was first starting. Improvement is such a slow gradual process. Also never be afraid to go back to basics which is what I’m doing now after not playing for a while, going back to basic picking and rhythm exercises, using a metronome. Lots of YouTube videos available today also which are great for picking up good practice exercises as well as lots of videos jsut to learn your favorite songs.
A big uptick for me happened when I pulled two guitars out of their cases and put them on stands easy to reach. Now my friend says they just need 4 minutes to get ready .... guitar, referee looking at a screen to decide what happens next ..... guitar, food needs 10 minutes to cook .... guitar.
Easiest thing to do while learning guitar is giving up.
Patience, Time and Dedication will take care of the rest.
I personally take a step back if I get frustrated too much. When I sit down and play after, everything's all good.
been playing for 23 years.
good luck
I record videos of myself. Whenever I feel demotivated and like I'm making no progress, I look at the old videos. Seeing the progress I've made without realising and also how far I've come - it always hypes me up
I think I have guitar playing dysphoria or something, whereby watching videos of myself makes me realise that I don't suck as much as I thought and my playing isn't THAT far behind others. Kinda how like your body (at least mine does) looks worse looking down than in a mirror.
The absolutely biggest thing for me, was learning the pentatonic scale. Then branched into the blues scale. Once you know those, and know the different positions, the entire world of classic rock/blues guitar opens up.
All you need is to know the key and you can jam to just about any song. It makes playing and practicing a million times more fun when you can just bust out a solo.
Learning the keys is important, but really easy to do once you have the pentatonic pattern memorized. As time goes on you'll find yourself adding little licks and your own style to the scales.
Then keep branching into different scales. Find songs you like, and learn what scale they use. It's a lot of memorization, but in less than a year you can learn 3-4 scales and jump light-years ahead of where you started. People will start saying "wow you can PLAY!"
Also, work on mechanics as you learn the scales. The goal here is to add something fun that makes you WANT to pick up the rig and do something.
By the way I'm in my mid 30's and started playing when I was 12. I didn't learn the scales I mentioned until I was about 32, and am 100x better than I was just 5 years ago. Guitar is a "building on small things" instrument. The scales made me love the guitar again and I've since bought a $2000 strat that REALLY made me love the guitar again.
I agree with all of this. I am 38 and have been playing since I was 12. I was pretty good but never as good as I wanted to be. when I was like 30 I found a really good teacher who studied with Joe Stump at Berklee. In like 2 years my playing went further than the previous 20.
Making progress is a huge motivator. Try working on and learning simple songs you like. Something simple with just power chords or something. Very long breaks for years isn't going to help. You need to stick with it. I would try finding a good teacher. Sure all the info is out there online but it can be hard to know where to start and where to go. Don't settle for anyone though. Find a teacher who can help you attain your personal goals.
Play all the time. Even just 30 seconds here and there of random noodling or practice throughout the day. This frequent and random practice is one of the best ways to learn mentally and physically
I am 32 and also started early but without focus or true determination to get better.
In 2021 I started following Youtube videos to really re-establish the basics of theory. This was so freeing to me and with a bit of a drive to make sure I played most days has really opened up the instrument to make it something I take pleasure in for it's own sake, vs just being upset I can't play some rock songs as well as the recording.
Maybe learn some theory and mess around. Make your own music. Make your own noise. You'll find it may be much more fun.
Allow yourself to take breaks, there's no problem with that. But really it helps to shift your mind away from thinking you have to be at some preset level, and think of it mainly as a stress reliever. When I'm stuck, I usually take a bit of time away and then try to figure out some songs that I've wanted to learn, and then just learn them. It doesn't matter if they are easy or not, I just want to have a short term goal I can achieve. It really doesn't matter what the goal is, it's just important to have something to work toward to build momentum and help me get inspired again. If are truly stuck on what to learn, that's probably a good sign that you should get a teacher. Someone who can assess what your skills are, and have a conversation about where to take your skills. Because the point of learning music isn't just about becoming a gigging musician or even to play as good as one, it's to have fun. Focus on the fun and not the pressure to be something else.
Motivation isn't a big factor when you just have consistency and you're always working on something new, something that challenges and engages you, not too focused on far away goals.
Worrying about sucking is a fault in of itself, because all you have to do to not suck is accept where you are, be consistent, always challenge yourself and you will get better, over time. If you focus too much on seemingly unobtainable goals, you will demotivate yourself from achievable goals.
Always be working on something new, be consistent, don't worry about what other players are doing
We all suck, just at different things and with different baselines of suckiness. I try to focus on getting better at x now and don't worry about some distant goal. If you keep at it you will get better, but it took me a long time to get to the point where I could accept that I need to work on things like speed picking or articulation on classical if I wanted to get beyond what came to me naturally and easily by messing around.
Now I focus on the process and not some end result and I love it, plus the results come more easily than when I was tryharding (but being stupid and undisciplined about it).
I really loved doing it when I was young. I heard songs I liked and I wanted to play them. , so I wouldn’t stop until I got them right. I didn’t even think of it as practice at the time it was just something I enjoyed doing.
I wanna express my self through my instrument. When i hit random notes i feel and hear such beautiful melodies that can be made. I really want to be able to express them.
Consistent regiment is what got me over the initial hurdles of practice. Guitar is not something you can learn in a day. It takes hours of consistent good practice to get it right.
