Hi Nevin,
No need to go "Pete Townsend" Some days are just like that. I get frustrated too, to the point of putting it down... You know it will call you back, and things will sound better a different day.

Bill

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Hey, Boy Blue is back!

Eh....................Im probably worse..and more clumsy.

Every time I take my amp out to the living room when my parents aren't home, I either hit the amp on the wall or my cheap Starcaster on the wall. OR BOTH.....

But HEY! They still work. So Im always happy with that!!! Don't let those bad days get you down. They happen..as already said.

I'll leave you with this: was SRV, Jimi Hendrix, or anything other guitarist perfect every day???????

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"I won't be a rock star. I will be a legend."

-Freddie Mercury

We've all gotten frustrated with our playing at times feeling that we're not progressing as fast as we'd like to but that's all part of learning.Don't blame your guitar,it was once said that it's a poor musician who blames his instrument.Believe me there were many times that I felt like packing it in but I persevered and made myself more determined to conquer the guitar.You should be thanking God that you have 2 good hands.Every day I'm faced with sometimes excruciating pain from the arthritis in my hands but I refuse to let it beat me and even though my playing is not 20% of what it was I keep going.Les Paul has been a great inspiration for me so much so that a letter that I wrote in tribute to him was chosen as letter of the month in the January issue of Guitar Player Magazine.What I wouldn't give to have hands as young and healthy as yours,you should count your blessings and just keep playing,believe me it will all come in time you just have to learn to give it time.

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'65 Strat,65 Mustang,65 Jaguar,4 more Strats,3 vintage Vox guitars,5 Vox amps,'69 Bassman with a '68 2-15 Bassman cab,36 guitars total-15asst'd amps total,2 vintage '60s Hammond organs & a myriad of effects-with a few rare vintage ones.

Nevin1985, please don't be critical of your playing, what ever you play is good, if some music you are working on isn't sounding exactly like you want it may be time to write a new song and stop thinking about that other one for awhile, when I get to a place where I can't play any thing at all ( a combination of too much practice and trying too hard to write some thing new) I just play one note an A or a G or some times a C or a D and start to sing around it, brings you back home pretty quick. ( an E can work too.)

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you can save the world with your guitar one love song at a time it's just better, more fun, easier with a fender solid body electric guitar or electric bass guitar.

nevin,
This is no joke, please just listen to what I am saying and try this trick. Get a copy or download Hall & Oates "Kiss is on my List" Then learn it. It is relatively easy to learn and the guitar solo is awesome(GE Smith's guitar work). Then just play that song a couple times a day concentrating on the solo. Whenever I get stale in my playing or frustrated with how I play, I do just that and it brings me back into the fold. Give me a yell and tell me how it goes! Never quit my brother...you are just going through a phase that is all.
ABS

I have gone through a week here and there when it feels like I can't play anything properly. During those times I just leave the guitar alone for even a day and then come back to it. I then come back and instead of working on something I just run through the gamut of riffs and solos and songs that I know. I don't really care about what it sounds like too much and if I screw up I just mash right through it and usually that makes me feel good. Maybe this is just what you need. Maybe you should take a break and just sit and wonder about why you play and what you want from it. For me I want to be as good as I can be but I also want to enjoy it. Write out some goals and just take even a split second to think about why you want them and what you're going to do about it. I've done that with various things in my life and it helps as silly as it sounds. It just helps to give you some perspective and direction. Don't limit yourself but be realistic about what you want in the immediate future. Best of luck!

It's ok to take a break, we all go through it. If it's no fun then's it's just becoming a chore. Stop playing for a little while, spend more time just listening to music and you'll get inspired to play again and come back twice as good.

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Tune Low, Play Hard & Floor it!

More than once, I've handed my Strat to my guitar teacher and asked him to just play something so I know music can come out of that guitar....

I'm GASing for a couple of wall brackets to display my guitars...

I share your pain;

Just when it gets frusterating, stop. I used to get really frusterated with my playing, as I couldn't get through one whole simple song without my right hand stuffing up with dystonia, so whenever that happens now, i just think, "Alright, enough...", and go off and listen to some music for an hour, and come back to it later.
About a week ago, i was so pissed off about it, that i was actually was about to post about me having a hiatus, but i didn't.

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riley

Nevin sometimes you have to give yourself a break, but with commitment to learn comes the fact that days will be frustrating though the reward is worth it.

Go to the the range and shoot a few targets, hunting season get out in the woods, or throw a line out and do some fishing. Get it walk away and do something else then go back. Nothing wrong with taking a break.

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The strongest reason for the people to retain the right to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government.

Thomas Jefferson

+1, you'll just be really desperate to pick it up when your finished

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riley

Can't always say that r-t-g, I have a lot of guitars but also a lot of firearms that get there share of attention.

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The strongest reason for the people to retain the right to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government.

Thomas Jefferson

Yeah, i spose your right. You cant just play your guitar 24/7, you have to do something else. The dirt roads of benalla get just about as much attention as the guitars do for me.

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riley

Speaking as a noob... I always say progress comes in baby steps, and it really does. I practice about 2 hours every morning and many, many, many days I do not learn anything new. I just keep going over the stuff I should know and try to get it right. Some days you do... many days you don't.

My other love... motorcycles. I rode about 80,000 miles in five years and then it happened. In an eleven month span I crashed on both of my bikes. It's not just the bikes you have to fix, you also have to find replacements for all the expensive riding gear. A good fitting helmet is hard to find.

I guess the point here is this... you either have to walk away with nothing to show for your pain and hard work or you just gotta get up and get back on the horse that threw ya!

No regrets!

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You're only as strong as
the drinks you pour,
the tables you dance on,
and the friends you roll with.

Nevin1985,

Try not to get discouraged. I go through some bad sessions when I play. When I hear and feel like my playing is not as good as I know I am, I get frustrated too. I do one of two things at this point:

1. Try to work through it. If I still cannot get through it, I revert back to my Metal/Thrash days and rip it up. I can play that stuff without even thinking. It is more like pure aggression pouring out and since I am already frustrated the music just flows.

2. If that does not get me through the funk, then I just put the guitar away for the rest of the day.

Try to keep this in mind as well, when you are practicing in your apartment, you usually have to play with the amp lower than you like. When you have the opportunity to open it up and practice louder, you are likely not used to the noises that your guitar can make when you are allowed to go all out. Just try cutting the volume back for a few minutes to get back to your usual practice level, then increase the volume when you have worked out the progression you are working on.

I have gotten frustrated and thrown a guitar in my time, but never one I really liked. Hope you work through it. And dont let a few bad sessions turn a player into a collector.

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RK

2007 Fender Highway 1
2012 American Deluxe
2015 MIM Dave Murray HHH
2010 Fender Blacktop
1987 Fender Avalon Acoustic
2012 Marshall DSL 15 watt head