Feeling kind of depressed. I just don't feel like I'm improving in my playing. People tell me I'm too hard on myself, but I still feel like I'm not progressing as I should. I feel like I practice my heart out but just not getting it right. I practice for about a half hour every day (or at least every other day, but mostly a little every day). Am I practicing too little? I'm so frustrated. My chords seem to not flow or there's always one note I can't get my finger positioned correctly.

What do you do when you feel down about your playing? (if that ever happens to you?)

Sorry, just feel real down about it, especially since my amp shipped out today.

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"While My Guitar Gently Weeps."

My dad said, "I'm going to miss you."
I said, "Well, now that I broke that sight off your rifle..." (Emo Philips)

usually when i feel down about my playing i try to find a really cool song that i might want to learn or i just buy some new gear to help get me interested again.

when does your amp get here?

You need to play everyday for at least an hour. If you do that, you will see progress.

If you play more, you may find yourself not feeling quite right if you don't get in your practice time.

Go for it LadyV

The amp just shipped this morning. Don't know for sure yet, but I'm monitoring it online.

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"While My Guitar Gently Weeps."

My dad said, "I'm going to miss you."
I said, "Well, now that I broke that sight off your rifle..." (Emo Philips)

Throughout my whole musical journey I've gone through this kind of thing. It's 100% normal, and I'd bet you'd get the same reaction from even some of the biggest name guitar players.

When you're frustrated like this, it's a very trying time. Sometimes I'll set my guitar down for a few days, I've been known to set it down for weeks at a time before. At one point I put it down for 6 months (of course that was after playing for about 20-years). But I just could never find it in myself to put it down completely for good.

In my opinion these are the turning points to progression. You're probably feeling like you just don't see how much further you can stretch your imagination, or your fretting or picking, whatever it may be.

There are two ways this can go for me personally when I hit these blocks. Not everyone's the same.

1. Focus REALLY hard on what I'm frustrated about. Know where I'm deficient, and make it a goal to accomplish what it is I feel like I want to accomplish. I know it IS attainable, because I know there are guys out there like Steve Vai etc (I know this list could go on).. Who have accomplished quite a bit. When I first tried playing solos, I used to imagine in my head how I thought Eddie Van Halen would play something, and I'd kind of pretend a little. It would be a mess hahaha. I knew I didn't know enough about scales and such. But I would try to focus on the delivery. Picking hand, fretting hand, just try to let something naturally flow with a certain authority and attitude even if the notes were a little of a mess. When I found myself not being smooth I would say to myself "That's not something EVH would do. So what would he do?" Sounds silly, but I found a whole lot about what I really wanted to accomplish.

or

2. Take a break. Everybody needs one every now and then. In fact there have been many times when taking a break actually helped more than just plugging away when I felt like I was getting nowhere. Strangely enough, whenever I would pick it back up, new things would just pour out that I never thought to do before. It would feel fresh and exciting again and I'd be flying all over the fretboard. There was never really a set time as to how long a break would take. Just whenever I had the real itch to get back at it. Taking a break doesn't always mean quitting. You just need to refresh sometimes, kind of like taking a Vacation.

Anyway, that's how I deal with it. There are times when I've written things and asked myself "how am I ever going to top this?" But in trusting myself, somehow I would find something. Whether it was by REALLY focusing, or just taking a small breather and coming back to it.

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HaleAmano- House Of Sharks (Now On iTunes)
http://www.reverbnation.com/haleamano
http://www.haleamano.com

Most pros have said they practice up to 8 or 10 hours a day everyday. That being said you might be better off trying to get at least two hours a day every other day and or an hour on other days. I've learned that an original is sometimes hard for a pro to duplicate exactly the same way so give yourself a break and in that practice time always allow yourself to go over the really easy stuff or one of your favorite songs you've learned. That way you feel better about your progress. Then before long the harder stuff will be the easy stuff you finish up on. Remember all musicians are thier own worst judge.

Lady V, I've been playing a long, long time. What I always do is I don't really do what I 'd call practice. I always have guitars out on stands. When the mood strikes me I just pick it up and play. I've always done that. When I was a kid I would play anywhere from 2 to 6 hours a day. Not in a row, just throughout the day or night. If you turn it into a job, you'll never progress because the fun gets sucked out of it. Don't get too hung up on book work. Learn the basics and take time to just noodle and experiment and play what feels right to you.

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Life...... It's sexually transmitted and always fatal

Hey Lady V, one of the best things you can do to improve your skill, and your level of fun, is to find a friend that plays... If you can find someone to practice/play with, you will see improvement very quickly.
Your new amp will also help to "get you chin up".

