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I am sad almost 40 days in with no music coming out of guitar
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Hello @Rob503 ;
I used to frequent the forum all the time. Now, not so much. So, here I am responding to your post after you’ve had many, many replies. So many in fact that I haven’t read all the replies. I haven’t even read one reply. Oh, one more in fact, I’m not gonna read a single reply.
I don’t need to read the replies to know you’ve received a lot of support and great ideas on how to approach your guitar journey in a different and more fulfilling way. But, I’m still gonna give you my 2 cents.
The difficulty lies in the fact that we started learning as adults. It’s not our fingers or Tony’s instruction that’s causing difficulties, it’s our head. We need to change our perception.
Let’s start with this. Go back and re-read what you, yourself, wrote in your original post. Now, imagine a 12 year old kid who was given a guitar. He’s wanted a guitar for a while. Now, he finally has it. But, his parents can’t even afford lessons, at least not yet. But the kid is in heaven.
Now, is that kid “sad in Phoenix”? No, that kid’s having a blast. Is that kid playing his favorite songs right out of the gate? No, his parents keep begging him to close his bedroom door. Is that kid gonna learn as fast as you with this great lesson plan? No, but he doesn’t care. He’ll get there and he’ll have fun all the way.
Do I need to explain all this to you? No, I don’t think so. Go back to the very first lesson in 30 Day To Play Guitar. That first thing is a song. In fact, it’s a song structure that appears in a ton of music. Stick with that until it sounds good.
If that’s too steep a path, then let’s try something else. Just thump on the 6th string, the low E. Just thump, thump, thump, thump… find a rhythm and a sound that’s cool. STOP trying to learn guitar and START trying to make sounds that are cool. That entertain your grandkid. That cause you to have FUN.
If you can’t figure out how to have fun, then you need more help than I’m qualified to give.
MG 🙂
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Thanks and know this for sure, your words did not fall on deaf ears.
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Music is such a wonderful thing, @Rob503 . My only hope for you is that you can enjoy it.
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I feel the same way. Slow progress is progress even if it is negligible. I am enjoying the process and the positive feedback. I’m also in my 60’s (67) and this is my first exposure to the guitar. I thought I was too old to start now but I did and I’m glad I did. Still a newbie with all this as this is my third month. Easy to say hang in there. I feel your pain. I continue try to get over trying to be perfect and am starting to accept small wins as progress. Good luck in your journey. Let me know how it goes.
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Yes count your wins where you get them. The videos make it look easy but as you probably know, it’s not as easy as it looks. 🙂
If it was easy everyone would do it. 🙂
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Hi Rob. I joined TAC three years ago and could never establish a constant routine . Even after retiring almost two years ago I could never get my act together. Now after reading some of the “Tiny Habits” book Tony recommended I seem to be on track by starting “Thirty days to play”again ! We all have different abilities but the key I think is just to stick with it. Some days are better than others , do the ten minutes and stop if its not going well then tomorrow maybe do more than ten minutes. If it’s an age thing Im 71, I’m running out of life not enthusiasm ! Have fun at your own pace.
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Rob, playing guitar is insidious. One keeps plugging away and all of a sudden you notice you can do things you couldn’t do before! I guarantee this will happen to you. As for me, when I am struggling, sometimes I can take pleasure in a sound here or there coming out of my guitar. A single note can be music.
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Terri G, you should be the teacher!!!
You are a kind person. Thank you.
I agree with everyone. Started Oct. 2023 and cannot play a song. Not even 5 strums in. I found out it is on me. I show up every day except sundays. I put in over an hour, usually two everyday. Some people do have to work and no way have time to do lessons plus find a simple song to try on line. Cash cow keeps coming to mind. The rate I am going and number of times we revisit a song, will take me over a year or more to complete a song. ie; enjoyed Dead or Alive. Had to let it go to put my time into the lessons. Same with Fast Cars, same with Old Man.
Started putting time into it on top of lessons. Now I am doing 3 hours a night. There have been times I have said to myself , this is a boring way to learn. I keep plugging away and keep showing up but honestly my opinion has not changed. The best was the 30 day challenge.
I don’t believe retired people want to spend every hour of their day trying to learn a song on top of lessons. Sure trust the process but for how many years before we can actually conqueror a song , even poorly. I don’t have problems learning the lessons. I just don’t need to pull off ,hammer on and slide when I just want to sit around the camp fire with friends and strum a tune for fun. I have nothing to prove.
I have been fighting with the F chord but decided if I use the beefy part of my index finger instead to barre the High E and B strings, then I get the clean chord. Voila. Not for lack of trying folks.
I take notes every single lesson. My binder is over an inch thick. I am doing the daily challenge same time as Fretboard Wizard. No time to learn a song on my own. Thought the course would offer at least one complete song. I get the boredom part. It is all on how it is presented. And yes, I rewind , play back over and over again till I get the point.
Have I learned things? Yes. 10 different ways to strum. Okay, how do I apply which strums to which songs?
I believe the intentions are good but the format / process needs fine tuning to customer satisfaction.
IMHO
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Funny thing , BooBoo59, before I was an engineer at Intel. I was an electronics, physic, and math teacher for a technical college for almost 10 years. I was drawing on my own experience for best practices I used on my students. All of my students were adults and it has been my experience with adults they need to know why they are doing something and what the outcome will be at the end.
Just my .02 cents worth.
Thanks for your response and kind words.
Rob
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