# Seriously considering quitting guitar.



## jimmyshred (Nov 10, 2009)

Probably not the right place to put this but I need to get this shit off my chest. 

Lately my playing has been going downhill and I feel terrible about it. 
Playing 3-4 hours daily and Ive noticed nothing with any of the techniques I frequently practice. 
Sweeping has actually dropped, alternate picking is the same, slow and useless, legato has gone no where, tapping hasnt got any better. 
I play and I play and I play and I just never seem to improve. Nothing ever seems to work for me. 
Please tell me Im not the only person to ever come so close to quitting because they just want to be good and value their own playing but dont feel like they are progressing at all no matter how much they try. 

I dont want to quit but if Im only ever going to struggle and never be happy in the slightest with my own playing I just dont know what to do. Even though I know Im never going to be able to be completely happy with myself because there is always going to be something to improve I just want to be better and at least feel like Im getting somewhere even if. 

Someone please convince me not to stop playing and quit alltogether.


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## Kevp714 (Nov 10, 2009)

1. the trick is being happy and content with your ability.
2. realize that the longer you play it will get more difficult to learn new things because they will be more complicated.
3. if you give up youll never be happy about it. just keep practicing and try composing your own music. recognize how far youve come from when you were a beginner and give it more time


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## pink freud (Nov 10, 2009)

Stop practicing technique and start practicing songs/songwriting.


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## MFB (Nov 10, 2009)

Play very few notes over a very long period of time and you could be a drone success, therefore you don't have to quit - need little technique - still be considered cool by non-"traditional music" guitarists


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## Kevp714 (Nov 10, 2009)

pink freud said:


> Stop practicing technique and start practicing songs/songwriting.



+1

you have to apply all that technique somewhere, and being creative keeps it fresh


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## darren (Nov 10, 2009)

Why not focus on creativity and songwriting in your playing for a while, instead of technique?


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## Andii (Nov 10, 2009)

pink freud said:


> Stop practicing technique and start practicing songs/songwriting.



Exactly what I was going to say. Practicing technique is the boring and frustrating part. Write some music that is within your ability and sounds good. Good song writing is key and is a lot more fun to develop than techniques. I listen to bands like Gojira that I love just as much as Beneath The Massacre.


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## samurai7drew (Nov 10, 2009)

frustration and dis-content is usually a sign that you care about what you're doing and where you're trying to go. it's the furthest sign of someone who needs to quit. if you are honestly having no fun, the obvious thing to do is to stop. take a break. reassess what makes you happpy. that's all that matters. it's not something you should stress to much about.

what you are experiencing is, shockingly, very common. now, how publicized these other peoples tribulations are is a different story but, undoubtebly, it happens to the best of us. trust me.

you'll find that music is a very hard thing to quit if you actually enjoy it. if you take a break from guitar, you might find yourself picking up drums or bass or piano (a great instrument to ground your musical scope with) in the meantime. you might just _listen_ to excessive amounts of music or music you normally wouldn't. all this helps you as a musician. on the other hand, sometimes distancing yourself from music helps a lot, too.

I'm sure there are pros that don't think too highly of their playing and/or accomplishments from time to time. just keep in mind that over-working yourself can certainly lead to stagnant playing or even REGRESSION.

take a break. but don't quit just yet. and try not to sweat it.


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## Rogueleader (Nov 10, 2009)

Concentrate on finding a new technique. Sweeping and ap won't stay fresh forever (like how two handing tapping nowadays). Find the next big thing and then get hailed as the master by a new generation of metal players.


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## loktide (Nov 10, 2009)

after 10 years of playing guitar, i reckon my biggest mistake was to focus too much on practicing technique during my first years. you should AT LEAST dedicated the same amount of time to songwriting each time you practice. i wish i had


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## Fionn (Nov 10, 2009)

def write some stuff! write some grimey drum and bass or somethin!!!


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## JohnIce (Nov 10, 2009)

+1 and maybe even 2 to everyone who said songwriting. You seem to have taken a technique O.D. man, you need to play some actual music! Whip out an acoustic and sing Creedence if you have to, but you need to play some songs!

