Learning curve

[JonWer]

Looking for your insights and a bit of a reality check.

Age 60, finger style and classic guitar, practicing ~1 hour a day, been at it for 9 months and have made progress, yet seems like I hit a wall. My instructor says year 1 is simply survival and starting year 2 the lights begin to come on. He’s pushing more complicated stuff my way which is stretching me and frustrating at same time. Confidence level swings when this happens.

What is realistic advice and insights you have for a struggling beginner?

[rllink]

For me it is to not be too hard on myself. It is a hobby. Something I do to relax. It is a long term investment and I have the rest of my life. I'm in no hurry, it will come eventually. I think that attitude helps me a lot. I don't get frustrated that way.

As far as my teacher. When I found him we had a talk about this very thing and I explained to him that I wanted to learn to play the guitar and I realized that being challenged was a good thing, but not to the point it was going to spoil the experience. He has been very good at setting small attainable goals which lead to a series of successes and not push me under the surface so that I'm struggling not to drown. It has been working well.

You might just want to talk about that with your teacher. Honest communication is always good. Mine has been giving me three songs at a time to work on and last week I told him that two was enough for now, and I was going to save the third one for some other time. He was good with that. He said that feedback like that made his job easier. He told me he doesn't like trying to guess what students want to do next. It puts a lot of pressure on him if he doesn't get any feedback to work with. So just talk to your teacher.

[Rev Roy]

Originally Posted by JonWer

Looking for your insights and a bit of a reality check.

Age 60, finger style and classic guitar, practicing ~1 hour a day, been at it for 9 months and have made progress, yet seems like I hit a wall. My instructor says year 1 is simply survival and starting year 2 the lights begin to come on. He’s pushing more complicated stuff my way which is stretching me and frustrating at same time. Confidence level swings when this happens.

What is realistic advice and insights you have for a struggling beginner?

I didn’t start playing until I retired at 63. I’m turning 70 this summer and still consider myself at best an advanced beginner. My only advice is to stick with it...and try to ensure that the majority of what you’re playing brings you joy, not frustration. Development isn’t a straight line. Lots of peaks and valleys and plateaus. But as long as you love it and stick with it all the effort will pay off wonderfully.

[emtsteve]

I was an older beginner at age 46 and have now been playing about 9 years and this is my advise. Your teacher is right it takes a couple or 3 years to start getting comfortable. Make sure to slow down and get the simple things 100% right. I also started really moving forward when I started singing along with my guitar playing. There will be plateaus so expect them. One other thing - don't worry about how long, how good, compared to others, and all that stuff. You are on your guitar journey, whatever that is. Relax and enjoy the ride.

[MThomson]

Go back and play something you played 5 months ago. Sometimes it feels like you're never getting better, but it's just that the challenges have got harder. I find I sometimes need a remember of any it's worth the effort.

[reeve21]

Jon, you are right on track. Fingerpicking takes quite a while to “take” and the only cure is time and practice. As long as you stick with it you will get there.

[PeterD18DK]

Originally Posted by JonWer

Looking for your insights and a bit of a reality check.

Age 60, finger style and classic guitar, practicing ~1 hour a day, been at it for 9 months and have made progress, yet seems like I hit a wall. My instructor says year 1 is simply survival and starting year 2 the lights begin to come on. He’s pushing more complicated stuff my way which is stretching me and frustrating at same time. Confidence level swings when this happens.

What is realistic advice and insights you have for a struggling beginner?

Hi JonWer.

Music is hard to learn but it is rewarding (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R0JKCYZ8hng), it is great fun and a friendly interest!

My suggestion with limited time is to focus on:
1) Small tunes - fun to learn and brings a wide variety of rythm and musical patterns, e.g. start with kids tunes, they are cool and fun and you will find lots of them in jazz, folk tunes is also a great place to start, or simple classical tunes
2) Finger exercises - build muscle and agility
3) Use a metronome - build speed, precision and rythm, may seem boring at first, but it is great fun and will make you excel

and thousands of more ideas online

Have fun

[Deliberate1]

I feel you. I am now just two years into my guitar journey. Like you I am a late bloomer - 64 years old. But I have been a woodwinds player for 55 years and am a semi-jazz musician. That experience has been a mixed blessing. No question that being a "musician" has given me a good platform to learn the guitar. But it also creates certain frustrations when my my expectations of myself, as a musician, collide with reality.
That said, I echo those who will tell you that you are better than you think. Or more accurately, you are better than you were. The problem is that the goal post constantly shifts away from you, as does satisfaction with your progress. I recall submitting a cry for help, about a year ago, regarding the problems I was having going from open A to D and back. Or grabbing that G7. Now, I do these things intuitively. I figured out that the best way to gauge progress is not by comparing where you want to be with where you are now, but by where you are now compared to where you were.
Just last week, my teacher, for the first time, commented on the fact that I was finally getting some "momentum" in my playing. Things are coming a bit more naturally. And that comes from playing. Not just practicing. But the kind of artistic expression and bonding with the instrument that happens when you disengage from the mechanics of playing, and let it take you somewhere. I know that feeling intimately with my horns because I know them. I am just getting a hint of it with the guitar. My best advice is to just muck about with the guitar. With no goal, no expectations, no judgment. And see where to takes you.
And enjoy the journey - even the hard parts.
David

[zmf]

Originally Posted by MThomson

Go back and play something you played 5 months ago. Sometimes it feels like you're never getting better, but it's just that the challenges have got harder.

