[6stringlady]

What's the hardest thing about playing guitar?
On any given day it could be any one of the listed items.
Just when you think that you've got the song nailed.
Wham......something goes wrong.
So the really, really, hard part is staving off Frustration,
And staying motivated dispite the number of times one of the
above listed "hardest things about playing guitar" rears its
ugly head.

[solidwalnut]

Originally Posted by Kirk Lorange

I posted this question years ago in a poll on the early GfB&B site ... there was one answer that was the overwhelming winner. I'll let you know when the results come if it's the same now.

Hi Kirk--

I didn't see an answer from you on this poll, so maybe the jury's still out? Anyway, I might imagine the answer to be either strumming or keeping time.

Two very real things that a guitarist might learn to master! Anyway, to each their own.

Steve

[PhilUSAFRet]

My biggest problem wasn't on the list. As I get older, it gets harder and harder to remember things. It is taking me forever to remember where the chords I learn are. I am determined to stick with it and play what I can remember. The more I play them, the more I will remember them, no matter how long it takes. I am using computer guitar course and having better luck than with a live instructor....I just repeat the lesson until I get it and each lesson builds on the previous. My instructor just tried to move me along too fast and I kept falling further behind (the hurrieder I go the behinder I get). Seems to working better for me.

[solidwalnut]

For me, it's not on the list. As I get older, my fingers don't work as well. They still work fine now at 48, but they're getting a little creakier and I'm not quite as fast as I used to be. Some of the repetitive moves, like repetitioust tapping a la Eddie Van Halen, have to come in smaller chunks. Eruption is still fun to play, but I'm not as fast at it as I used to be, and I want to give up sooner 'cause Arthur is creeping in!

Steve

[tonedeaf]

Great Poll Kirk! For me I voted for keeping time is the hardest obstacle to acquire, if possible. I think all the other traits of learning to play can be acquired over time and sufficient effort i.e. muscle memory, fretboard characteristics, strength, etc. When it comes to timing I can play a piece of music fairly smoothly without a metronome but once the clock starts to tick I just can't quite get that smooth rhythm going from note-to-note. Timing seems to be an inherent trait that I am not sure can be learned. Either you have it or you don't. As I plod along at a snail's pace learning how to play I am also thinking possibly that it is my unfamiliarity with the fretborad is the reason I am having difficulty with timing. Time will tell, I hope I can master my internal clock eventually in the guitar world.

[ankur.koul]

well i am a new comer to the field of The Guitar,but i belive the knowledge of music i.e how music is formed i.e what notes sound good when jumbled up is the most difficult part of playing guitar or any musical intrumnent,
Rest of the stuff you can get by regular practice, but this one thing i guess is the most difficult and most important.

[Racetruckdave]

Two things come to mind.

Relaxing while I play, this is easier said than done. I hated barre chords until I realized that when I didn't think about playing them, I started playing them well!

Being confident enough to play with other people! For years I would get really self conscious about playing with other people, I would get tense and then my hand would cramp up. Again, when I would forget what I was thinking, it got a lot easier!

The whole reason behind why I started playing is that it's supposed to be fun!

[Doug]

I'll have to agree with most people here that it is keeping time. But there are two aspects to timing - rhythm and phrasing. I don't have problems with the rhythm at this stage but I do have problems with timing the phrasing especially when finger picking. It is very noticeable when I listen to a piece I've recorded.
I've found that right hand finger exercises have helped a lot. I drive a long way to work - about an hour each way. So while I drive I practice on the steering wheel. I do rasgeuados, arpegio patterns, tremolo patterns, rhumba strumming patterns and picatta picking patterns. I've just about worn a hole in the wheel. But I've found it really has helped.

[jon_stggt]

For me it's getting my fingers to move in a manner my brain thinks they can. Having said that, when I first played guitar years ago I had no drive, commitment, I wanted to play but wasn't prepared to work hard at it. Today, older and wiser and far more passionate I discoverd the secret. Practice practice practice, and with that done, practice some more. With my new guitar due to arrive in a couple of weeks, my awakened love of guitar and the help of this forum, my fingers are getting the idea and the future's bright.

[medic4ae]

The hardest part of playing guitar is when I've had a rough day(s)( I work 24-48 hour shifts)at work,I'm late on bills, have very little money, haven't eaten, my wife has p-ed me off ( or she's p-offed at me), my kids are loud and out of control, and I go to play my guitar and for a little while everything sounds like crap, I can't get it together, have no enthusiasm, wanna just throw amp, guitar and all out the window. But then after a bit I settle down and it's all so sweet, but those minutes before that are pure hell.

[Lcjones]

Kirk,

Putting the guitar down is the hardest part.

[Racetruckdave]

To medic4ae,

Hell,that's why I play!

[jon_stggt]

Originally Posted by medic4ae

I can't get it together, have no enthusiasm, wanna just throw amp, guitar and all out the window. But then after a bit I settle down and it's all so sweet, but those minutes before that are pure hell.

Your experience must result in the most euphoric blissful sweet that could only be born out of a journey through a little hell.
Hell of a journey, but what an outcome.

[newlite]

Originally Posted by Lcjones

Kirk,

Putting the guitar down is the hardest part.

yah, same. im still amazed i can make such a beutiful sound but holding a couple of string, and how different one fret over can sound...

i dont understand music theory at all, but i want to start learning...

[doug russell]

Originally Posted by Lcjones

Kirk,

Putting the guitar down is the hardest part.

Turning the amp down when my wife is home.