And do you play in a band, by any chance? If you don't, then it's very natural to feel that all your practicing isn't leading anywhere, because well, it's not  Get a band, write songs for them and get into that game, it'll keep you motivated for sure.


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## Bloody_Inferno (Nov 10, 2009)

+1 and then some on songs and jamming with others. 

You've reached the point where it's time to expand and apply what you've been learning in the real musical world. Write songs, lots of songs. This becomes a whole new level of understand what playing music is all about. Songs are king. 

Play and jam with as many people as you can. This is extremely rewarding in both learning as well getting yourself out to people. Musical social interaction is very important. I'll never forget the Seymour Duncan forum guys complementing my tone despite being only a guitar through a dist pedal through what looked like a keyboard amp. 

Also, open yourself to all sorts of music. Absorb everything benefitial like a sponge and filter all what's unessential to you (almost sounding like Bruce Lee there ). This will open your ears to new and fresh sounds and music that you'd never would have known.


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## CentaurPorn (Nov 10, 2009)

There are multiple threads on here looking for advice on the same thing.

1. Take a break for a week or 3. Taking a break has always helped me. You will come back refreshed. It is often when I take a break for a few days that I come back and see improvement.

2. It sounds like you are forcing yourself to play for 3-4 hours a day. 

Don't. 

Play when you feel like playing. Ultimately we all play because we enjoy it(that and getting mad bitches). You are speaking like it is a job. Don't force it.


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## Koshchei (Nov 10, 2009)

jimmyshred said:


> Probably not the right place to put this but I need to get this shit off my chest.
> 
> Lately my playing has been going downhill and I feel terrible about it.
> Playing 3-4 hours daily and Ive noticed nothing with any of the techniques I frequently practice.
> ...



I think you should quit. You're obviously in it more for being noticed and playing fast than the actual music - until you know WHY you want to play, and can just enjoy it for what it is, you're wasting your time.


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## nihilist (Nov 10, 2009)

I often feel like quitting guitar. I've even seriously concidered it. But I enjoy it so much I doubt I would ever do that, at least completely. Really you just have to get out there. Play gigs, write songs etc etc. Although writing songs can be just as frustrating, and it is usually what frustrates me more then my progress as a guitar, which I have never really cared that much about.


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## JohnIce (Nov 10, 2009)

The sooner you get into songwriting the better, because if you're a n00b at guitar you won't feel bad about being a n00b at songwriting, but the better you get at the guitar, the better you'll expect yourself to be at songwriting, and you'll be more frustrated that you're not. I've made efforts to learn other instruments besides guitar, but I can't really keep myself motivated when I'm so much better at the guitar and can't translate those skills to other instruments instantly.

I also have to quote the swedish jazz guitarist Johan Norberg here: "Learning to play guitar is very difficult, but quitting is just goddamn impossible!"


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## lucasreis (Nov 10, 2009)

I was depressed some time ago, but I didn't stop. I advise you to stop a little, like, for a week, or a month, go listen to some music, to other stuff you like, and then you'll have a hunger for coming back in the right time. That's what I did and it worked...


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## Fionn (Nov 10, 2009)

> If you don't, then it's very natural to feel that all your practicing isn't leading anywhere, because well, it's not Get a band, write songs for them and get into that game, it'll keep you motivated for sure.



This is me! I get over it by writing my own songs!


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## Cheesebuiscut (Nov 10, 2009)

This Isn't the first time this thread has shown up so no your not alone.


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## cycloptopus (Nov 10, 2009)

Dude, you won't quit. You're in too deep already. Face it, you're a lifer! Go ahead, try to quit, you'll see... it will find you again...


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## right_to_rage (Nov 10, 2009)

don't give up on technique entirely though. Be creative with the exercises you've got, try extending them or phrasing them or putting them into different keys. Try recording vamps and soloing over them too!


