Contemplating guitar suicide

I know there's been a few similar posts about this lately but im gonna whine about my own problem now lol. I wouldn't say that im thinking about quitting guitar, but im really starting to question my abilities. I may just be in a guitar rut, but i feel like i can't play the stuff that i want to be able to play (getting into shredding i.e. shadows fall, ESPECIALLY Children of Bodom). I started playing when i was 12 or 13 and took lessons for the first 2 years i think. But when i was that age, i didn't really understand the importance of practicing and repetition. Now thats not to say that i didnt learn anything or that i suck now cuz that wouldnt be true. Now I'm 20 and in the thick of my college years trying to get that degree. And being in the engineering program at my school, my workload isn't getting any smaller (anyone here a physics stud?).

I still play guitar pretty much everyday, but not really "practicing", more just jamming along with my iTunes. Sometimes i wonder if my small/thin hands (i feel like my pinkie is damn near useless) are a physical limitation for what I wanna play, and i'm sure most of you will say "no" to that...maybe a smaller neck would help? Anyways, i REALLY dont want to stop playing. I've been thinking about getting lessons again to help get me back on track and force me to learn. Maybe i should just stop listening to metal lol. That Alexi Laiho gets me so frustrated...Whew, im done. Let the advice roll in...

Thanks for the advice. I mean, i realize that most of my favorite guitarist are way older than i am and it is their means of making a living. And i know HOW to practice i.e. gradually playing licks faster, playing with a metronome. But i feel like i don't have the patience with all these other things going on in my life right now. I don't really think I'd ever just stop playing all together because music is my passion and i've spent the past 8 years not only playing guitar, but learning about the mechanical aspects of guitars as well as amps and a bit of recording. I want to get lessons again or at least find someone that i can sit down with face to face and kinda mentor me in the styles I want to play. Whatever ends up happening, im not gonna dwell on it or beat myself up over it, but i'd like to find some kind of balance between playing, progressing, and the rest of my life.

Wow... battle of the long-winded post champions!


Sorry I didn't contribute anything more significant to this discussion.

Be the ball Billy!
BE THE BALL!!!

... they just had to bring balls into this discussion...

if you want to be really good you have to pratice. I read jimmy page's biography and it said that he practiced day and night then he took lessons on theroy so you really gotta practice alot , i thought i might take lessons again :)

Didn't Steve Vai publish a 20 hour practice schedule in a magazine one time?

It was a 30 hour workout, split into 2 days

I knew it was something like that. Hot damn! 30 hours? Do you happen to have a link to it?

No sleeping or eating involved right? Haha, is it a diet too? :P

From what I've been able to gather it's a 30 hour workout over three days. I'm pretty sure it's from the April 2004 issue of Guitar World but I want to confirm this first before I order the back issue. Is it the one with Jimmy Page and Joe Perry on the cover? I have 10 hours a day to dedicate to guitar so I'd love to get that workout. I've found nothing by googling :(

I'm pretty sure I spend about 4 to 6 hours on guitar a day as it is, but I'd still love to see the article if anybody comes up with anything...