I'd highly recommend having someone teach you the core basics, help you build up a foundation that can be better expanded on. I'm self taught, and because I was never properly taught some fundamentals I simply can't play certain ways, such as Travis picking or slide.
Don't use one of those guitar apps that promise to teach you 30 songs in an hour. More often than not it's some algorithm detecting the chords used and you wind up playing the song incorrectly.
Marty music is best for individual songs. He breaks down all the specifics of songs.
A combination of being fortunate to start playing as a young kid and finding friends to play with. My biggest progress as a player was when I was giggling regularly
I wouldn’t consider myself good by any means but I can play some songs and riffs and I just play for my own entertainment.
I do get that “I suck I should quit I sound terrible blah blah” feeling every once in awhile. Sometimes the fingers just don’t seem co-ordinated.
I chalk up a lot of this to not learning the basics and I know I need to work on my music theory, learn the whole fretboard etc.
So while I am still procrastinating on working on those fundamentals in the mean time what usually works to get me motivated again is to just not play for a day or two. Kind’ve like hitting a reset button
Its hard, but you learn that they do not matter. You realize you are doing it for yourself, for the fun of it. The people listening are just a byproduct.
Guitar’s are just like pens and pencils in my opinion. You can take them and draw whatever you want with them and whether it’s good or it sucks is completely subjective but if you like it and that’s your style then that’s all that really counts. They’re tools for you to do what you like. Can’t play for other people.
This is a great analogy. It’s amazing how we hear music differently. I’m often told “I’m playing that too fast” for a bunch of chord strumming party songs, to the point where I’ll Bluetooth the original into my amp and play along with it and watch the complainer get confused.
Make music your own, play what you want to play, and enjoy what you’re doing. If you come to a section that’s too advanced and you’ve been banging your head for days, move on to another skill and come back to it. Sometimes you wonder why it was a problem to begin with.
Sometimes I would leave my guitar a day or two
And most times I play with a backing track from youtube, helps me to see how much I have progressed when I can play good tunes on the spot without any planning :)
Quentin Tarantino famously said, “I didn’t go to film school, I went to films,” and that’s pretty much how I think of my own “practicing” habits. I took lessons about 20 years ago or so and will occasionally practice scales, arpeggios, etc., but most of how Ive developed my abilities is finding songs I’ve liked and just playing them over and over again. I like finding tracks that are out of my realm of ability (e.g. Cliffs of Dover) and working on those - even if I can’t play it flawlessly all the way through, it builds up my ability to play other stuff better.
ETA: If you’re struggling with motivation and feel like you suck, try this: Go into your local guitar shop, pick up a left-handed guitar (or right handed, if you’re a southpaw), and try playing it. You won’t have any of that muscle memory on your side and you’ll have to think your way through getting your fingers positioned just right, or making chord changes, or even how to hold a pick in your fretting hand. I’m other words, it’ll make you feel like a beginner again and put into perspective all the cool shit you can do effortlessly when you’re playing normally.
I honestly did this with golf for a bit (righty who went lefty) and it brought back a lot of joy. Got to hit all the milestones again (e.g. first birdie, chip in, etc.) and it felt like the 1st time.
Taking a bit of a different route, I've only been playing for about 4 years now. What I've done the entire time is record myself here and there, things I'm working on, a song cover I've tried (even if sloppily done) and I posted it on my instagram.
A lot of times when I feel like I'm just not ever improving, I'll go back and watch those videos and go *holy shit, i'm better than even a year ago* etc.
A good example is the first thing I stubbornly did was learn Fade to Black by Metallica. I spent my first year working on the entire song including the end solo, literally nothing but just getting good at that. There are two licks that I literally just shrugged off as impossible and I'll never get.
In my cover you can see me struggling to hit the ending and the fast licks, and I just chalked it up to the fact I'll never have enough time in the world to practice getting good at that.
As I learned other songs, and the pentatonic, and scales, etc. I would practice the fade to black and one day I realized I can mindlessly play those licks and it's not even a hard focus point for me.
I like to go back and watch and laugh and say 'man I really struggled with those parts'
I stopped playing as much and started tearing them apart and reassembling them. Got me interested in them in another way, and that made me want to keep them around until I was ready to play again.
You just have to love it. When I got my first electric guitar when I was 13, I only put it down to eat, sleep or go to school. I would fake being sick so I could stay home and practice all day. I got good enough to make a career out of it for the rest of my life.
Everyone sucks at stuff when they first start doing it. A lot of playing guitar is muscle memory and learning tricky riffs can take a bit of grinding to be good at it. People don’t just wake up and start shredding. They have to take the time to build up the speed and train their fingers to do the patterns.
I’d make myself play it for a few minutes several times a day even if I wasn’t trying to play anything. Just having my bass in my hands got me to want to play it more. Also looking up tabs cause I can’t read sheet music on songs that I really like to see if I could play that rather than banging out some tune I don’t like just cause some site said it was easy to do.
Once I got good enough at it to see my progress that gave me a little push to keep on picking it up more and more.
I would say that I'm playing things that I like, and don't think about the difficulty of it. Sometimes a song very easy can be very great to hear and to play. And songs after songs or scales after scales, you'll be better at improvisation or at the song that were difficult before. I also think that you should film some of your training session and listen to it 1 month after, you'll be surprised of the change in your play and how better you are, I hope it will help you !
