Early days learning but hit a wall

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I have been learning to play since early June. Lessons once a week since. I have never worried about progress really as in no rush. However, for the last 2 weeks with pretty much daily practice between 1 hr and 2 1/2 I just can't seem to Improve my basic chromatic scale. I nearly always bum the note, buzz the string or play very staccato. That's playing down from bottom E first 4 frets and then A first 4 frets etc. Coming back up again is worse. 
Is this common? Will I suddenly have a break through?
My teacher is great but I used to train people and know that you don't always get told you are defeated.
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Comments

  • droflufdrofluf Frets: 3610
    I'm a beginner too and have good and bad days; something that sounded great yesterday can be a mess today. Go and do something different or walk away from your guitar for a while. When you come back it will be there again :)
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  • BranshenBranshen Frets: 1222
    That sounds about right. You just have to keep at it until the muscle memory kicks in. It will come. Don't give up!

    If you are getting bum notes and string buzz, try to make sure you are fretting just behind the fretwire. It is alot easier to get clean notes that way. 
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  • Thanks both. I have been recording my progress on the ipad and all that has progressed is the number of swear words I can get in in two minutes of fumbling. It is good to know it is more common than I thought.
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  • drpbierdrpbier Frets: 225
    FWIW I've been learning for coming up to 2 years now. I also have things that I get stuck on, things that seem to get worse, plateaus, etc etc. And one of my earlier teachers, who's been playing for 40 years, very seasoned pro, told me that when he and his peers get together they complain to each other about how rubbish they are. And according to him famous guitar legends do exactly the same in their dressing rooms...
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  • A few things I've found useful to remember.

    Don't assume that you can pick up in this practice session exactly where you left of in the last.  If you spent an hour on a piece and got it clean at say 110BPM yesterday then don't expect to start at 110BPM today.  You need a little while to get warmed up and comfortable again.

    If something is just not coming together then sometimes it can be useful to give it a little break and work on something else.  Often times when you go back after working on something else the first task can seem a little easier.  

    Don't be too hard on yourself.  The more you stress out about something the more tense you become and that doesn't help at all.  

    Remember to occasionally look back and not always forward.  It's easy to be always chasing the improvements (which is good) but sometimes you need to remind yourself how far you have already come.  


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  • I agree with drofluf. Leave that exercise and do something else for a few days, then come back to it.  If you keep playing the same monotonous exercise you will get bored and then practice will become a chore and then you’ll lose your resolve to play. It’s a fine balance between that and too much flitting around to really learn anything properly.
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  • jpfampsjpfamps Frets: 2723

    All good advice.

    Progress is never linear, and everyone goes through stages where they don't seem to be making any progress, although I reckon you often need to go through these stages to get to more productive stages.

    If you are practising 1- 2 hours a day, I hope you aren't just practising chromatic scales!!

    In the last few years I've taken up lap steel, and it's really interesting to going back to being a beginner on an instrument. 

    If I'm playing guitar or bass, I can get into playing almost from the point I pick up the instrument, however it takes me a while to "warm up" on the lap steel, so as Paul7926 says don't expect always to be able to pick up exactly where you left off before.


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  • KRSKRS Frets: 9
    edited September 2019
    I've had loads of time in my life when I seem to make no progress whatsoever. Recently my sessions have been more fruitful and I actually like my own playing! It only took 36 years.

    Can I suggest that playing up and down the way you have (that doesn't sound like a proper chromatic scale by the way) can be useful, but I think someone starting out would benefit much more from practising scales. Ask yourself this - how much music could I create from chromatic scales? and how much music could I create from say a Pentatonic or major scale? In fact, I would suggest practice all three. 

    Also try different intervals like a major scale in thirds for example. That alone sounds musical and will encourage you to use thirds in your playing. 

    You could try different combinations of fingers for the chromatic thing. For example try playing fingers 2, 4, 3, 1 in that order.  It's much harder to do! Yay! I think this will definitely help but be warned at first its horrible and can be quite frustrating. 

    You should keep in mind that trying to get all fingers to work is a bit like a pro runner going to the gym. They are not trying to get good at gym, they are using the gym to be a better runner. 

    Same with you, the exercise is to improve your playing, not just to improve your ability to do the exercise. So after you spend hours doing this, treat yourself to a bit if improvisation and you'll more often than not notice some improvements. 

    To answer your original question, yes, this is common. I would say every guitar player on the planet struggled with this exercise initially, never met anyone who could do this straight away.

    Not playing for a few days can help too. Coming back to it fresh will often lead to good results. 
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  • sweepysweepy Frets: 4158
    Try breaking it up with applied theory such as playing arpeggios all over the fretboard, first maj and minor then adding 7th 9th etc 
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  • I would stop recording everything for a start. Why put that pressure on yourself? Ok now and then. 
    There are lots of different approaches to learning. I have been playing for years, definitely not the best or most technical of players, but have literally never practiced going up and down scales. Just not something that interests me at all. Practicing going up and down scales will just make you good at going up and down scales. Not very interesting to play or to listen to. Try some other stuff too.
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  • Thanks all. I have added a little more into the mix on my practice sessions and seem to have overcome my "blockage". Thanks for all the pointers, certainly helped and I have stopped recording my sessions to the degree I was. 
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  • sev112sev112 Frets: 2739
    Build into your practice, just making some nice random sounds, patterns, and see what you like to hear and play,  doesnt have to be correct or a copy of anything. Just make sounds and patterns and get used to feeling your instrument ;) 
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  • It will come, just be patient and practice properly. With clear goals and structured practice sessions little and often you will make progress. People who give up after not giving it long enough are common.
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  • 57Deluxe57Deluxe Frets: 7329
    44 years is about the time frame...
    <Vintage BOSS Upgrades>
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