Plateauing of progress

Hi there - just wanted to say welcome aboard. Don't know how to progress myself so you shouldn't be listening to me ;) Check out the Hear Here forum over there :arrow: for posting your recordings.

Good luck

Lars

Hey mate! Welcome aboard!

As Larsko mentioned, check out the Hear here forum for posting recordings.

As for plateauing, I've only been playing for 6 months or so and have only had one plateau during that time. What helped me was simply trying something different.

So my suggestion would be to do just that. If you've been teaching yourself for 18 months maybe check out a teacher (something I should really do too at some stage). Or maybe try some books if you haven't gone down that path before.

There is a wealth of info here at GN too so by simply joining us here you might find that in itself gets you up the next incline.

Good luck. 8)

Plateaus, I hate 'em. I just got past one that lasted 3 months. I didn't play at all for 2 weeks it was so frustrating.

Here is what I did. Pick something above your current ability, or something you started but gave up on and brute force your way through it. That helped me.

I had started Julia, Fields of Gold and Autumn Leaves but I hadn't gotten them to performance level. Now I have all three under my belt and I'm beyond the plateau.

I also made a three column list of all the songs I can play, need a bit of work, would like to play. I felt good about column one and practiced the heck out of column two to move it into column one. The stuff in the needs a bit of work column was both easy and intermediate.

The list really helps because you can see progress.

If it's just a question of finesse you'd probably benefit from jamming with somebody else or a group of somebody elses - nothing like playing in a band environment to tighten things up.

Best,

A :-)

Welcome to GN Jock,

I once read that a plateau is a good thing. Thats when your brain is really absorbing everything it has learned. I find that when I have a plateau, its always followed by a big "BOOM" in progress. So, dont get discouraged.

Ciao,

i think you need lessons. in fact i think it's so obvious that you need lessons that i won't elaborate.

I think lessons can only help. Why? A teacher does not think like you. He/she will have a much different perspective on things. A teacher will also focus what you're doing.

Thanks for the responses.....wrote out that list and found a large no. of songs containing difficult chord changes on the 'need to practice' column. Guess I will be working on my barres and finger strength this week!
Looked up a local teacher too and I start with him next week - just needed the shove....pearl the kat - no elaboration required!!
Cheers, Jock.

Plateauing, caused by: no longer being challenged by what your doing.

Welcome to GN, it seems you have already taken good advice from the helpful people here.

I've been playing for about twenty years and am still learning new stuff.I would highly recommend checking out some of the blues lessons on this site.Just learning simple blues turnarounds can really get you motivated again.You'll be amazed at what your capable of.
Another good tip is learn to sing along with your playing.It will improve your strumming , timing and chord changes and add that finesse your looking for.Its a good test of wether you can actually PLAY a song or not.eg.if you can't sing along to it then you can't really play it.

Hope this helps