How Do You Keep Yourself Motivated?
chakie
Feb 4 2009, 02:43 PM
GMC:er
 Posts: 19
Joined: 28-October 08
I've been trying to learn to play the guitar on my own for about 1.5 years now. I joined GMC last fall but haven't really used the resources here that much, I find the interesting lessons too hard for me. Lots of good content, a friendly "spirit" and a good forum though.

So my question is: how do you keep yourself motivated when things don't progress? I'm at a stage where I can't really play any songs nor jam along to music I like. It gets quite frustrating to keep practising the same scales, simple chord progressions or riffs over and over and you really see no real progress. Of course there has been progress when I started, but at this pace I'll be able to play a simple song by 2019.

If I would know a fair bit more it would always be possible to just put on some record I like with songs I know and play along, but I'm far from that stage yet. My motivation is right now at an all time low and I'm thinking about selling my stuff and picking up some hobby that doesn't make me feel like an incompetent idiot... sad.gif

No, I have no friends that play guitar that I could get together with, nor any friends that have bands. Having some playing friends would of course be a great aid. My wife does play the piano, so she's been helping me a lot with music theory. So compared to what I actually can play I know far more about what I theoretically could play. smile.gif

Any tips for a newbie? Recording myself play is really of no use. Of course I know that just keeping on playing will improve things, I don't need recordings for that. The problem is just finding the energy to bother to pick up the guitar every day and practice those damn scales and progressions until I'm good enough to actually tackle some real song and eventually be good enough to play some simple power chord riffs.

Sigh.

-- chakie

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Posts in this topic
- chakie   How Do You Keep Yourself Motivated?   Feb 4 2009, 02:43 PM
- - Mandos   I think that you need to focus more on having fun,...   Feb 4 2009, 02:48 PM
- - Fran   To keep motivation I learn lessons I like, and als...   Feb 4 2009, 03:01 PM
- - timono   Like Mandos and Fran already said, play things you...   Feb 4 2009, 03:13 PM
- - fatb0t   I've had motivation issues before, especially ...   Feb 4 2009, 03:17 PM
- - Marek Rojewski   Yeah, You need more fun with the guitar. Learn ea...   Feb 4 2009, 03:33 PM
- - Toni Suominen   Like said above, learn music you think is cool and...   Feb 4 2009, 04:13 PM
- - ErikEklund   I get motivated because I love to play and think t...   Feb 4 2009, 04:19 PM
- - chakie   Thank you all for the encouragement. But most of t...   Feb 4 2009, 05:04 PM
- - Fsgdjv   I have to agree with everybody else. You don't...   Feb 4 2009, 05:19 PM
- - Fran   Just with powerchords and some simple riffing you ...   Feb 4 2009, 05:24 PM
- - Wabba   Practice things you enjoy! I personally enjoy ...   Feb 4 2009, 05:29 PM
- - Nighthawk1   Well, I always watch one of my favourite lesson of...   Feb 4 2009, 05:34 PM
- - Jose Mena   Well everyone's experience is different, maybe...   Feb 4 2009, 05:44 PM
- - Ramiro Delforte   I think the best way to keep the motivation is to ...   Feb 4 2009, 05:59 PM
- - Vasilije Vukmirovic   Ups and downs mate. NOBODY is constantly well moti...   Feb 4 2009, 08:13 PM
- - Canis   I keep myself motvated by watching the people who ...   Feb 4 2009, 11:45 PM
- - Ivan Milenkovic   We all have these ups and downs and I can only adv...   Feb 5 2009, 12:59 AM
- - Pedja Simovic   Really good points I read here. I can share my exp...   Feb 5 2009, 02:32 AM
- - chakie   Hey guys, thank you so much for all the kind encou...   Feb 5 2009, 06:08 PM
|- - Muris Varajic   Hi Chakie. I can't talk in name of all peopl...   Feb 5 2009, 10:18 PM
||- - lcsdds   QUOTE (Muris Varajic @ Feb 5 2009, 10:18 ...   Feb 11 2009, 05:22 PM
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|- - Flushovsky   I understand what you are going through. I had the...   Feb 5 2009, 10:41 PM
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- - Vasilije Vukmirovic   Muris is got a point. Nothing beats that feeling w...   Feb 6 2009, 01:14 PM
- - slash48   Listen to your all time favorite guitarists and te...   Feb 10 2009, 11:50 PM
|- - Alen   QUOTE (slash48 @ Feb 10 2009, 11:50 PM) L...   Feb 24 2009, 03:53 PM
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- - Praetorian   Chakie - different things work for different peopl...   Feb 11 2009, 12:01 AM
- - chakie   Well, over the last weekend I sat down and thought...   Feb 11 2009, 02:29 PM
- - Velvet Roger   Besides all the points mentioned before, which are...   Feb 11 2009, 05:40 PM
|- - chakie   QUOTE (Velvet Roger @ Feb 11 2009, 06:40 ...   Feb 11 2009, 10:29 PM
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- - djohnneay   What I do lately, is just look at the things that ...   Feb 11 2009, 10:33 PM
- - Vasilije Vukmirovic   How do I keep my self motivated? Honestly, I don...   Feb 24 2009, 05:31 PM
- - Alex87   What works best for me is more or less what Pedja ...   Feb 24 2009, 05:49 PM
- - 19935027rafa   Hi! well really nice topic here! well to...   Feb 25 2009, 06:32 PM
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