Having the songs be ones you want to learn is certainly an incentive. If it was just for the sake of the chord, the motivation drops off the table.
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Wow, 1 day off and thereās A hugh thread to wade through.
Hard for me, lol, EVERYTHING. Iām just a novice.
Currently managing about 40-50 changes a min with the F chord since Octoberish, so yeah thatās been quite hard.
Strumming knocking on heavens door. That split bar change is being a mare.
Canāt stand power chords, small hands have trouble with reach and strength.
R
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Haha, Iāve been following along. Iām glad people have found it interesting! I certainly have.
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Just shows we are all struggling with something or many things and learning guitar aināt as easy as it looks. Hopefully the thread will provide insight to those just starting or hitting their first bumps, that there will be challenges, you will get over them only for them to be replaced by others.
Weāre all in for the long haul, so donāt give up at the first hurdle.
Thx for kicking this off JK, some great entries.
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I love that everybody has something for this thread, because it shows that weāve all committed to a path of challenging ourselves and learning.
I could tick several boxes already mentioned by others, but Iāll say specifically that changing quickly and smoothly between power chords is one that Iām giving a bit of time these days. Even just sliding is tricky, but especially when they hop strings.
For those struggling with the F barre chord, I say: Experiment with it higher up the neck. I think F is the hardest to play. Two frets up, and youāre at G - itās easier. On up to A is a breeze. And I think when you add those to your practice of F, it makes F more accessible, too. (Any transitions to open chords, and this starts going sideways for me.)
I also strongly resonate with the problem of guitar studies being a full-time job.
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Iāve just moved onto power chords, and I canāt believe how tired my hand gets after only a few minutes, right now it seems like an uphill struggle, and I sigh mentally when I get to that part of my practice but hey thatās normal it does get easier ā right? 
I was chuffed when I finally learned to sing and play at the same time but now that Iāve gone back to add a more advanced strumming pattern or a simple picking pattern to some of the songs, I can no longer sing along at the same time, so Iām having to relearn all over again, I know that itāll all come together and itāll be worth the hard work but why oh why canāt it be quicker.
Someone should right a funny song about the struggles of learning guitar ā not me Iām too busy struggling with everything else guitar. 
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Really interesting thread, and I have tried to think of how to reply multiple times. I decided to do my top five. and added a 6th.
- Picking individual strings in a strum pattern
- Fingerpicking
- Incorporating barre chords in songs.
- Acoustic solo blues
- Bending
- Singing/playing/performing
Of course there are many more, and I have been thinking about this as a way to update my learning log. My practice session has had these elements in for months. There are times I have felt that I have stalled, but looking back I can see how I have progressed in capability and speed of most of the items.
I have a 5 song āsetā that I use to practice that I would like to be able to perform at a local open mic. However even if I feel good about these things in my practice room, getting them public is a whole different challenge I know.
I have looked at other lessons, and then retreated back to these to focus on rather than adding more to my plate that feels hard. I know they will still be there when Iām ready. I am really interested in the new blues course but think that may be too much too soon for me to take on.
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This does seem like a very big list of big topicsā¦ youāre maybe spreading yourself too thin? Iām in favour of having a few things on the go so I donāt get bored but there might be a tipping point where you donāt progress much with any of them
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I am so, so bad at making time to practice and taking my playing in any new and challenging directions.
I have been working on a tricky fingerstyle thing in an altered tuning and am hoping to perform it at the Open Mic.
It is not easy.
My fingers are fumbly.
A successful run through happens now and again but not too often.
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I took an extra week learning Dm and finally getting 35 changes on one min chord changes When I practice songs that ring finger will come down here and there.
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Matt, they are all encompassed in the developing set list, so practicing 5 songs hits 4 of them. The blues solos provide a bit of a change and challenge to keep me feeling like I am learning more than improving.
At one time I wanted to speed through the lessons, but now I am happy slowly adding in new challenges.
