Originally Posted by: BJCL

I am giving it another try... I first took lessons at like 12-13 years old. I have always wanted to learn to play the guitar. I enjoy music and singing and always wanted to be able to play a guitar while singing (Not performing just personal enjoyment). I have purchased several programs along the way but never achieved success. Now in my early 40's I am giving it another try. ugh. Hoping for the best and going to try and be more diligent than ever before at routinely practicing. It still seems like an unobtainable mountain but here I go...

It's only the mountain that you make it.

So many guitar players start out saying they want to play like (fill in the blank rock star) and fail because they never seem to get there. I realize you said your goal is a bit more modest but at the root, you're still holding yourself to a level of progress that already seems unatainable. You'd already started by thinking that it seems unattainable.

It's not. Adjust your goals to where you're at now. Don't aim for the whole mountain, just the next hill in front of you.

This is a very important lesson in guitar playing progress; while the ultimate goal is off in the distance, you're better served looking at short term successes. Sure, I'm not saying anything revolutionary but I can tell you that with 38 years playing, most guitar players forget this, become frustrated and then quit.

In the hope of being able to play that song or something they pine to play, new guitarists becomes frustrated because they can't. Not realizing that eventually they'll be able play something but but ignoring that they've got a few more steps in front of them to get there.

Before you can play a song, you have to learn fundementals and learn some chords and then get used to changing from one chord to another and so on. Focus on those short term fundementals as they are the building blocks that get you to where you will eventually want to be.

Good thing is, Guitar Tricks Fundementals courses do do exactly that so follow along and you'll get there. Just be patient and celebrate the small victories as those victories add up to something.

The right mindset in starting out will do an enormous amount of good to make that mountain not so scary.