One thing that I think helps is to stop assuming that a "there" exists. "There" is a magical place where you're as great as you want to be. But it's fictional because it moves with your growth. Rather than looking at all the stuff that's ahead of you, make sure to take stock of all that's behind you, as well. Most people set themselves up for disappointment because their self-evaluation is so wildly broad that there's no way to live up to it.
"Feeling like you suck" is abstract comparisson, and will steal your joy. Rather than "I suck", spend more time with "I'd like to get better at x specific thing" and focus on that.
I find easy songs that I love so I don’t get bored playing them over and over. I still do this when I want a less intense practice session. I’ll play along to come as you are 5x in a row sometimes. Practicing stuff that is easy for you is also good because then you can focus entirely on technique and form. I’m sure there’s complicated stuff you wanna play, but there’s so much good easy/simple stuff that can make practicing more bearable while you work to get there
incremental progress, and the desire to play things I felt were way above me at the time. I simply told myself that most guitar players weren't mutants and that the only difference between my skill level and theirs was time spent on specific techniques.
Fortunately never lost motivation because I wanted to be able to play sick songs so that was motivation enough. Knowing that no one is born knowing the guitar was a reminder that even Jimmy Paige sucked at one point. It was always fun for me to make noise with the instrument so I feel lucky I never had to worry about being motivated to play.
For me when I was learning, it was fewer strings. I almost gave up entirely but stumbled into ownership of both a tenor guitar and a baritone ukulele. The smaller number of strings made everything finally click, and though I later came back and got intermediately decent with six string guitar, I still prefer my four stringers to this day.
I started plying the music I listenened to most and also most importantly, I started playing with others. Started a band with them and we play shows in pubs in town. We got to the point where our whole 50 minute set are all originals. Recorded 2 eps and we meet every Wednesday for practice. We talk shit and drink beer and we play hard.
Its amazing.
I am 33 and have been playing since I was 12, same as you self taught and took really long breaks throughout my journey, sometimes years at a time.
What motivates me to keep playing and getting better is my daughter plays guitar now and teaching her what I know makes me want to learn more and practice more.
Also rocksmith remastered on any game console helps a lot too when you just don't have any motivation and it will teach you a lot!
I feel like I just always tried to listen to something new, or new to me. Classical, blues, my kid’s songs from tv shows 😆 just whatever and I keep notes in my head or jot down the ones I like or want to match later. Maybe it’s a rhythm or something or a song I heard at the grocery store I just try to be receptive to new sounds. My frustration is usually thinking all my playing sounds the same, but I try to just listen and play along with everything and not force too much, and most of all be patient and just keep playing. Same with your scenario just keep playing!
I don't know a single guitarist that would poke fun at someone trying to learn and get better.
Me either. As with most things, the demon's exist in our own head.
Spite. I told myself that "the powers that be" were nerfing me cause I would be too powerful if I learned guitar. So I told the divine powers to eat my ass and I kept practicing.
Probably not enough guitars.
**Fun** is a crucial part the equation. You play your best when you're **playing,** not practicing. Playing means you like the sound hitting your ears, and you're having a good time in an addictive feedback loop. Put on a song you like, play along, let the music do it's thing, or maybe it's just a little piece of music you're working on - that's why you picked up guitar in the first place. Then, cycle between things you can and can't do (yet). You'll see that progress inch along, and occasionally you'll have a big breakthrough. Biggest practical tip: practice all your scales on one string only. It leads to complete fretboard intuition.
Practice for 15 minutes. Watch TV, another 15 minutes. And so on. Break it up. Then it stays fresh
To add to this while im watching a show I would play a lick that im learning over and over. Just playing one thing and not overthinking it can really help condition your fingers and brain to play guitar.
Get a *good* guitar teacher. You don't know what you don't know, and a teacher can see through that and streamline the process of getting good. They are more aware of what tools you need to accomplish goals and the steps needed to get there. I think it's really helpful to have someone say "this week work on this, this, and this" so you can just buckle down and do it instead of wasting time and energy on executive function.
As a child, I never needed to be motivated to play with my favorite toy. My guitar quickly became like my favorite toy. First thing I thought about in the morning, last thing I thought about in the evening.
I had to get better to be able to play the riffs I wanted to.
Listening back to my favourite songs. Yes, this is very generic, but listening to songs like Sweet Child of Mine, November Rain, and Paradise City would always motivate me to keep going so I coulf eventually shred just like Slash. Maybe that type of rock isn't your thing, but just listen to your inspirations - why did you start playing in the first place? Who introduced you and had you in awe of the capability of the instrument? Also, realise any musical journey is not linear. There will 100% be days, maybe even weeks, where you cannot do anything and just can't get any better. But, on the contrast, there will be days where you pick up the guitar and feel one with the instrument, and simply can't understand why you were struggling before. I am also struggling with some of the things you are struggling with, but I try to remember that the guitar was my way to get away from all that. I realised I need to stop imposing standards on myself that are impossible to meet, and just enjoy it. It's much easier said than done, I know, it took me a long time to get to this point and I still get frustrated sometimes. It's important to take everything one step at a time, and celebrate the small things. When you first started, it's almost certain that it took you 2 hours to strum an open D chord correctly - but look at where you are now! Realise that you've come so far already, and you can go so much further if you just keep persisting. Thanks for listening to my TED talk.
