Why Self-Taught Guitarists Eventually Get Stuck
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Are you stuck in your guitar playing? This is a common problem for self-taught players which is based on a few core issues. Read about these issues below and take action to resolve them:

 

Issue 1. You’re simply not sure how to move forward

 

It’s hard to make progress without a guitar teacher who already knows how to achieve the guitar playing goals you have. A lot of guitarists learn on their own and get stuck because they don’t know what steps they should be taking to get better. This comes from a lack of understanding of how to reach their ultimate musical goals, what they should be focusing on during practice, HOW to practice and many other things.

 

Whenever you get to this point, find a great guitar teacher and get feedback from him/her.

 

Issue 2. You’re held back by incorrect technique

 

Guitar teacher Jacob Melling has helped countless students achieve their musical goals. He makes the following observation: “Whenever I get a new student who wants to take guitar lessons, I inevitably see many major flaws in their fundamental technique. Guitarists who learn by themselves nearly always take on poor playing habits that cause them a lot of frustration. After a little while, I help them correct their mistakes and this frees them up to play guitar how they want. This is why it is so important for guitar players to begin working with a teacher as soon as possible... so they don’t hold themselves back for an unnecessarily long amount of time.”

 

As Jacob says, guitar players often develop poor playing habits when learning alone. This comes from not having the critical feedback of a great guitar teacher to correct their mistakes and keep them on the right path.

 

Issue 3. You don’t know what your goals are

 

It is critical that you understand your main guitar playing goals in great detail. This dictates exactly what you should be practicing and what is needed for you to become the play you want to be. Not having goals causes a lot of frustration for guitarists because they have no direction. This results in mindless practice, and an overall feeling that they should be better but they don’t know what they need to do. This can be very confusing.

 

The solution is to become 100% clear about your goals. Make goals that are very specific rather than vague ones (like “I want to be able to play better”). Think about the fine details and set goals that can be attained in a very tangible way.

 

Issue 4. You’re overwhelmed by too many things to practice

 

A lot of guitar players accumulate as many guitar exercises as they can find. Then they track to practice them all at once, and quickly become overwhelmed. Not only does this approach not help you master the practice items themselves, it doesn’t help you make much progress in your overall playing either. It is much more effective to practice a handful of guitar exercises that are part of a practice schedule based on reaching your goals. This ensures that everything you practice brings you closer and closer to being the guitarist you want to be.

 

Put together a list of your biggest musical goals and begin taking lessons with an experienced guitar teacher. Your teacher will then provide you with a strategy to help you practice effectively and reach your goals. This approach helps you reach any kind of musical goal much faster than learning on your own.