Okay thanks. I think I have an old one like that my dad owns. I can use his. If he doesn't have it, the amp I'm getting has a record USB cord and I have basic software on my mac to record. I made a thread asking about a proper USB cord.

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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)

Haha, I think I've got the same one as you. It's weird, though, a'cause I've never thought of using it to record my playing....
so, thanks for the idea, Mike!!

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"If it's planned, it's boring." - Freddie Mercury

And LVA--Whenever I'm stuck in a rut and depressed about my playing(which seems like it's very often ), I just take a break for a few minutes and listen to some of my favorite songs that have some fantastic guitar playing in them. A good solo by Brian May really gets me excited to try harder and push through the "wall" I'm currently experiencing. And the song doesn't always have to be filled with tasty guitar playing, either--it can just be a song that I really love, and that will sometimes be all I need to get back up and in the groove.

Good luck with getting out of your rut--it never lasts forever.

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"If it's planned, it's boring." - Freddie Mercury

Thanks all. I might just go easy tonight and just try to do a song.

On a brighter note, my amp is supposed to com in tomorrow.

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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)

LadyVA:
I may be new to guitars (4 months now) but have been playing banjos and mandolins for years. Trust me, many of us "non pro" musicians simply do not have more than an hour per day (and we are lucky if we even have that) to practice.

I agree with the poster above who said about leaving your instruments out on stands (unless you have kids or animals that might run into them or turn the stand over). The old adage "out of sight, out of mind" is never truer when an instrument is in its protective hard case and usually tucked away. I keep my instruments on stands or hanging on walls where as the time or spirit moves me I can simply walk over and grab one and practice.

2)it is better to practice 4 15 minutes times perday than not to practice at all. (or what ever time you can devote to playing that day)

3)recording ones self is a great idea. It lets you look back in 3 months to see how far you really have come.

4)Many great players have been self taught-but it takes a boatload of belief in yourself. And every single one of them that I have ever heard talk about being self taugh all say the same thing-they also got together with others -from school, from the neighborhood, relatives etc and played as often as they could. They took their instrument EVERYWHERE-the city park, down by the river, to a friends house-EVERYWHERE they went, so did the instrument. Because before long you are bound to meet SOMEONE who is either a)not as experienced as you are and YOU can show them somethings you have learned OR B)someone MORE experienced than you and THEY will show you some things. Music is meant to be shared. No one comes out of the womb playing an instrument-OUCH! We all have to learn. For some like myself, it is a lifelong persuit, for others like my ex-it came more naturally, almost effortlessly and trust me she did practice on a weekend if she had a bad week at work-12 hours a day she sat on the floor and played. Did not take a break to eat, only drank if I brought her in some ice tea.

The point to all of this is that each of us learns at our own rate. sometimes it takes a while for a certain skill to sink in.Then one day you wake up and "Bammmm" it is like someone threw on a light switch, and suddenly the lesson or issue you have been having trouble with for weeks/months is able to be played thru.

Go play a song, something simple that you know. Go shred so killer lead guitar part. Most importantly HAVE FUN, because that is what music is all about-having fun. And in time it will become pretty effortless.

Janice

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So heres to your survival, swimming up the stream, crossing over one dam after another till we get to Rock and Roll Heavens Gate!

Hey hey,
Don't feel down! This is just the beginning. not one single individual was born with a silver musical instrument in their hand. Well, maybe some spoiled brat like Mozart was given a piano before the midwife or doctor slapped his little rear end, but still even he wasn't born with skill.

Talent is something you are born with. Skill is something you aquire.
Patience is the biggest key here. Patience.
Persistance is second biggest key.
Also, what is key is not to try to do the hardest things first.
We don't run before we learn to walk and we don't walk before we learn to crawl.
Don't look at mistakes as failure but as a opportunity to learn what went wrong. Mistakes, in of themselves, can be the greatest lesson you will ever
be given. How you respond to your mistakes will determine if you will learn from them. Taken positively, you will learn and in learning you will be truly encouraged. Negatively, you will be discouraged and the discouragement only blocks your ability to progress.
So, it is really a choice of attitude that we must choose that in turn decides whether we advance or not. It is worthy to note that the lesson described here, also applies to every decision you'll make in life.

We ALL go through this. Don't be discouraged, keep trying.

Sometimes it's necessary to take a break from our focus, and contemplate what worked what didn't and ponder on perfecting what worked and how to correct what didn't.