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## ralphy1976 (Nov 10, 2009)

well, i have been taking lesson since the 1st of August and most of my practise concists of 1 hour technique (limited i give you that) and 1 hour trying to musically please myself, whether it be writting songs, or just noodling triads / quartet around.

i try to be honest wiht myself, i am old(er) so i am not going to turn into a major shredder, so now i try to put feel and a little bit of technique into what i do...it makes me laugh and that's all i need!!!


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## ShadyDavey (Nov 10, 2009)

jimmyshred said:


> Probably not the right place to put this but I need to get this shit off my chest.
> 
> Lately my playing has been going downhill and I feel terrible about it.
> Playing 3-4 hours daily and Ive noticed nothing with any of the techniques I frequently practice.
> ...



I've just been confirmed as having arthritis and I got a guitar two fucking weeks ago after a long hiatus - being unhappy with your playing is a comparatively minor issue in the scheme of things. 

Don't quit. Have time off and re-evalute what you're doing - quitting for no reason does yourself a huge diservice.


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## aphelion (Nov 10, 2009)

Whenever I feel down about my playing, I play along to a cd of a band i like, different genres. And I don't try and work it out, i just jam along, making up little solo's and licks. Sometimes it sounds crap, but it ALWAYS gets me out of my comfort zone and thinking about things in a different way. That helps with creativity and makes it feel like there really is something to my playing.

The other thing that always helps me is listening to the songs and bands that originally got me into playing, that made me want to play the guitar in the first place. I don't listen to a lot of the same stuff I used to when i started, but if I find that 13 year old that wanted to play (I'm turning 27 on Thursday), I start to smile and get why I play again...I think that most of us start because we like music, then somewhere along the line trade liking music for liking guitars in music...both are valid, but sometimes its nice and refreshing, especially as a player, just to hear music...it inspires me to play.

I got into guitar because I wasn't competitive or into sports. Do it because it feels good to do it, not because you are good. Just my two cents worth


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## telecaster90 (Nov 10, 2009)

I suggest that you quit "playing guitar" and start making music.


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## Koshchei (Nov 10, 2009)

telecaster90 said:


> I suggest that you quit "playing guitar" and start making music.



Well said!


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## atimoc (Nov 10, 2009)

CentaurPorn said:


> Taking a break has always helped me. You will come back refreshed. It is often when I take a break for a few days that I come back and see improvement.



I second this. 

Also, it has happened to me many times that I've given up on a particular section of a song for a while because it has been overwhelming even after hours and hours of practice. Miraculously when you forget about the section for a while, the next time you decide to give it a go, it may not seem so overwhelming anymore. 

So yeah, take a break, relax, and let the stuff sink in a bit


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## MacTown09 (Nov 10, 2009)

This is the way you get better. You hate your own playing and find ways to make it better. You hate your technique right now obviously so then WORK IT HARDER!! During my freshman/sophomore years in high school i would practice 8-11 hours a day and most of that was on technique. Then as that improves then move on to other things. You gotta just always keep pushing your limits. 

When you HATE your own playing thats when you know your getting better.

Or you could always start over. Destroy. Erase. Improve.


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## right_to_rage (Nov 10, 2009)

MacTown09 said:


> This is the way you get better. You hate your own playing and find ways to make it better. You hate your technique right now obviously so then WORK IT HARDER!! During my freshman/sophomore years in high school i would practice 8-11 hours a day and most of that was on technique. Then as that improves then move on to other things. You gotta just always keep pushing your limits.
> 
> When you HATE your own playing thats when you know your getting better.
> 
> Or you could always start over. Destroy. Erase. Improve.



I agree with this statement. Christopher Parkening once said, "Playing and practicing guitar is like traversing a mountain, sometimes you'll be hiking and everything will be great and the world is awesome. Suddenly your faced with a dead end, so you have to turn around and go back down the mountain to find another way up. Just when you think there is no end to your descent, you find a way." Alot of improving as a musician is perseverance, because its hard to get good without a little pain for gain, or as Robert Fripp puts it, "Suffering joyfully".


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## minusthemonkey (Nov 10, 2009)

+whatever-number-we're-up-to-now on the focusing on songwriting.

