maybe a matter of perception? I know that not all ADHD has lots of manic activity. I could see that for someone who is used to being high energy, taking a stimulant like Adderall that dials them down could feel like being turned into a zombie.
as an adult, Iâve met a number of people taking medications for ADHD. For some, wellbutrin like Iâm on doesnât really help them. I wouldnât call its effects on me huge, but I didnât really need huge. For others, I couldnât tell that theyâre on one of the major stimulants if they didnât tell me. Iâve never met someone on one of those medications that I would say is a zombie as a result. but Iâve met people who say they felt like one.
I would encourage you to put some thought into why you want to play guitar. I often think that the reason people give up/quit is because they never really had a strong reason to play to begin with. Some people pick up the guitar because they assume it will be easy and that they will get good quickly, only to realize that this instrument is a lot harder than people make it look on YouTube.
Itâs much easier to continue (even when it gets hard) if you have a really strong reason that you want to play. Is there a specific genre of music you really enjoy? Do you aspire to have a band or do any recording? Do you just want to be able to play for family or friends at get togethers? Whatever it is, I would focus what practice time you do have on getting towards that goal.
Personally, I love rock music. Itâs what motivates me to pick up my guitar every day. When I got to the module in the beginners course that was all about rock, I was very happy. Most of what I practice furthers my journey into rock guitar. Practice is hard, but it feels a lot less tedious when you are doing it because you love what you are doing.
Sorry to hear that youâre sounding pretty low at the moment and I guess thats not surprising with the hurricane totally disrupting life and drawing your focus onto other life stuff. Sometimes other things are more important for a time.
If you feel youâve lost your mojo for learning then perhaps allowing yourself to just play what you know and enjoy that for now is all you need.
I have lessons and I do find them very motivating when Iâm stuck. Just being able to have a jam or improv session with my tutor is great, he records bits of our session and pops those into a dropbox for me to play along with between sessions.
Good luck and donât give up. This is a blip and will pass.
2 years in, I found my interest in playing has increased since I started exploring other forms of playing. Once you know the basic chords, strumming songs can become a little boring, especially if you donât sing (I donât/or canât).
Instead I started to focus on scales and interval patterns, then making musical melodies using them.
I started teaching myself to play âApacheâ and found the challenge inspiring. Tabs and backing tracks are readily available on utube.
Now I can play melody for songs I enjoy such as Apache (Shadows ), Crazy (Patsy Cline), The Great Pretender and starting this week, Only You (The Platters).
I feel I am making ârealâ music at last and also beginning to understand how scales can be used musically.
I now like to mix my practice now with playing song melodies and playing songs strumming chords.
Sometimes, a change in routine can break the monotony and be better than a break from playing guitar.
considering that Iâm still very much a beginner after almost 25 years with a guitar of some kind or another (more than half my life at this point) with far more âoffâ time than âonâ time, I can resoundingly say that this was never my trouble with keeping up practice. I could never explain why I had such a hard time building and maintaining a routine, but I wanted to play very, very much and just could not make myself do it. Now that Iâm being treated for ADHD and have learned more about how my brain works, I absolutely understand why now. Itâs still not easy but I suppose it puts it into the realm of ânormal hardâ for most. Deficits in executive function are very real.
I feel itâs kinda worthwhile to bring this up since it sounds like Josh might be in a similar boat.
Yeah, that is my problem, I am ready to play the songs I love that are more difficult and I donât see that end in sight any time soon. Being lazy to even spend an hour out of the day is the issue. Hopefully before too long I can get to where I can do lessons or something and know it is linear to get where I am going. I think Justin is fantastic for getting you going and knowing the basics and fundamentals, but I think I am at a point now, where it is time to advance, and I am just having a hard time just doing what I feel doesnât work for me as well.
I have recently discovered the JG Clubs! I canât believe I missed them! I guess I thought they werenât for me (for some reason). I can honestly say that getting involved in a Club session is worthwhile, amazing for motivating you.
So, Iâve decided to go through the clubs archive and just came across Motivation Club #1 by Lieven. Its not a video recording so youâll download the transcript. Really worthwhile, i highly recommend the approach to learning songs/music. Check it out. I realise Iâve been doing it all wrong, which is why i am so bad at learning songs lol From now on I will take Leivanâs approach!
I do greatly appreciate your insight and input here and this is going to sound like I am coming off with an attitude, but I swear I am not, and I am sorry ahead of time if it comes across that way, but no if you knew me you wouldnât question my desire to play. I have wanted to play since I was 11 years old and never had the chance until now. I spent a dedicated hour a day of practice every day of the week, minimum 7 hours a week, sometimes more.
A catastrophic hurricane derailed me. I would leave my house at 7AM and sometimes not get home until 10-11 at night. When you go through something like that you realize whatâs important and truthfully during that time the guitar wasnât. I had a hard time picking it back up and getting back into something like that knowing people were still living in tents while I am in a nice house playing an instrument I love while others canât do what they love, they are just trying to survive.
I say that not as an attack on you (please I swear I am not I really really really do appreciate your help and input) just more so venting what I have been through recently and how it has shaped how I play.
Now this being said, now I am performing for the first time next weekend and I got back into dedicated practice every day again and it has felt good. Gave me a new release and a purpose to really pick it back up and give it a go again. I hope I didnât come across as negatively with this. Thank you for your time and input!
@JROB623 No offense taken here I like to share what works for me in case in could be helpful for someone else. If it came off as questioning your desire to play, then that was not my intention. If you found anything that I suggested useful, then Iâm good
Iâm sorry to hear about your experience with the hurricane. Iâm on the west coast, so while Iâm lucky that we donât have hurricanes to deal with, I know what itâs like to feel like you are living in privilege while others are struggling. We actually took in some friends of ours in for a few months after their house burned down in a wildfire. Itâs a humbling experience for sure.
I am very happy to hear that you are performing next weekend! Thatâs a big step and I hope you have an amazing time. Best of luck with your performance!
@JROB623 Hi Josh, no offence taken. Life chucks us curveballs from time to time and we all deal with them in our own way.
This is a great community and it seems to me that there is always someone willing to help as best they can.
Glad to hear you are playing again. Take care.
