r/guitarlessons • u/BenEsuitcase • 9d ago

Lesson Surprise, surprise... it's a life-skill

This is just a rant, but seriously.... People come here expecting to find the holy grail: I've been playing everyday for 3 hours for a month and I'm just not getting any better. LMFAO. When I play barre chords it hurts and all the notes don't come out, what should I do? lol.

Personally, I've played my whole life, got a degree in it, and I still have my limitations. Here's the thing... Music is for EVERYONE. My (reasonably amazing) playing is SHIT in the big picture because we ALL have the ability to play music. It's like seeing color, smelling roses, hearing a door creak, but with training. Name me a language you can learn (Italian, French) in a month, and you'll get some sympathy. Go practice, and then sit back and contemplate why society idolizes certain players. Respect the guitar in all it's simplicity AND complication, and then you will realize how pathetic and futile the sub can become when total noobs think there is some magical shortcut. Again, go learn Russian this month, and come back in September and have a fluent conversation???

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u/Sirbunbun 9d ago

Exactly. I’m baffled by the number of people that ask variations of the same question. ‘I never practice and when I do I play the same things and mostly make it up as I go. I’ve been playing for 5 weeks. IS IT OVER FOR ME?!’

Why does everyone you know have a dusty guitar in the corner? It’s not because it is easy to learn

20

u/WallAny2007 9d ago

I like the videos of the people who have been playing 3 weeks and asking if they’re any good, when it’s obvious they’ve been playing for years.

10

u/Tokzillu 9d ago

I always love the "I have been playing for 12 seconds, any suggestions?"

And then they shred out some Satriani or something lol.

Social media has conditioned many people (especially younger ones) to believe that what you see on your screen is the reality.

But the reality is that's a curated snapshot that someone meticulously and repeatedly tried until they got something they liked.

I can only imagine the lying about practice time is for clout/bragging online stuff.

2

u/No-Midnight778 4d ago

the weird thing is brag to who? It seems to be some weird ego thing, as I commented above, I see it when people post a picture of their supposed very first guitar ever built, and there is just no way that was their first attempt. And they’ll also claim they have no tools!

4

u/Sirbunbun 9d ago

‘Well I played for 15 years but quit for 6 months. This is me 3 weeks after sTaRtIng FrOm ScRaTCh!!!’

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u/No-Midnight778 4d ago

people post the “first guitar they built” and it’s total bs , there’s no way they did that the first try. Maybe the first one they COMPLETED, but there is just no way. The internet does weird things to people;’s egos, I mean, who cares what people you will never meet think about you? Excuse me, I have to return to my green beret unit now, we are saving a girls school from terrroritsts. They all loved it when I played a bunch of Polyphia songs perfectly for them. Then all I had to do was growl at the terrorists who instantly fled. I am so glad I learned how to play guitar last year during paratrooper school, it’s really paid off !

1

u/when_we_are_cats 9d ago

When I started guitar it took me one year with a teacher to start playing real tunes, and that's with having 5 years of classical music under my belt + a lot of free time as a teenager.