Sounds like you have technique burn out, so continuing to focus on technique will probably burn you out more. A few days or a couple of weeks spent away from the guitar working on aspects of playing complete disconnected from the physical act of playing the guitar might be what you need. This may reconnect you to actually playing music over just playing guitar.

Find some new music to feel inspired by. Break away from what you normally listen to and check out something completely out of left-field. Not necessarily guitar-centric music either. Try out some weird new-age stuff, indigenous Taiwanese folk, Mongolian throat singing, Communist-Era underground Soviet pop, whatever, just something complete separate from what you're used to.

Then try going back to you guitar when your first instinct when you pick it up is somehow translating those ideas onto the guitar, not on the technique required to reproduce it. Focus on the melody, the timing, the feel of the music.

Approach your guitar as an instrument without defined rules. Try tapping harmonics to mimic percussion. Play in an alternate tunings for awhile. Don't think about what notes your playing, just see what comes out.

Dick around with it. Make some noise. Make some music. Have fun with it.


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## Fzau (Nov 10, 2009)

loktide said:


> you should AT LEAST dedicated the same amount of time to songwriting each time you practice. i wish i had


 
I can't stress this enough!!
You want to be a great guitarist or a great musician?
For +1,5 years starting out I've been solely learning the correct techniques and jamming along with a few technicaly challenging songs.
It was fun, but didn't quite fascinate me as much as I wanted.
What I wanted was to express myself through my music, and technique alone just didn't do that. I couldn't write a single song.
Ever since I saw Loomis' Shred Masterclass DVD I knew I had to actually practise writing and composing, and doing so every day.
Here I am now, composing my own tracks, even when I'm on the bus or something! Once you start expressing YOURSELF, things really get to another level.


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## budda (Nov 10, 2009)

jimmyshred said:


> Probably not the right place to put this but I need to get this shit off my chest.
> 
> Lately my playing has been going downhill and I feel terrible about it.
> Playing 3-4 hours daily and Ive noticed nothing with any of the techniques I frequently practice.
> ...



You need a band.


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## Konfyouzd (Nov 10, 2009)

Plateaus happen at random and vary in length. If you don't play through them you'll never get any better. The only thing that can stop you from getting better is you. And the only one who can decide what "better" is is you... Do like Rakim says "Don't Sweat the Technique"; be easy and let it come to you. 

You started playing because it was fun, right? If it's not fun anymore then you're not playing for the right reasons.


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## defchime (Nov 10, 2009)

budda said:


> You need a band.



This is the reason I keep playing guitar...just the thought that I could be in a band.

I was falling out of guitar until I started challenging myself by starting to play death metal, to me death metal is the most fun genre to play in. The biggest problem im facing now is theory, im starting to grasp it a little bit more but I still cant sight read or compose in standard notation. 

Just hang in there, maybe take breaks in between practicing. Ive noticed the day I learn the first couple riffs of a song _it sounds shitty, but the next day it sounds a helluva lot better. _


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## Konfyouzd (Nov 10, 2009)

I started playing bass and it kind of resparked my interest in guitar. actually they seem to make each other more interesting now...


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## ellengtrgrl (Nov 10, 2009)

These are all good suggestions. I've been playing for almost 31 years. I've gone through time periods in the past, where I wondered if I should continue playing. Here's a few thoughts of mine to add to the collection:

1. Why are you playing? Don't play to be a guitar god, play because you enjoy playing guitar, and want to express yourself musically. Don't get all bent out of shape, if it doesn't look like you're going to be the next Jeff Loomis. We're not all the same. I remember when I was about 18 years old, reading an old "Guitar Player" interview of Steve Miller. I can't stand most of his material, but I read the interview anyway. Steve made a very good point. He stated that for several years from the late 60s till about 1973 or 74, he was obsessed with trying to play like all of the guitar gods of that era (Clapton, Hendrix, Beck, Paige, etc.). As he stated: "I played thousands of miles worth of boring, and frantic solos, then I realized that it wasn't my style." It sounds like you are at that phase in your playing - needing to find your personal style. Playing exercises are great for getting down technique, but you can only get your own style by playing and/or writing songs.

