I probably exaggerated a bit. By “effort,” I mostly mean practice and focused work.
Not in a stressful or competitive way though, more like a calm and steady race. That’s just how I function.
And honestly, I’m enjoying it a lot, so no worries 
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It is indeed very slow. You have to kind of enjoy the Journey. It understand that is very cliche, but if you just want the results without enjoying the learning process, you will certainly loose interest.
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@briankill Let’s see Brian, “anyone else been there?”,…probably all of us. It’ll come. Be patient. Record yourself playing. You can review those, listen, watch what you’re doing, note what’s right/what’s in need of correction, and enjoy it. I still struggle with barre chords. My index finger always leaves one string not pressed, usually the 2nd string. Keep it slow till you have it down, then slowly increase speed. Best to play slow and well vs. fast and sloppy
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I’m right there with you, buddy. But, they tell me that this is not a race and its all about the journey…
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Hey Brian, welcome to the community. I started playing at the very young age of 53. haha. It did seem slow at the time. Now some 15 years later, it’s just a blip in my distant memory.
What helped me was having a clearer goal than when I tried 30 years ago. Also I made it a daily commitment to play 15 minutes EVERY day.
And I focused on getting to playing my first song ASAP. No theory, no scales, just learning a song. Once I could play my first song all the way through, that really did it for me. I was off and running and soon I could 2 songs, then 3 etc. The app wasn’t available then, I worked off Justins first songbook.
I was determined to play the full F barre chord and mine sucked for several months.
The last thing I’ll say is hang in there and stick with it. Find a way, the reward at the end is so very worth it. To be able to pull a song out of one’s back pocket at will and play for the pure pleasure of it is a great experience and it’s there waiting for you.
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Thanks everyone very much for all your support and very helpful tips. I reckon I just need to settle down a bit.
What’s the rush?
I love playing and no-one is keeping score so if it takes me a while it’s cool.
Thanks guys again. I hadn’t realised what an amazing community this is and will hang out here more often.
All the best.
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Hi Brian,
The best advice I have if you’re struggling with barre chords is put them on the shelf and come back to them later. I suggest focus on playing about 4-5 chords at first and play them really well with good chord changes. G-C-Em-Am-D will get you countless songs. You may not be able to play your favorite song just yet but that’s okay, you will. If you find a song with a chord that needs a barre chord substitute with a power chord that uses only 2 or 3 fingers. It will not sound exactly like the original barre chords but it will work. Develop rhythm and timing on the basics before doing anything fancy and enjoy the journey. Give yourself time and give yourself a break. This is a long road ahead but take simple steps to progress. I went from people covering their ears when I play to performing on stage in just a couple years. Everyone gets discouraged or frustrated but if I can get there you can too.
Jeff from California
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THIS!!!
The only person you’re racing against is yourself!
Someone (I think it was Justin) says to video yourself often while learning new skills… in the short term, you can watch the video & possibly recognize technique errors/issues & try to correct them. Long term, record yourself playing a song as soon as you can play it all the way through. Then, periodically review your video collection & re-attempt the song several months later. You will amaze yourself at the progress you’ve achieved!!! It really helps boost your confidence level!!!
Good luck with your guitar Journey!!!
Tod
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No worries! We’ve all been there (I’m still there, ha). Try not to take on too much at once. If you have specific questions on techniques, feel free to post threads! People here are very helpful.
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“Has anyone else been there”, Yes we all have. Some of us may have forgotten how difficult the first year was, but we all have had the same frustrations. Leaning over your guitar, placing one finger at a time on the fretboard and looking at the chord chart six times just to be sure. Your progress is not slow, it’s normal. One way to curbed the frustrations is to make what you know now, enjoyable to play. For me it was simple two chord songs.
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Hi all,
Different instrument, but when I started saxophone it took three years of one to two hours practice daily before I could cover pop pentatonic stuff in a cover band, another year of two hours/day before I qualified for a jazz band. Played heavy for the next few years but never did get up to playing a Coltrane solo note for note, though I could improvise a reasonable facsimile. Lots of frustration in the beginning, but every now and then I’d get a win and everything would click and it was magical and I’d keep going.
So I know I’m in for the long haul on guitar. Started Justin end of February and after 16 hours total practice I can almost play Three Little Birds and sing at the same time. I’m in module 5, grade 1. Much older fingers that suffered a youthful predilection for unsanctioned boxing matches in the local pub have just about negated any advantage from playing another instrument. Gotta admit, I’m getting more frustrations than wins. (Damn you, open Dm.)
But I know the magic is in there and that motivates me to keep picking up the guitar. Goals are important, so my current goal is to improvise a politely applauded blues solo in a pub jam session. If I can achieve that in a year, that’ll be a win!
So savor the wins, work through the frustrations and set reasonable goals.
And speaking of wins, USA to the Round of 32!
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@RichieLbv … a comprehensive answer … I need to ask … was it AI generated?
approaching 2 year newbie “old dog” here, whose progress has slowed way down, due to motivational and temporal and physical challenges. I can so relate… . . .
As to the motivational, one thing that most got me motivated was the period I was playing with someone. I know I should be self motivated enough on my own, but it was the looking forward to getting together with the friend (who is better than I) that goaded me into really focusing. Those songs then became the impetus to surmount the challenges of learning new skill sets.
The other thing that happened at those gatherings was real progress became manifest. My friend is an intermittent, outside observer. While I demurred, to them it was apparent the growth of my skillset over the passage of time. Screen/audio recordings (as others have suggested) can function similarly.
As an aside, I’ve found sometimes I’m so boneheaded about “conquering” a challenge that I’m missing signals that my approach is, ahem, sub optimal, and yet I persist. Here, filming has helped: I’d film myself, and then compare to other videos (here @Justin’s and elsewhere): wrist, thumb, angle of fingers, vertical finger tips, angle of neck, position of guitar, shoulders, slouching, etc… Oftentimes I’ve found the geometry of how I’m interacting with the guitar to contribute (both negatively and positively) to the challenge of progress.
be kind, and honest, with self critique,
find the fun in what you’ve accomplished and as you’re doing,
we can do this!
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