This learning process is a marathon, it takes a long time, results can be inconsistent and there are periods of low motivation. If possible, try to find more then 30 min for daily practice (Justin advices 1h if I’m not mistaken) and don’t worry if something doesn’t work, it eventually will, if you are patient enough.
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I often thought I’d never be able to make even simple chord changes fast enough to play a song. But I kept working at it. You can do it. Just keep at it. You got this!
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Hi Stacy. I totally hear you and feel your pain! There have been lots of great comments and suggestions here. One additional thing I’d like to suggest though, is that at times when you’re feeling like that, perhaps try to remind yourself that it’s ok to feel like that. That’s what you’re feeling in that moment, and there’s nothing wrong with that. Try to remind yourself that it’s ok to let yourself feel that.
And just because you’re feeling like that then, doesn’t mean that’s how you’ll always feel! You’ll almost certainly feel more excited again at some point in the future 
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As others have commented, off days are normal. Learning guitar is hard, I’m constantly amazed at how many people are actually good players, the level of effort it takes is impressive.
Stacy, another thought occurred to me - you might want to check out Justin’s posts on neuroplasticity and learning as an adult, there are some things you can do to get your brain chemistry in a learning mode before practicing which might be worth a try.
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I’m experiencing all three of those! I hear you though, its temporary. Maybe I should increase my practice time, that is a good suggestion.
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This is definitely easy to forget, that its OK to feel frustrated and overwhelmed. Thank you for the reminder. Partly the reason I posted is because I know I am not the only one, and for others to share if they’re feeling the same. It’s part of the process of learning- getting through these things.
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Thank you for adding that link! I agree, some of the posters here are so good and I hope I can see the same gains eventually.
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I appreciate that you did! I certainly have those feelings myself sometimes. And I agree, it’s good to talk about those types of feelings, and to let people know they’re not alone in their doubts and struggles
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Ah I feel like that too. I’m at mod 8 so not as far as you and I’ll be forever getting those stuck chords perfect (not to mention the unstuck ones I’d already learned!). My fingers are shorter than short! Some days they won’t do a thing right! I want to also devour and understand all the theory. Aaargh!
However, I love my guitar and the fact that I can sometimes make an ok sound. It’s my third attempt over many many years and by far the most successful. So on I strum. My Wish You Were Here is passable (to me at any rate, not sure what Gilmore would say 
) and I love playing it. Today I managed to do the chord changes on Free Falling for the first time. And making progress with Wonderwall.
We can do it!
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Its awful and amazing at the same time, isn’t it! Haha. That all sounds like great progress. I think we’re just about to get into some really fun stuff in the next several modules. Stuff that feels like real guitar playing.
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Awful and amazing sums it up perfectly!
When I say best attempt of 3 by far, maybe I should add I didn’t even reach playing a single chord on the first two!
Yes, proper playing for us soon I hope 
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I hear you on multiple attempts being unsuccessful. What happened the first couple of times?
I tried to learn 15 years ago, and got a gorgeous acoustic as a gift. I did OK, I learned the 8 open chords, but the headstock started to make a buzz sound. I took it back to the store it came from, and the luthier told me the it was cheap and not worth fixing. I felt so discouraged for two reasons- evidently my beautiful gift wasn’t worth an effort to fix (or play, as it felt as a result of his statement), and I couldn’t abide the buzz. So it sat in the corner on a stand as a decoration ever since. Over this past summer, I asked an old friend of mine, a guitar player, to look at it. He said that man was wrong, that the buzz was an easy fix and that my acoustic is actually a very well built, great sounding guitar that he loves to play when he meets someone who has one of that model. I investigated the buzz on my own and realized it was only the knob on one tuner that was slightly loose. The tiniest dab of super glue fixed it, and it didn’t cost a penny. Now, I shake my head wondering how far I’d have come if I’d been playing all these years. So I understand when someone says their first attempt at learning wasn’t successful and how it feels to want the second (or third, or fourth) attempt to be the one where the magic finally happens.
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I bought my first guitar when I was 16 which is 48 years ago 
It was a cheap and nasty one with nylon strings. I got the obligatory play in a day book to teach me. It didn’t show chords, I could just about pick out a simple melody badly after a month or two. I’d hoped to be at least the guitarist for my fave band by then, so I sold it and bought a horse!
In my 40s came attempt 2. I bought another cheap Spanish type acoustic and lots of books and this time they came with CDs. But still, nothing, not a single chord. I abandoned it, but can’t remember what happened to the guitar.
In my 60s with retirement looming I got the urge to really really try again and thought about getting a travel size guitar because I’m barely 5 foot and acoustics swamp me. So a few months ago I went out to get milk for work and returned with Ziggy the guitar., I saw a guitar shop, went in and they had a little second hand Tanglewood Winterleaf. I fell in love with it and so began attempt 3, this time fully armed with the internet. Before long I’d discovered Justin and Ziggy and I were soon producing actual chords 
I’ve since had a beautiful Baby Taylor which is easier still to play and sounds gorgeous. We’re slowly progressing and I’ll always be grateful to Ziggy! It’s definitely not easy and I still struggle with small hands, but the fact that I’m actually getting better keeps me going. And the fact that I love it. Justin is great and very much instrumental in getting me playing
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Oh but for sure if you’d kept on for just a couple of more months you could have headlined your local auditorium! Haha isn’t it funny that we hear all the time “this is a marathon/not a sprint, it takes time, practice practice practice,” and yet it does NOT sink in until we get these blah days of frustration that we learn how true it really is.
But then its stories just like yours that remind me what life was like before I could make pretty noise come from my guitar. Who wants to live a life without it!?
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Another thank you to this awesome community, I am feeling much better about this endeavor.
And it didn’t hurt that when I watched Nitsuj unbox his lefty electric, it was very similar in color and design to my latest addition (an anniv gift from my husband). So that gave me a little mood boost for sure.
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Exactly! There’s no way I’d abandon these two now! My Taylor can be plugged in so someday soon I’ll be getting louder (if not better) 
We’ve just been away on hol for a few days and Ziggy came too. Never done that before!
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I guess that highlights the importance of getting a second opinion! 
Re: this statement of yours:
Of course, we can always wonder about things that we could have done differently. But the thing is, that previous statement can easily be flipped around! What if this past summer you hadn’t asked your guitar-player friend about your guitar? You’d almost certainly not be playing guitar now, and who knows, if ever, when it would have happened? I’m really glad that you did ask your friend though and that it turned out to be an easy fix, and that you’re now playing again!
(I often have to remind myself of such things when I start to wonder about things like “but what if I had done this particular thing so long ago?” It helps me to appreciate that I could easily not have done it now (and that it could have still been years from now), and to also to appreciate that my future selves will be grateful that I did do it now)
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I think everyone feels like this at some point. But no need to make a huge fuss about it. Here’s what a famous guitarist had to say about this:
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That is hilarious, and mirrors my impatient teenage experience. I couldn’t do it instantly, this rock star dream ain’t going to happen, gave it up quickly. Although I didn’t get a horse .
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That must have been one expensive cheap nylon string guitar 
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