Also, it helps to have someone in person who knows how to play that can
successfully communicate what you need to know and how to communicate
it to you in the way that you can understand what you need to learn.

So...
Patience
Persistance
Positive attitude
Willingness to master the simple things so you can move on to harder things.

When I was a young kid, I wasn't developed at all in these important things. I was a real rebel. But my rebelliousness cost me many years that
I could have enjoyed playing the guitar and honing and mastering my musical playing skills and thus causing my talent to flourish.
Had it not been for my bad attitude I could be someone extremely rich
in musical productivity and perhaps, in fame and fortune as a sort of fringe benefit.
But no.. that isn't the case.

The most powerful anything start out clumsy, weak and slow.

You keep at it and one day you'll be dancing circles around your now formidable challenges that seem impossible to conquer.

Also, never cease to desire to learn. Whatever it is. Never say "I know all there is to know" - the results of that attitude is no different than a newborn that decides that one breath is enough.

Hope this helps.

Oh... ps
I've found that I can now play myself to sleep.
It's really a cool feeling to be that relaxed.

Hi Lady VA,don't get so down on yourself,that's the problem almost all guitarists experience one time or another,we can be our own worse critics and enemies.I've gone through times that my playing wasn't up to the standards I set for myself and have kicked myself around because of it. Don't let it get to you,take a break for a few days and listen to some music that inspires you or some genre that you never listened to before and most likely you'll go back at it with a new vigor.Anyway don't be hard on yourself it's all part of the learning process sometimes we become impatient with ourselves because we're not picking up things as fast as we'd like to,I imagine everyone from Allman to Zappa has had times like that it's nothing new and every guitar player that has a true interest in the craft goes through it.Anyway keep at it and don't be discouraged everything will fall into place in time.You'll do great,I know it!

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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.

As other people have said, its completly natural to go through these phases. What i do when i go through one is;

take a bit of a hiatus, it can be just 3 days or 2 weeks, doesn't matter, and focus on something else to do with music eg, writting songs. By the time your hiatus is up, you should realise how much you depend on it.

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riley

Thanks. I just took a mini break and practiced simple songs. I even managed to hit an F chord with little muting which was better than what I used to do (only hit it once awhile back. Now I got it a few times).

My guitar is always out where I can see it and I've even taken it to work to play during prep times (I'm a teacher). Know I should've been correcting but did that later.

I'm always looking for books of songs for at least easy guitar. I've even found an Ozzy book online for easy guitar. It may not be the best, but it might be worth looking into.

Again, thanks a bunch.

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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)

Go back to basics, it works.

sounds to me like your not giving yourself credit. remember the first time you picked it up and said, jeez, this is hard to do? is it any easier now than it was then? i'd bet you that it is and it will keep getting easier the more time you put into it. trust me, it will.
i'd also bet that every person on this great forum feels like they have room to improve. i know i do. but, i'm also content in my playing style and i'm not afraid to plug in and do my thing. after 20 years of playing, i'm adequate at best. know what? i don't really care. i just have fun and hope at least one person is entertained even if it's just my wife.
listen to all this great advice thats been posted and know that all of us are here anytime you need a nudge.
i hope i don't sound too much like dr. phil.

Hey Lady -
This is one of those "YMMV" (your mileage may vary) type of things. Everyone is different.
I would say, first of all, that everyone has plateaus. Which is to say, we struggle to learn something for the longest time, and one day - WHAM - you finally memorize it, get it right, and can play it. Sometimes those struggles can be painfully long, but once you get where you wanted to be, or learn what you wanted to learn, the reward is very sweet.
I would also suggest setting realistic, small goals within your bigger goals. For instance, if your goal (as an example) is that you want to be a great blues player, that is a goal that can be reached, but it probably won't be reached tomorrow and you will constantly be frustrated by your lack of reaching your goal. If you set a goal of (again, as an example) learning a basic 12 bar blues progression, that is a tangible goal that you can reach within a reasonable time frame, and from there you can set another challenge for yourself.
Good luck, and most importantly, keep at it.

Good advice. Makes me think of this-

"Sometimes you want to give up the guitar, you'll hate the guitar. But if you stick with it, you're gonna be rewarded." Jimi Hendrix

I find that if I play music with other people my playing always gets better and I grow a bit.

I meet a lot of gyus, who like myself, never played in a band. They just banged away in their rooms.

Playing with other peope always makes you a better player. You learn from more experienced players.

Paris