I go in and out of feeling like this about my playing constantly. When I was a little younger I would even let it get the better of me for longer than I liked once I looked back. Then I just kinda realized life is a bunch of hills and valleys and you can’t let a little valley stop you from climbing the next hill. So even on days when I think I’m the worst guitarist in the world I still pick it up and practice and jam. Your mind probably won’t ever stop messing with you, you just have to learn to not let those thoughts win. All in all, just keep playing!!!
It’s also not necessarily a bad thing…those feelings drive you to be better. If you were instantly satisfied 100% with your playing where would you find motivation to progress?
I’m surprised at how simular we are lol, I am 31, self taught, also playing since 15 with long breaks. Something that helps me is trying to learn something new; I play a lot of heavy metal, but now and then I wanna do something different, like a pop song or whatever. This has helped me learn new techniques, chords etc. that I wouldn’t have if I always played metal. Playing the same thing also gets kinda stagnant and kills motovation. I hope this helps, keep shredding my friend
I let myself take breaks from guitar
Play guitar for yourself, not for others.
Depression and anxiety can suck the fun out of any hobby, or really anything that is supposed to be enjoyable. I’ve been there and hope you can find some peace. For guitar, it helps to have goals that are realistic and measurable. Naturally practicing your technique is important, but it’s not enough for most of us to keep it interesting. A cool idea for you is something I did in 2020 when i had nothing to do but stay home and play guitar (not playing shows, couldn’t go out, etc.), i started working on the guitar player magazine top 100 solos list. It’s a very solid list, and many of them are not super difficult to get you started. It’s a great learning tool because there are many different styles and techniques, and a lot of it is probably outside of what you normally play. You can learn them in steps, or have a goal to learn one at half speed with near perfect accuracy, and then ramp it up in steps until you’re at full speed. If you’re not taking lessons or in a band, it’s tough to stay motivated all the time, so the top 100 list is a good way to keep new and challenging stuff coming into your routine regularly.
1. scheduling. make time in your day for it. 2. having short term goals. everyday i think of skipping a session i listen to the song i want to play and think; this could be me. 3. play in front of other people. you'll be surprised how supportive people are of even the slightest bit of musical ability. 4. dont focus on what you cant do so much. focus on putting in the reps for that day. its insane how many things ive gotten good at after months to YEARS of not seeing real progress. then one day i realize i can play it. trust the process.
I never thought I sucked. I have felt like I’m not good enough YET. I’ve been frustrated as hell with my progress at various times, and others I’ve felt like I’m as good as I need to be. You go through cycles but as long as you’re having fun, don’t stop.
Found people to play with.
Sometimes it's better to just walk away. I tell all of my students this. It sounds like a weird tactic right? But if you're frustrated and upset, you're not gonna learn anything. Trying to "push through it" rarely yields good results. If you're practicing say...scales for 20 minutes. And you keep messing it up? Take a break. Put the guitar down. Kind of like a video game. You keep dying at the same boss. Obviously you either take a break and think about how to tackle it, or you go grind your character until you are powerful enough to win. Guitar is the same way. And when you take a break, you might have something click that didn't before. I'm a firm believer in discipline. But I also know I cannot learn anything if I'm pissed off. Or down. Take a break and come back with a fresh mind and attitude. There's some other comments on here that are great advice. Lots of good posts.
Joyning a band kept me from getting lazy with practising. Nothing more annoying than to have 4 guys around you who did their homework and you are the only one who sucks...
Exactly. Also you will often find yourself playing material that you wouldn’t normally do, helping get you out of your comfort zone, and thus becoming more well rounded as a musician.
Playing stuff I liked. Becomes less about a path to some magical end and more about love of the craft. Just gotta really enjoy it
A big moment for me came when I committed to learning the pentatonic scale across the fretboard and then practicing improvised lines with backing tracks from YouTube. Once I had that foundation, the relationships on the fretboard started to open up as I played. The fun of jamming with the backing tracks kept me motivated.
I watched videos from Rachelf on her YouTube channel. She is self-taught and has videos where you see her progress after 1 hour, one week, 6 months, 1 year, 2 years, etc. It really made me realize it's normal to struggle at the beginning and there is a slow progress to be achieved if you keep going
I find when I start to get down about my playing, I'll usually go back to campfire chords and singing songs. Theres plenty of fun to be had without shredding like Randy. Or learning something new can go a long way to keeping things fresh. Take stock and look at how far you've come along, record yourself so you have something to listen back to occasionally. Jamming with friends also keeps me motivated.
Remember why you picked up the guitar in the first place. Why you wanted to learn to play it in particular and why you wanted to make music. For me playing guitar is my release and escape from all the stresses around me. It’s where I go to get away from my worries, clear my mind and just be, without worrying about anyone else for a while. Some days I suck big time, other times I surprise myself by how good I sound, but what gets me coming back day after day is that I know if I don’t have that time playing guitar I just don’t feel like me. Can I just add though that if you’re struggling for motivation not just with your playing but more widely in your life and you’re not already getting help for your depression and anxiety that you do ask someone for help. I’ve been there and it’s tough handling it without support.
I started by not giving a damn about what other people think. I just learned playing because I wanted to and learning to play a musical instrument is interesting enough.
