Feeling overwhelmed with everything to learn and staggering progress

@OpsRes I don’t think there is any risk in that happening, Glen, given that all the legends keep saying they keep learning :grin: And I think fair to say that the probability of us become guitar-playing legends is low. :crazy_face:

@Inge_guitar29 Can’t lie and deny those feelings of apprehension and vulnerability, Inge. I can only reassure you that the Community is a safe and supportive place, and you will be encouraged through taking the plunge

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While the article on how long does it take to lean the guitar was very good, one point I’d like to make is that the length of time it takes to get to a particular level, for example 3.5 years to get to intermediate at an hour a day, doesn’t really matter.

Why? That 3.5 years is going to pass by whether you decide to learn the guitar or not. So how long it takes shouldn’t factor into your concerns. :slight_smile:

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Welcome Inge. As others have said, we all experience up and downs, plateaus and frustrations in one way or another and at every level. To add to @tony I started when I was 12. I eventually stopped playing at 20 because I wasn’t progressing as I thought I should and felt frustrated by my lack of ability as I measured it against others. I started again 45 years later. I have made a lot of progress using Justin’s courses so far and measure my progress and satisfaction very differently now. I don’t regret how I got here, but it is a reminder to me to take advantage of the time each day, regardless of my progress that day or disappointment that I couldn’t play “I Believe in Father Christmas” at speed this past Holiday. Time will pass whether I use it or not. I’ve got a year to nail that song for next Xmas so I better keep at it.
Dave

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Some of you are legends to those of us here in the Justin Community! That is something!

Being a legend is a matter of perspective. I hope to be a guitar legend for my daughter, maybe my wife.

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I am sure you will accomplish that Joshua, if you have not already ! :sunglasses:

Hi @Inge_guitar29 and welcome. There will always be a lot to learn! For me, I use Justin’s Practice Assistant and go through the different items in my routine over a few days, I don’t complete the entire routine in 1 day’s practice. For me as well for some of the things I’m practicing I need more time, so I set the time for that item to be 15 minutes, and then I usually repeat the item so I’m doing 30 minutes. I go and check on my Stats to make sure I’m more or less keeping to my overall plan for what I’m investing my practice time in (although I will admit it’s heavily overweighted in a couple of areas right now). Try to be patient with yourself, follow Justin’s course, check in for sone feedback on AVOYP - and most of all have fun playing!! :smiley:

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@tony I‘ve shared that saying about the years will come and go whether you do it (whatever it is) or not in ‘real life’ quite a few times. My usual spin on it though is that since the time will come and go whether you do it or not, you might as well do it!

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Hello @Inge_guitar29

As you can tell you are certainly not alone and there are thousands of different reasons why we all struggle at times.

I have been playing on and off for 30 years. I became reasonably good enough to gig regularly and record some demos. Divorce and band breakups happened and I didn’t pick up the guitar for years. So here I am back at the start, realising I was never that good even at my best. Did that matter? No. People were entertained and we couldn’t get rebooked fast enough. Best of all I had fun.

There is no timetable to your progress other than one you put on yourself. One word…Don’t. Be patient and forgiving of yourself.

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I decided some time ago that I would keep plugging away at this ‘playing guitar’ thing, and it will take whatever time it takes. It’s been not quite 2 years now and feel that I am progressing albeit slowly. I stopped comparting myself to others a while ago as I know that I may not achieve what others are doing. No real problem as I’m (generally) having fun :slight_smile:

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Good to see a fellow Dutchie here Rogier!

What do you mean by the Thea though?

Greetings! Inge

Thats true also! Assuming you put your time to nothing else productive.

You could learn to play chess or run marathons etc, or sit and stare at a wall for 3 years.

Always much better to put creative energy into something (anything) than not!

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Hi Richard,

Thanks for the great tips, I should consolidate things more and go back to revisit some stuff. To answer your question what I put in my schedule: technique, where I currently spend 5 minutes on finger gym and 5 minutes on Barre chords. Then Knowledge, where I have the D shape explorer and playing the C major scal. Then 10 minutes of time: playing along to a great song and feel good strumming. The rest of the time I spend on repertoire (20 minutes) and 10 minutes on a new song. But to be fair, the last two days, I only did the technique and knowledge parts and the other time i had was used on playing some random stuff like a finger style arrangement of Wonderful Tonight by Clapton.

Hi,
That’s a spelling mistake, which should have meant…the tea is ready when you’re around with your guitar…but i just read that you’re extremely busy,… there’s a right time and place for everything, and now that’s it I guess for you…starting at the beginning of justinguitar.
The first 5 months of my guitar start, I was also here and there on youtube watching all kinds of lessons randomly from everyone, also a few from justin … but that really works a lot less well … music theory turned out to give an enormous acceleration in the learning process, and learning to play difficult things too quickly slows down enormously…but I think you already figured that out and I’m going to stop with this much too long story for a simple question that you asked,
Greetings and wish you a lot of fun finding your way, Rogier

Hi Rogier,

I don’t mind the long stories at all! I read your introduction on the community page, respect to you! :sunglasses:

Greetings,
Inge

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It was great to read everyone’s comments and realize that so many of us feel overwhelmed and often frustrated with our progress. I think I need to come back and read through these again when I start feeling down!

Its a roller coaster ride folks so buckle up. But worth every minute of anguish and frustration. Always look at how far you have come, not where you are going. You’ll be surprised and see you are moving forward. PMA peeps. :sunglasses:

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Hi and welcome Inge! As you can see here, you’ve found the best guitar community there is! Best wishes in your journey, stick it out!

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A post was merged into an existing topic: Fender Mojo Pick Grip