What To Do When You Get Bored Or Frustrated With Practicing Guitar

You’re fed up, bored, frustrated and sick of not making any progress with guitar. What to do?

Guy’s, I’ve been there too. I think every guitar player in history has.

The first thing to do when this happens is to stop practicing. It could be a sign that you’ve been pushing things (or forcing things) just a little too hard and you need a break for a few days.

In that time ask yourself some questions

Have you been unrealistic and trying to play things which are simply out of your technical range right now?

Have you been obeying all the key rules of guitar practice? Practicing slowly without mistakes, mental programming, using a metronome, finding pressure points, creating little ladders to baby step from one transition to the next?

In my experience as a guitar teacher it’s most often a case of trying to push ahead to quickly and attempting to play things which are not within reach at the moment. But it could also be that your mind simply needs some space to process everything too.

What To Do?

Aside from taking a break for a few days, spend time listening to the songs, solo’s and guitar players that made you want to play so badly in the first place. That’s likely to be the original source of your inspiration so return back and try to re-find it again. Get inspired.

I can assure you that all those guitarists also experienced the feelings you’re having now, they’re no different, they just kept going because the desire in them to play was stronger than anything else.

One Last Thing…

Often progress on guitar is invisible. If we take barre chords as an example, many beginners struggle like crazy with them and for weeks each time they attempt to play them it feels just impossible.

It seems that no progress is being made but I can assure it is, it’s just that the progress has not become visible on the surface yet. But underneath, it’s happening.

Be smart about your practice from now on, make it a priority to create baby steps towards getting to where you want to be with your playing.

If you can create baby steps you’ll find that you constantly experience a succession of ‘little successes’ on guitar. This is the key to keeping your motivation high, because you’ll constantly feel as though you’re moving and not stuck.

That’s the secret.

Continue Reading > Perfectionism In Practice And Why It Can Destroy You

Contents:

00. Introduction

01. Stage 1 Guitar Practice – Mental Programming

02. Stage 2 Guitar Practice – Metronome & Pressure Points

03. Practicing Chords And Strumming

04. How To Structure A Practice Session

05. Frequently Asked Questions About Practicing

  • How Long Should You Practice Guitar Each Day?
  • Is It Better To Practice Guitar Daily Or To Take One Day Off Each Week?
  • How Long Does It Take To See Results From Guitar Practice?
  • What If I Simply Can’t Make Progress No Matter How Much Practice I Do?

06. How To Construct A Practice Schedule – You Have To Be Realistic!

07. A Secret The Pro’s Would Rather You Didn’t Know – The Art Of “Mental Practice”

08. Why Learning Songs Is The WORST WAY TO PRACTICE GUITAR!

09. What To Do When You Get Bored Or Frustrated With Practicing

10. Perfectionism In Practice And Why It Can Destroy You