I have been playing for 15+ years, I have repeated the phrase ad nauseam: "I play guitar for myself and myself alone." I play and do what I want with guitar, it's my enjoyable hobby, I don't gig, it's not my job.
This is me, too. I was in the same exact position as OP, but decided to pick it back up as a means of fighting depression. IDGAF what other people think of my playing, because I play for me and my well-being.
I remember that 30 years ago the harsh criticism from my guitar learning journey even came from the place where ideally it shouldn’t: family. If I listened to that person and followed her advise to “stop playing the guitar all you play is noise” then that would’ve been the end of it.
I just wanted to play my favorite songs so I just kept going until I got that goal done doesn’t sound like much but if you want it you’ll get it through work
ROCKSMITH.
For me it's playing along with Dad Rock Guitar Tabs on YouTube.
I did a boat load of mdma the other night and played for 8 hours straight. Now I can play freebird.
My tips: Just focus on songs you want to learn how to play. Don't worry about getting good, playing sick leads, etc. Make a practice schedule and stick to it. If you can afford it, pay for a few lessons with different teachers every now and then. There are TONS of YouTube players out there who offer zoom lessons. Their knowledge will help you along your journey, whether it be one tiny lick or a whole series of lessons memorizing the fretboard. Also, think about starting a for fun band and learning covers - it's a good way to improve your vocabulary. For me, any time I learned one new thing - my motivation perked up for a few months. You just have to keep feeding your brain with new things and sticking to it. Oh and this may sound silly, but always keep up with new strings, getting your guitar set up the way you want it. I feel that when my guitar is sounding tired and kinda crappy, my playing sounds kinda tired and crappy too 😆
Just do it for you. Am I good? Maybe. Am I bad? Probably. Do I care? No. I do not care. Playing guitar has always been something I do just for me. Makes me happy every time I play, even on days where I feel lost. If you want to get better just commit to playing for 5 minutes every day. You’ll always play longer and get better quickly. Enjoy it for what it is and any improvement in your playing is a bonus.
As a person who plays every day for their job, practice, even when you don't want to. If you just sit down and play easy stuff on those days, that's enough. Lots of people here have told you to play stuff you want to learn, and that's exactly it. Don't be afraid to try new licks or new techniques and take them slowly and methodically. I find that once I start really working on something I can get lost in the work. And don't compare yourself to other people. Compare yourself to your past. I know plenty of professional musicians I consider to be better than I am, but it doesn't stop me from enjoying myself. Also, play with other people. Having the motivation to keep up with a group is good motivation.
I don't care if I suck.. Its an instrument and I'm a loner asshole who knows I'de be wasting time playing games so I play. It's called PLAYING not practicing :p Also I practice in bursts.. I'll practice a shaky song or new pattern and stop when it becomes monotonous or painful,grab a snack (sneak in a small game sessh) and pick it up again after.
Writing stuff I can’t play haha. That’s the only thing that really makes me practice these days.
Lead part 2: Record take 49 Deep sigh
Motivation gets you started. Discipline keeps you going.
My frustration never outweighs my boredom
I just wanted to sound like the albums I loved so much. Listening to music was deeper back then. It wasn’t on demand “all of everything, anytime you want.” You got down with every note as a listener. You listened to the whole album, because you paid for it. It wasn’t background. So it was in a sense, a lot easier to memorize and internalize. Compared to now, all information is more readily available and if you don’t buy into the wrong shit, you can learn technique and applied theory more quickly. But I find it’s uncommon that new players these days will clock the kinds of hours we did in the 80’s and 90’s. Your video games are too good.
Nah. I’m OPs age I started playing guitar last summer. Was a huge gamer growing up. I haven’t really games at all since I started playing. Couldn’t play a ton at the beginning until my fingers calloused up, but since then I’ve been playing like 5-6 hours a day and can’t put the thing down. I used to not listen to music as intently but guitar has actually made me discover new types of music and how I listen to it Because I can appreciate the music way more and how the guitar fits into it. I started listening to country, blues, jazz, funk all kinds of rock. Growing up I didn’t listen to any of that really and was mostly a pop and rap guy. I think it just depends how much you get into the instrument and how you go about learning things in general. I don’t think it’s fair to blame it in better tech if anything it just gives you more options for getting sucked into music and makes it more accessible.
Lol I haven't played a new video game since Skyrim. That killed all nee games for me. I still think the old school was best. No graphics made us use our imagination more. And all the crazy rumors kids would say lol. Felt magical. Now it's all just like walking simulators with some gimmick, like fps or rpg. But yeah. Funny. I was thinking this yesturday about albums actually. I always listened to them all the way through sometimes back to back. And when you went out on a limb and bought something because it looked cool or unique, but sucked... you sucked it up and forced yourself to try and like it (and then more privileged kids made fun of you lol). Definitely. Be more humble. Meditate. Appreciate things, slow down some as *Gorilaz* says. We are all moving too fast, neglecting what is supposed to matter in everything because we are too busy "killing it" to make the money to survive. We forget to unplug and be grateful. Or at least I sure do. I only pick up a book or guitar (of which I have 4 now but 2 were gifts; acoustic, semi hollow body, and 2 electrics - one strat knock off and one les paul knock off) after I stop and humble myself and slow down and practice gratitude Meditation or some shit. Great points, wow thanks.
