Learning an instrument definitely takes some persistence...over time. My attitude has been slow and steady wins the race. As long as I keep moving forward, I'm happy :).

@Jeremy - I just followed you back. I look forward to what you put up there...I will definitely check it out. I enjoy metal but suspect that style of playing will never be in the cards for me. I was a teen in the 80's, so the dawn of EVH, Satriani, Vai, and all the other monster players from that era discouraged me from playing. It's all great stuff though!

To go from being a metal guitarist to a sax player...wow! I'll bet you learned a lot about melody and phrasing by learning sax.

Regarding the stuff on my soundcloud page...some of the stuff I'm most pleased with are some of the covers I've done. Carnival and Superstition stand out for me because I really wasn't sure what to do with each song. With Carnival I struggled to learn the original solos and for Superstition I kept hearing SRV in my head...and I ain't no SRV! LOL. In each case I sat down with my guitar with the attitude that I would at least try and see what came out. Somehow what I thought were some pretty cool things came out. Goes to show that it's pays to go out of your comfort zone with some regularity...and make sure you hit record beforehand because some great stuff may happen :).