I'm 46 and have been playing my whole adult life but I will tell you this. Your fine. Keep going at your own pace and you will get there. Have fun, it isn't a race. Sorry I can't empathise. To think I thought I was starting late back when I was 16. :lol: I can relate to the grandma thing though. I'll be a grandpa in about 6 weeks. :shock: Anything I can do to help with the guitar, just holler!
"Work hard, rock hard, eat hard, sleep hard,
grow big, wear glasses if you need 'em."
-- The Webb Wilder Credo --
Hi JBelton! My son is 12, too, and we both take guitar lessons from the same teacher. He picks new things up more quickly, but I practice way more and am still probably "ahead" of him by a little. :twisted: He doesn't feel that pressure of being old and like he's running out of time. :lol:
Although, I must add, son and I work on entirely different things. He can sightread a line of individual notes way better than me (I tend to default to the tab), but I know chords and he doesn't much care for them.
I feel the same frustrations as you about slow progress. Sometimes my fingers just seem so stupid. Some people progress so fast, and then there's me at the opposite end of the spectrum. :(
But I keep trying, and now and then I'll notice that I can do something that had eluded me previously. I have to keep reminding myself to focus on the triumphs. Going to try to keep eating that elephant, one bite at a time. :lol:
Don't know if you like blues or blues rock at all, but one book many of us have found helpful with learning some scales/box positions and other techniques is Blues You Can Use by John Ganapes. It's my favorite book to date. You can read more about it here if you're interested:
https://www.guitarnoise.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=28444
Welcome to GN!
Margaret
When my mind is free, you know a melody can move me
And when I'm feelin' blue, the guitar's comin' through to soothe me ~
Hey JB, welcome to guitarnoise :)
What everyone is saying is true, it takes different amounts of time for different people. But I think your problem with picking single notes is explained in your original post. You're not playing scales!!
They ain't fun, and they certainly are not the only way to work on picking, but they are a very good way to work on it, while learning the fretboard at the same time. Sure you're not improvising yet, but scales are great for increasing picking accuracy and speed, as well as left hand speed and dexterity.
You might want to consider learning the A B C D E F G major scales to help with your knowledge of music and your picking notes.
Taso