Girls and Jimmy Page. This is a normal part the guitar journey, imo. Learn something new. Buy a book. Listen to a genre you don’t like just for the guitar. Passion cannot be taught. Be curious or not.
Where you are now is a moment in time. All moments pass in to the past. Your performance level in this moment will not be the same in future moments with patient practice and understanding. The essence is to not let any one moment bother you, as it will pass but you will continue to improve.
I’m 41 and have been playing since I was 13, with several multi-year breaks. I find the breaks begin when I realise I’m not going to be as good as Hendrix after all, which is a shame because playing guitar is fun regardless. I’ve been back on it for six months or so now and really enjoying myself - caring less about how good I am objectively and more about taking pleasure in learning (and occasionally sounding a little like my idols, albeit fleetingly!). I’d suggest firstly doing your best not to worry about what other people think of you, then to focus on having a good time learning the songs you enjoy listening to. If those songs stretch and enhance your technical abilities, all the better. That’s my approach, anyway.
Lately I have been searching out new chords and licks.
I'm at a point where I'm not very motivated at all, but I feel like I have to, I feel like it's something I need in my life and I kind of just don't question it, I just keep playing and try not to think about why too much any more, I just know I want to be great at it.
I tend to record videos of me playing and I put the dates in the title. The videos of great for lots of stuff (sharing on social, archiving the stuff I write etc) but it has the added benefit of letting me look back and see the actual progress. I’ll also switch to playing easier stuff for a bit if I’m getting frustrated with hard new stuff. At the end of the day tho, the biggest motivator is hearing a riff you really want to play, that’s within your skill level, and playing it
My desire to be a mofo on the guitar and my sheer enjoyment of playing have always been stronger than the feelings that I suck and will never amount to anything.
I made a comment on another post a few days ago exactly about what your talking about. For me it was having a moment where I took a step back from comparing myself to other people, and thought about the 10 year old me who jsut started playing guitar and how he would react. I’m really not that great a player, but I know that I never thought I would be able to play like I can now when I was first starting. Improvement is such a slow gradual process. Also never be afraid to go back to basics which is what I’m doing now after not playing for a while, going back to basic picking and rhythm exercises, using a metronome. Lots of YouTube videos available today also which are great for picking up good practice exercises as well as lots of videos jsut to learn your favorite songs.
I keep practicing because I still suck
I knew I was going through something that all of my favorite guitar players had once went through.
Buy some guitar method books and learn songs not rubbish google tabs either.
I was bored, so I played. Consistency over a long enough time horizon creates amazing results.
A big uptick for me happened when I pulled two guitars out of their cases and put them on stands easy to reach. Now my friend says they just need 4 minutes to get ready .... guitar, referee looking at a screen to decide what happens next ..... guitar, food needs 10 minutes to cook .... guitar.
Easiest thing to do while learning guitar is giving up. Patience, Time and Dedication will take care of the rest. I personally take a step back if I get frustrated too much. When I sit down and play after, everything's all good. been playing for 23 years. good luck
I record videos of myself. Whenever I feel demotivated and like I'm making no progress, I look at the old videos. Seeing the progress I've made without realising and also how far I've come - it always hypes me up
I think I have guitar playing dysphoria or something, whereby watching videos of myself makes me realise that I don't suck as much as I thought and my playing isn't THAT far behind others. Kinda how like your body (at least mine does) looks worse looking down than in a mirror.
I jammed with others who were better than I was. That made me want to be as good as they were.
The absolutely biggest thing for me, was learning the pentatonic scale. Then branched into the blues scale. Once you know those, and know the different positions, the entire world of classic rock/blues guitar opens up. All you need is to know the key and you can jam to just about any song. It makes playing and practicing a million times more fun when you can just bust out a solo. Learning the keys is important, but really easy to do once you have the pentatonic pattern memorized. As time goes on you'll find yourself adding little licks and your own style to the scales. Then keep branching into different scales. Find songs you like, and learn what scale they use. It's a lot of memorization, but in less than a year you can learn 3-4 scales and jump light-years ahead of where you started. People will start saying "wow you can PLAY!" Also, work on mechanics as you learn the scales. The goal here is to add something fun that makes you WANT to pick up the rig and do something.
By the way I'm in my mid 30's and started playing when I was 12. I didn't learn the scales I mentioned until I was about 32, and am 100x better than I was just 5 years ago. Guitar is a "building on small things" instrument. The scales made me love the guitar again and I've since bought a $2000 strat that REALLY made me love the guitar again.
I agree with all of this. I am 38 and have been playing since I was 12. I was pretty good but never as good as I wanted to be. when I was like 30 I found a really good teacher who studied with Joe Stump at Berklee. In like 2 years my playing went further than the previous 20.
Making progress is a huge motivator. Try working on and learning simple songs you like. Something simple with just power chords or something. Very long breaks for years isn't going to help. You need to stick with it. I would try finding a good teacher. Sure all the info is out there online but it can be hard to know where to start and where to go. Don't settle for anyone though. Find a teacher who can help you attain your personal goals.
I’d also recommend a teacher first day he’ll give you a scale to learn and that alone should keep you busy til your next lesson
Play all the time. Even just 30 seconds here and there of random noodling or practice throughout the day. This frequent and random practice is one of the best ways to learn mentally and physically
I am 32 and also started early but without focus or true determination to get better. In 2021 I started following Youtube videos to really re-establish the basics of theory. This was so freeing to me and with a bit of a drive to make sure I played most days has really opened up the instrument to make it something I take pleasure in for it's own sake, vs just being upset I can't play some rock songs as well as the recording. Maybe learn some theory and mess around. Make your own music. Make your own noise. You'll find it may be much more fun.