2. In the vein of the above - exercises are great for building technique, but they're NOT SONGS. Songs are fun to play, and keep you interested in playing. Exercises past a certain point, are just drudgery. Music is about songs. When you do nothing but practice technique building exercises, you end up like some of the more generic, and less liked shredders - with songs that don't sound like songs, but instead, sound like playing exercises. As others have said, start writing songs, or take some time to play songs that you like. It'll help fight boredome. There are no sure fire ways for writing songs that you like (after you're done writing them). It's just a trial and error thing. Lyrics seem (at least to me) to be learned even moreso this way! It's kind of like writing a novel. It seems most writers write plenty of material that winds up in the garbage can, before they finally get in the groove, and start writing books that they get paid for.

3. Find a band to join, or if you can, form your own band - both my uncle (the 2nd generation of guitar players in my family), and I agreed that when we started playing in bands, it gave our motivations to play guitar, a nice, big, kick in the butt. Not only that, you may discover, as I, and many other players have discovered, that you actually have more fun, when your playing with other musicians, than when you're playing by yourself.

4. Maybe take a break from playing - you might be getting burned out on guitar. Taking time off from playing for a few days, or a couple of weeks, is common for musicians who are getting burned out.


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## Konfyouzd (Nov 10, 2009)

ellengtrgrl said:


> 3. Find a band to join, or if you can, form your own band - both my uncle (the 2nd generation of guitar players in my family), and I agreed that when we started playing in bands, it gave our motivations to play guitar, a nice, big, kick in the butt. Not only that, you may discover, as I, and many other players have discovered, that you actually have more fun, when your playing with other musicians, than when you're playing by yourself.



All of your points seem to overlap nicely... 

Joining a band can also help with the whole "developing a style" thing as well. If you listen to Vai you'll notice that you can kind of hear all of the bands he played for before... You can definitely hear Zappa, you can hear what he retained from the Van Halen days and then there's also that little something that's all Steve, but he wouldn't be who he is today without those other bands.


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## The Atomic Ass (Nov 11, 2009)

Allow me to boost your ego. This is a video I posted to Youtube in May 2008. The technique shown is roughly indicative of my skill at the time. I have not progressed substantially since.



Feel better now? 

Classified ad: Shitty guitarist-wannabe seeks skilled guitarist for gratuitous skill mooching and free guitar lessons, as well the ability to write lesson plans around ADD.


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## Joeywilson (Nov 11, 2009)

budda said:


> You need a band.



this.

and try focusing on songwritting instead of technique.


also, it sounds like you don't know how to actually practice. Everyone who has the same problem as you says the same thing "I practice 80,000,000 hours a day and i'm not getting better". Why? I'd say you are likely practicing the same things over and over again day in day out and you've worked yourself into a rut.
improve alternate picking- get a metronome- you will improve.
Improve everything else- stop thinking so much and start listening.

theres more to guitar than just outstanding technique.


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## Customisbetter (Nov 12, 2009)

TBH, quitting guitar would be Astronomically harder than getting better at playing guitar.

Go ahead and never play a note on guitar the rest of your life. if you manage to do that, congratulations, you did the right thing.


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## budda (Nov 12, 2009)

Customisbetter said:


> TBH, quitting guitar would be Astronomically harder than getting better at playing guitar.
> 
> Go ahead and never play a note on guitar the rest of your life. if you manage to do that, congratulations, you did the right thing.



Ed makes a great point.


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## Aeons Unseen (Nov 13, 2009)

Yeah man I think everyone gets frustrated every now and then. I think your probably focusing on technique and nothing else. Start fleshing out some riffs, splice them together and have some fun with it. Sweeping is hardly paramount. That Yngwie Malmsteen shit bores the hell out of me.

Here's a little quote that just might realign your thinking. 

Sometimes you want to give up the guitar, you'll hate the guitar. But if you stick with it, you're gonna be rewarded. -Jimi Hendrix


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