Good Luck

Bill

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Hey, Boy Blue is back!

Knock knock, reality checks in. Hello LVA, you feel depressed because you think that your playing is not up to your expectations. You might be desapointed but you shouldn't be depressed. But then, you shouldn't be desapointed either. Here's why. Do you take guitar lessons with a real teacher? Do you practice at least one hour a day, chords, scales with a metronome, theory, improvisation? Do you have goals or some achievement that you want to reach? Do you play gigs with real people from time to time? Do you have a match plan?

There was a discussion like this not long ago on the forum, and one of the ideas that cut through was to record yourself. You can upgrade only the things that you can measure (or compare on a time base). So if it is possible for you to tape yourself, with the date, songs, scales or exercises, do it once a week for six to eight weeks, and then compare the recent recordings with the older ones. My guess is that you will find progress and more fluidity in your playing.

If you don't have a teacher, you have to have a plan, get organized because it is the only way to really improve yourself. I took weekly lessons for six months, two years ago, only to realize that with my job I didn't have the time to rehearse what I had learned the week before. It was also impossible to change or adapt the way the teacher was giving his lessons, so I quit. Then a few months ago I found a new comprehensive teacher who was willing to teach me every two weeks. Even with that ideal set up I sometimes hit the wall of frustration but you know what, because I'm organized, I know that the frustration won't last long so I don't let it affect me, and then I can concentrate myself on the only important thing, that is learning how to be a better guitar player.

It would be a dead end to think that by having a slow pace training, we will never ever going to be able to reach the playing level of guitar virtuosos who practice four hours everyday. It is not a race. For a long time I thought that I didn't deserve to play an expensive guitar because I wasn't good enough. Mind self sabotage. At some point, quality gear is good for anyone who want to go further with his guitar playing, and you did the right thing to upgrade your amp.

When I feel down about my playing, I talk to someone about it. Hope this helps. See ya.
Claude.

Yes it helped, thanks Claude

Hi Lady

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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.

Don't worry about it Lady, everyone feels the same way. We all go through the ups and downs in guitar playing. Look at all the threads with players looking to get better tone, they're not happy with their playing either! If you asked everyone on the site if they are happy with their playing 99% would say no.

Everyone misses notes, hell I've been playing for over 10 years and I always hit wrong notes, miss them all together, don't get my fingers in the right place, etc etc etc. I just don't care. If you play a wrong note, who cares? Don't stop playing just keep going.

If you want to flow better trying standing while you play and sing along. You can't get a good groove going if you're sitting on your bed!

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Tune Low, Play Hard & Floor it!

I have a cheap $30 cassette recorder (Radio Shack) and I record most of my practicing. When I feel that I'm in a rut, I listen back to some older tapes. I find that it helps me a lot.

Sometimes it takes "hearing" how much you've progressed to have it really sink in.

Recording, in general, is a good way to see how you're doing. Use any backing track and try different "takes" over it. After a week or so and several takes, really listen and see where you could make some changes.

Good luck!

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Being able to play and enjoy music is a gift that's often taken for granted.

Don't leave home without it!

Thanks for the suggestions. It's just been hard with dad and all the problems at home so it's hard to practice. I've pretty much lost all of my friends and have no one now to talk to. So, I'm even harder on myself when I don't do things right.

What kind of recorder did you get, Mike? Can you give me a link or something, please?

I'm trying to get more practice time in, but I have to break it up. I don't have the callouses yet built up and my fingers hurt like heck. I'm starting to get some though. Feels weird.

I'm working on some basic songs...slower ones with easier chords so I can get the progressions. I usually stand and sing if I can (can't practice too well sitting anymore for some reason).

Again, thanks. I'm just a little frustrated.

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"While My Guitar Gently Weeps."

My dad said, "I'm going to miss you."
I said, "Well, now that I broke that sight off your rifle..." (Emo Philips)

I'll bet I have been playing for 43 years,and I still get frustrated with my playing and sound.
When it starts bothering me I put it down...I even took about a 3 year break not so long ago where I picked up the guitar maybe 10 times in that period,then it felt fresh again and sounded better,it's always a journey...you are your own worst critic...everyone is or should be.
A guy told me a very long time ago,"when it gets to the point where you're ready to throw it out the window,something will click and make sense and you'll understand more and want to learn more and play better."

Sure thing, it was this one :

http://www.radioshack.com/product/index ... Id=2252670

Keep in mind that this is not mp3 quality, but it does serve it's purpose well. Regarding the "out of stock"...I believe it is only carried in-store and not online.

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Being able to play and enjoy music is a gift that's often taken for granted.

Don't leave home without it!