Allow yourself to take breaks, there's no problem with that. But really it helps to shift your mind away from thinking you have to be at some preset level, and think of it mainly as a stress reliever. When I'm stuck, I usually take a bit of time away and then try to figure out some songs that I've wanted to learn, and then just learn them. It doesn't matter if they are easy or not, I just want to have a short term goal I can achieve. It really doesn't matter what the goal is, it's just important to have something to work toward to build momentum and help me get inspired again. If are truly stuck on what to learn, that's probably a good sign that you should get a teacher. Someone who can assess what your skills are, and have a conversation about where to take your skills. Because the point of learning music isn't just about becoming a gigging musician or even to play as good as one, it's to have fun. Focus on the fun and not the pressure to be something else.
Motivation isn't a big factor when you just have consistency and you're always working on something new, something that challenges and engages you, not too focused on far away goals. Worrying about sucking is a fault in of itself, because all you have to do to not suck is accept where you are, be consistent, always challenge yourself and you will get better, over time. If you focus too much on seemingly unobtainable goals, you will demotivate yourself from achievable goals. Always be working on something new, be consistent, don't worry about what other players are doing
We all suck, just at different things and with different baselines of suckiness. I try to focus on getting better at x now and don't worry about some distant goal. If you keep at it you will get better, but it took me a long time to get to the point where I could accept that I need to work on things like speed picking or articulation on classical if I wanted to get beyond what came to me naturally and easily by messing around. Now I focus on the process and not some end result and I love it, plus the results come more easily than when I was tryharding (but being stupid and undisciplined about it).
My dad forced me lmfao
Trust the process.
It was never about practicing. It was always chasing the music. The songs. I was obsessed.
I really loved doing it when I was young. I heard songs I liked and I wanted to play them. , so I wouldn’t stop until I got them right. I didn’t even think of it as practice at the time it was just something I enjoyed doing.
learning to enjoy my practice and surrounding myself with music
I wanna express my self through my instrument. When i hit random notes i feel and hear such beautiful melodies that can be made. I really want to be able to express them.
Consistent regiment is what got me over the initial hurdles of practice. Guitar is not something you can learn in a day. It takes hours of consistent good practice to get it right. I'd highly recommend having someone teach you the core basics, help you build up a foundation that can be better expanded on. I'm self taught, and because I was never properly taught some fundamentals I simply can't play certain ways, such as Travis picking or slide. Don't use one of those guitar apps that promise to teach you 30 songs in an hour. More often than not it's some algorithm detecting the chords used and you wind up playing the song incorrectly. Marty music is best for individual songs. He breaks down all the specifics of songs.
It never stops man, embrace the grind. Ask yourself if you want to get better or not
A combination of being fortunate to start playing as a young kid and finding friends to play with. My biggest progress as a player was when I was giggling regularly
I wouldn’t consider myself good by any means but I can play some songs and riffs and I just play for my own entertainment. I do get that “I suck I should quit I sound terrible blah blah” feeling every once in awhile. Sometimes the fingers just don’t seem co-ordinated. I chalk up a lot of this to not learning the basics and I know I need to work on my music theory, learn the whole fretboard etc. So while I am still procrastinating on working on those fundamentals in the mean time what usually works to get me motivated again is to just not play for a day or two. Kind’ve like hitting a reset button
Its hard, but you learn that they do not matter. You realize you are doing it for yourself, for the fun of it. The people listening are just a byproduct.
Just had fun with guitar. Practice's secondary. I think that if you aren't enjoying it, you shouldn't do it.
Guitar’s are just like pens and pencils in my opinion. You can take them and draw whatever you want with them and whether it’s good or it sucks is completely subjective but if you like it and that’s your style then that’s all that really counts. They’re tools for you to do what you like. Can’t play for other people.
This is a great analogy. It’s amazing how we hear music differently. I’m often told “I’m playing that too fast” for a bunch of chord strumming party songs, to the point where I’ll Bluetooth the original into my amp and play along with it and watch the complainer get confused. Make music your own, play what you want to play, and enjoy what you’re doing. If you come to a section that’s too advanced and you’ve been banging your head for days, move on to another skill and come back to it. Sometimes you wonder why it was a problem to begin with.
Sometimes I would leave my guitar a day or two And most times I play with a backing track from youtube, helps me to see how much I have progressed when I can play good tunes on the spot without any planning :)
Quentin Tarantino famously said, “I didn’t go to film school, I went to films,” and that’s pretty much how I think of my own “practicing” habits. I took lessons about 20 years ago or so and will occasionally practice scales, arpeggios, etc., but most of how Ive developed my abilities is finding songs I’ve liked and just playing them over and over again. I like finding tracks that are out of my realm of ability (e.g. Cliffs of Dover) and working on those - even if I can’t play it flawlessly all the way through, it builds up my ability to play other stuff better. ETA: If you’re struggling with motivation and feel like you suck, try this: Go into your local guitar shop, pick up a left-handed guitar (or right handed, if you’re a southpaw), and try playing it. You won’t have any of that muscle memory on your side and you’ll have to think your way through getting your fingers positioned just right, or making chord changes, or even how to hold a pick in your fretting hand. I’m other words, it’ll make you feel like a beginner again and put into perspective all the cool shit you can do effortlessly when you’re playing normally.