This is good advice. It can be something as simple as the easy chord that used to be impossible.

Much of playing guitar is getting many of your moves into your subconscious -- building up your muscle memory. It can be frustrating. But often you don't realize that you're building on top of what you've already achieved.

[charles Tauber]

Originally Posted by JonWer

What is realistic advice and insights you have for a struggling beginner?

Other than "confidence" you don't mention with what you are "struggling".

Being able to accomplish nearly any new physical activity or skill requires practice to perform that activity well. The more difficult the task - or the further it is from one's current abilities - the more practice is required. Unless it is a skill or ability you already have, that new activity will require you to "stretch" your current abilities to attain that one. That should be a "given". Attaining abilities at playing the guitar is, in that respect, not much different than many other activities.

A well-planned progression gets one from "zero" to whatever level of ability at that task one wants to achieve by doing so in an orderly series of steps. Often that starts with simple tasks and the tasks get increasingly more difficult as one progresses. As one progresses, each new task should be a bit of a stretch from one's abilities at that time. Thus, it is, or should be, a moving target with a stick that is just beyond one's current abilities at all times.

It is helpful in determining what that progression should be if one can identify, at least generally, what is one's target - what skill or ability one wants to develop. If, say, you want to sound like Segovia, you have a target. If, say, you want to sound like Gordon Lightfoot, you have a target. The progression to get to one will likely be very different than to get to the other. In short, is the progression that you are on - that provided by your teacher - helping you get to whatever are your goals? If so, keep at it, keep practicing in accordance with what your teacher advises.

For many, many, many guitar players, playing one hour per day for a year, gets them strumming a few chords. For others, playing one hour per day for a year, gets them some pretty sophisticated music. Part of the difference is identifying what you want from your playing and choosing an effective progressive path to get there. Practicing "effectively" for achieving that goal is also important.

[Dru Edwards]

Jon - Welcome to the AGF!

Great achievement nearing the 1 year playing mark. I'm guessing that playing/practicing 1 hour a day for 9 months you've made great progress.

What are the songs / complicated stuff that you're learning that is frustrating you?

[JonWer]

A few of the more challenging ones include: If I only had a brain by Harold Arlen, Jesu Joy of Mans Desiring.....Bach, Gavotte...Bach, St. Louis Tickle...really difficult for me. Bossa Nova...fluidity with barre chords. On the ones I get, mostly playing up to tempo is the issue. Appreciate any insights from your experience, thanks.

[Dru Edwards]

Originally Posted by JonWer

A few of the more challenging ones include: If I only had a brain by Harold Arlen, Jesu Joy of Mans Desiring.....Bach, Gavotte...Bach, St. Louis Tickle...really difficult for me. Bossa Nova...fluidity with barre chords. On the ones I get, mostly playing up to tempo is the issue. Appreciate any insights from your experience, thanks.

Jon, when it comes to tempo, I find that you first need to get it done cleanly at a slower pace and work up. It takes time. Another option is to play at your ability at the correct tempo and leave out some of the complicated stuff just so you can play along to the song or in front of people - that's the fun part, playing. Then continue to practice the complicated stuff.

It's also possible that your teacher is pushing you too hard. It should be fun.

[Br1ck]

The key for me is enjoying the process. Results are just a byproduct. A long time guitar player, I took up mandolin at age 65, and five years later, it is starting to make sense. Every day I spend an hour in the morning playing nothing but scales and exercises. I have small hands and needed to extend my reach, so I was given two specific exercises this summer and spent most of two months playing them. And I mean, 90% just that. I had guitar when I wanted to noodle. After a couple of months, I decided to play the exercises that had given me trouble. I could do it! But every day playing those stretching exercises I found enjoyable. Wayne Benson calls it eating your vegetables. His videos have been inspiring. But when he teaches a song, it's not to learn the song, but to learn the fretboard and interesting new building blocks.

Rather than be frustrated, take a deep breath, slow down, and enjoy the process, and aviod listening to the twelve year old whose lesson is before yours. I think if you take this approach, clearing the next hurdle will just happen. It's great, but there will be another, and another, and another. If you learn to focus on little bits of progress and the process, you'll benefit every day with an instrument in your hands. I see many people in my age group loose the desire to learn, and it saddens me to see that. The learning process has become the reason, and improvement the byproduct.

[rstaight]

Keep at it. You will have stretches that you feel you are not advancing. Then something just clicks.

I am 62 and started playing in grade school, still learning. That's the beauty of music. You can play at any age and there is always a different trick to learn.

If you can play with others there is no better way to improve. When the jams start back up after all this covid business go to a few. There will be folks there more than willing to lend a hand.

Good luck with your journey.