Lack of Progress.

It's also relative to how much natural ability you have too.
Correct. I just assumed everyone of this site had natural talent except me :lol:

I'm similar to Moonrider.

I sometimes don't have a lot of time or a target but I'll strap on a guitar and just do chords for a bit. Practice my scales a bit. Practice picking a lot.

Very mundane sometimes but what I'm starting to notice more and more is that when I get a new exercise, that is great for the boredom factor. BUT, as I play every type of exercise I'm supposed to be working on, I'm now listening to what I'm playing and realize it isn't as good as I think it is. So I spend more time trying to make my exercises sound proper.

So I'm finding that learning something new is one phase. Learning how to play it is another. Learning to play it well is the next phase. And the last phase is playing it correctly, accurately and without errors and without thinking about it.

This should then lend itself to allow for smoother transitions into another part of the song. This takes serious amounts of time.

I've only had one lesson so far and it's really put me in my place as far as how good I think I am (thought I was). I have a long way to go before I can declare any kind of "good playing" on my part. I like that. No rock star syndrome here. :oops: (I get that from drumming) :D

I have rock star syndrome, both with the guitar and singing but it's in the back of my mind.

Can I play the guitar well? I have no idea. Why? Because I have no idea what playing well even means. Normally I ask myself two questions when learning a new song or technique: Does it sound right? Does it feel uncomfortable or hurt when I do it? If it sounds right and my body isn't telling me I'm doing something that I shouldn't, then I'm doing it right.

I think the biggest leap for me was when I was moving around the room a bit, bring the headstock up to my head while and I hadn't even noticed that I hadn't stopped playing the whole time I was doing it. For me, it was like the guitar, or at the least, that song had become second nature.

I think one of the hardest things to overcome is the constant need to compare yourself to others. As with most things in life there isn't really a set rule regarding how to do something. Just do what you can, when you can, and enjoy the process. I say this because I find myself falling into the exact same trap. I sometimes feel that I too seem to be spinning my wheels, doing the same stuff over and over. But then I'll listen to a recording I made of myself a month or two earlier of the exact thing I'm still toying around with and I suddenly realize that I am playing it better. It'll be cleaner with less mistakes and in tempo. So I wasn't really spinning my wheels and so what if it took me three times longer to learn than others. Each time I pick up a guitar I almost feel giddy with excitement. That's why I do it.

Of course I do want to get good and be able to play with others or for others, but I'm in no rush. Unless you quit, you've got the rest of your life to enjoying learning the many, many things about playing guitar.

Jason