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Iām just starting Grade 3. How would you summarize it? Would you say you learned a lot? Did lessons translate directly and immediately to actual playing?
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Hello Matt. I too started doing Dm with the ring finger, but Iāve made the effort to train myself to use the pinky. In addition to improving your pinky strength and coordination, doing this leaves your ring finger free for variations to the Dm. Look at Justinās lesson on āImagineā where a Dm/C āslash chordā is and should be used. You could use your thumb to come over and fret the C. My hands are too small or not flexible enough for that.
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Grade 3 is a bit different as others before me have said. Itās less structured and more a mix of new techniques to enable you to embellish what you have learnt in Grades 1 & 2. There are also a number of ānon playingā food for thought type videos. You have to put the effort in yourself as to how to incorporate the techniques and embellishments into songs rather than it being laid out for you, which is one of my tasks for the consolidation. There are two new songs where tabs are provided (Blues Lick n Riff and Greensleeves) where my first reaction on hearing Justinās demo was āthereās no way I can play that! but I am slowly getting there. Good luck and enjoy the ride!
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WOW, this thread is really busy 
JK, you always come up with such exciting topics 
So many interesting posts and comments to read.
They made me realize that my āhard-for-meā-list is much longer than in my earlier post. Reminded me of good, old Aristotle āThe more you know, the more you realize you donāt knowā
Well, it seems a beginner like me doesnāt know much yet 
I guess thereās a lot of work waiting for me in the next Grades!
And one more āhard-for-meā thing Iām currently struggling with is ā¦
GAS. 
Before joining JG and spending (too much? 
) time in this wonderful forum I didnāt even know that such a thing exists - and now Iām severely infected.
I have two very nice guitars already. They play well and are very dear to me. Thereās nothing wrong with them. So why am I thinking about a third guitar all the time? Thatās crazy!
Whatās wrong with me? 
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Iāve been following this topic with great interest! Still a beginner, I fall solidly into the ājust about everything is hard for meā camp, and agree with those who observe that this is natural for a beginner.
With that said, what is currently hard-for-me is less a skill or technique, and isnāt even rational . Iām having difficulty appreciating and embracing my progress, especially when hitting those inevitable low-slope sections of the learning curve, and accepting the limitations of my innate talent. I try to draw comparisons with other things Iāve learned to do in life, and find that those often had specific targets or metrics attached. I used to run (still do, but much less and certainly more slowly), where things like a target 10k time or a Boston-qualifying marathon time are specific and measurable, progress is easily tracked, and there is an understanding that each human has their physical limits. I worked in IT, and was able to combine my knowledge and skills with the work of others to accomplish a goal. Of course there are many parallels in guitar land: counting chord changes, tracking bpm at which we can play a song, sharing techniques for conquering barre chords or strumming patterns, and realizing that - hey! I couldnāt play that song/strumming pattern/embellishment at all last month! The list goes on. As I said, the struggle isnāt rational, Thank you for the therapy session! 
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It can be really difficult to aim for specific goals in guitar as a measure success.
There is no ā10kā mark, chord changes per minute is an exercise not a goal.
Even ābeing able to play a songā is a tough goal because it is a moving target. Even when I can āplayā it, I can learn to play it better and better, never quite being good enough as my skills improve.
Far better to seek short term goals and focus on the enjoyment of continual learning and improvement.
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I think youāre over thinking this to much. Even with a 10 K marker you could always do better/faster. Every skill a person learns is a moving target. Just aiming at a target is a good starting point.
If you never start you will never finish.
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Wow, that a great topic, JK!
So much interesting posts in it already - thanks to all contributors.
This little thing is giving me headaches:
e---X----|
b---8----|
g---7----|
D---9----|
A---10---|
E---X----|
and its usage in context - I have really small hands and a short pinky. Iām working on a progression with this one in for months know and itās slowly getting better.
Second thing I really need to put effort in to get it under my fingers: legato pentatonic scale.
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