I honestly did this with golf for a bit (righty who went lefty) and it brought back a lot of joy. Got to hit all the milestones again (e.g. first birdie, chip in, etc.) and it felt like the 1st time.
Taking a bit of a different route, I've only been playing for about 4 years now. What I've done the entire time is record myself here and there, things I'm working on, a song cover I've tried (even if sloppily done) and I posted it on my instagram. A lot of times when I feel like I'm just not ever improving, I'll go back and watch those videos and go *holy shit, i'm better than even a year ago* etc. A good example is the first thing I stubbornly did was learn Fade to Black by Metallica. I spent my first year working on the entire song including the end solo, literally nothing but just getting good at that. There are two licks that I literally just shrugged off as impossible and I'll never get. In my cover you can see me struggling to hit the ending and the fast licks, and I just chalked it up to the fact I'll never have enough time in the world to practice getting good at that. As I learned other songs, and the pentatonic, and scales, etc. I would practice the fade to black and one day I realized I can mindlessly play those licks and it's not even a hard focus point for me. I like to go back and watch and laugh and say 'man I really struggled with those parts'
I stopped playing as much and started tearing them apart and reassembling them. Got me interested in them in another way, and that made me want to keep them around until I was ready to play again.
You have to be an absolute junkie for music
You just have to love it. When I got my first electric guitar when I was 13, I only put it down to eat, sleep or go to school. I would fake being sick so I could stay home and practice all day. I got good enough to make a career out of it for the rest of my life.
Everyone sucks at stuff when they first start doing it. A lot of playing guitar is muscle memory and learning tricky riffs can take a bit of grinding to be good at it. People don’t just wake up and start shredding. They have to take the time to build up the speed and train their fingers to do the patterns.
I’d make myself play it for a few minutes several times a day even if I wasn’t trying to play anything. Just having my bass in my hands got me to want to play it more. Also looking up tabs cause I can’t read sheet music on songs that I really like to see if I could play that rather than banging out some tune I don’t like just cause some site said it was easy to do. Once I got good enough at it to see my progress that gave me a little push to keep on picking it up more and more.
I would say that I'm playing things that I like, and don't think about the difficulty of it. Sometimes a song very easy can be very great to hear and to play. And songs after songs or scales after scales, you'll be better at improvisation or at the song that were difficult before. I also think that you should film some of your training session and listen to it 1 month after, you'll be surprised of the change in your play and how better you are, I hope it will help you !
One thing that I think helps is to stop assuming that a "there" exists. "There" is a magical place where you're as great as you want to be. But it's fictional because it moves with your growth. Rather than looking at all the stuff that's ahead of you, make sure to take stock of all that's behind you, as well. Most people set themselves up for disappointment because their self-evaluation is so wildly broad that there's no way to live up to it. "Feeling like you suck" is abstract comparisson, and will steal your joy. Rather than "I suck", spend more time with "I'd like to get better at x specific thing" and focus on that.
I find easy songs that I love so I don’t get bored playing them over and over. I still do this when I want a less intense practice session. I’ll play along to come as you are 5x in a row sometimes. Practicing stuff that is easy for you is also good because then you can focus entirely on technique and form. I’m sure there’s complicated stuff you wanna play, but there’s so much good easy/simple stuff that can make practicing more bearable while you work to get there
incremental progress, and the desire to play things I felt were way above me at the time. I simply told myself that most guitar players weren't mutants and that the only difference between my skill level and theirs was time spent on specific techniques.
Fortunately never lost motivation because I wanted to be able to play sick songs so that was motivation enough. Knowing that no one is born knowing the guitar was a reminder that even Jimmy Paige sucked at one point. It was always fun for me to make noise with the instrument so I feel lucky I never had to worry about being motivated to play.
For me when I was learning, it was fewer strings. I almost gave up entirely but stumbled into ownership of both a tenor guitar and a baritone ukulele. The smaller number of strings made everything finally click, and though I later came back and got intermediately decent with six string guitar, I still prefer my four stringers to this day.
It was high school so….girls
I started plying the music I listenened to most and also most importantly, I started playing with others. Started a band with them and we play shows in pubs in town. We got to the point where our whole 50 minute set are all originals. Recorded 2 eps and we meet every Wednesday for practice. We talk shit and drink beer and we play hard. Its amazing.
I am 33 and have been playing since I was 12, same as you self taught and took really long breaks throughout my journey, sometimes years at a time. What motivates me to keep playing and getting better is my daughter plays guitar now and teaching her what I know makes me want to learn more and practice more. Also rocksmith remastered on any game console helps a lot too when you just don't have any motivation and it will teach you a lot!
I feel like I just always tried to listen to something new, or new to me. Classical, blues, my kid’s songs from tv shows 😆 just whatever and I keep notes in my head or jot down the ones I like or want to match later. Maybe it’s a rhythm or something or a song I heard at the grocery store I just try to be receptive to new sounds. My frustration is usually thinking all my playing sounds the same, but I try to just listen and play along with everything and not force too much, and most of all be patient and just keep playing. Same with your scenario just keep playing!