A while back I posted about the length of time it was taking me to learn stuff, both from a physical perspective (hand seizing up etc) and from a mental one (memorising etc).
I have persisted and after 2 months of practising almost every day, just 5 mins of the specific hand movements and then one play through of the song, I can finally play the “lead” bits and in fact the entire song For Whom The Bells Tolls by Metallica pretty much perfectly.
I could have easily given up and at times I honestly wondered why on earth others can just pick up and play this sort of stuff and yet it’s taken me this long to nail it! However long it’s taken, I have achieved something I set out to do from when I started playing again last year and that’s very satisfying. Sadly family members & friends don’t understand just how much effort it’s taken for me but I am sure lot’s of you here can identify with this!
I have to admit that I still get a bit frustrated in that after 10 months of playing again it still takes ages to learn stuff and I still fluff bits of songs I have played through hundreds of times.
I will never be a musician, I have no musical talent (seriously I don’t!) but it does show that anyone can make a decent attempt at having some fun and playing their favourite songs. What I am playing is now performance worthy and that’s also a massive achievement so no matter how hard it seems, keep at it and have fun!
My new motto: “If in doubt, get the power chords out!”
Congratulations and well done! Honestly, I think that is an admirable achievement at 10 months.
Of course learning a difficult new task like guitar is frustrating. If it wasn’t something would be wrong. But this is a terrific milestone and I am impressed! Keep it up!
These two statements are at odds with each other You most definately ARE a musician, you may not be the best musican in the world (yet ) but if you are making music then you are without doubt a musician!
Congratulations.
You’ve learned this song from scratch, probably learning new chords, new changes, new strumming patterns. Having done that you may find the next song you learn seems less difficult, less time consuming, and so on song after song you’ll get better and better.
Well done, Andrew, and congratulations!
It’s amazing how much we can achieve with persistence.
Hope you find other songs/motivations to keep you going on your guitar journey
Fantastic, song and great work. Unfortunately as you have found out familys never get it. They hear the music on spotify or radio and suddenly they are a James Hetfield explaining how easily that 16th note 5 power chord transition should be easy for you. Uh huh. Thanks.
It can be frustrating, but thank goodness we play for ourselves. If we are lucky, we find a community with positive vibes to help keep us keep our stoke. And we keep getting better with hard work that another musical artist understands.
Thanks for all the positive comments. I know my friends and family think I am doing fine but I just needed to share with like minded friends as for me this has been one of my biggest ever achievements (which others just don’t understand).
My next big challenge is that I have worked out my own arrangement of a song a local musician has produced and he has agreed to sing along to my version at a live local (albeit small scale) music event. It’s nothing big or clever but it sounds decent although I don’t want to ruin someone else’s music in a live scenario. That will also be my first time performing live so that’s a scary prospect too but it’s all part of the learning experience.
You most definately ARE a musician, you may not be the best musican in the world (yet 
That will also be my first time performing live so that’s a scary prospect too but it’s all part of the learning experience.