everyone is better than me

geese_com

That's is how I feel after @voutoreenie came over to my house to jam. I want to quit and stop wasting my time practicing. I am sure I can find better things to do with my time than to constantly suck.

JSanta

I think this is a choice all artists make at some point. You can quit when it stops being fun, or you figure out the slog is worth it.

There's always going to be better players than you. Be the best you, that's all you can do. I absolutely get the feeling of wanting to basically hang it up when I see a great guitarist. But the one thing I know about those great players is they all put the work in. The art is worth it not being fun all the time. Because there are always those glimmers of absolute joy in every practice session or gig.

Gouch

Take a month off now and again and do something entirely else!

Jangle_Jamie

Hey Lucky, that's a great reply, thanks. Focusing my practicing would be a start. I have many distractions so don't really play as much as I should, and when I do play I just play through the things I know and never sit down properly to work new things out. In fact, I can't really complain at all as I can't expect to improve if I'm never committing.

littlemark

Hope you're feeling better today. I've certainly had those days.

djazzy

I've been a slow learner. So I can only speak from experience & offer some points I've found helpful. Practical point: to continually analyze my development and work at my weaknesses. Especially the ones that will likely rear their head at the next jam or two. For instance, know the songs cold. Nothing good happens when I'm thinking too much about "the chord changes" when I'm playing. Also, try to relax more. Stay cool. Bigger point: those guys who play "great"? They're them, I'm me. The point about time put into practicing is really important -- and shouldn't be taken for granted. I go a little further however & accept embrace the fact that I will NEVER sound like them. So I work at developing my voice, and will even disappear to discover & hone it. Get some distance. And I'll commit to this -- & to the music I want coming out of my guitar. If its stringing together fast licks I'll go at it. If not, then why not? Eventually... eureka! Now those guys who play way better than me also play a little differently than me.

Buco

@Jangle_Jamie you said it yourself:

It's about making great music, but that's in the ear of the beholder! I wish I could wow others with my playing, and by others, I mean other players.

You never know how others feel about yours and their own playing. Gonzalo once said, in the middle of the concert too, guitar players are very self-deprecating musicians.

But I share your sentiment. I think, at least in my case, we're always mentally a few stages behind than we really are as musicians. And that has to do with continually developing as adults. Our heroes developed during the years when they were still developing mentally and physically. And it all went hand in hand.

With us here, for the most part seems like we're trying to get better as adults. I know I am. So I always imagine myself probably 3-5 years behind of where I really am. There was something that happened during last year's Django in June that made me self reflect on this.

I'd like to add a few more things but maybe in the next round. However I would like to underline what @Gouch said about taking the time away from the instrument. It can be hugely beneficial and very much underestimated.

Phil

Maybe apply this to playing guitar 🙏

MikeK

Great thread. And I love how supportive we all are of each other here. Here's my take on this important topic, and it's been referenced here but I'm going to try to drive it home: find your own way & roll with it with all the joy you can find in it. Buco once heard a video of my band and he said "you have a very distinctive sound", or something along those lines. That was a huge compliment to me and I buzzed from it for weeks. I'll never be anywhere near as good as my heros (Django, Grant Green, Wes Montgomery, Kenny Burrell, etc). Hell, I'll never be half as good as some of the gypsy jazz guitarists in my town or even some of the guys on my bandstand. But I'm really good at sounding like me, and that makes me very happy and maintains my confidence at a reasonably high level, which is absolutely crucial for any performing artist. Through my journey with this music, I've tried all kinds of different stuff. I've shed the stuff I suck at and adopted the stuff I'm good at. If you do that long enough and if you're persistent with it, you end up being distinctive. And that may be nirvana here, especially in a world filled with gj masters who we can all see & hear for free by pecking on our phones. So, OP, thanks for shining light on this. And Buco, thanks for a compliment that reminded me of the importance of going your own way. To me, that's where the joy is.

voutoreenie

@geese_com C'mon now man, you do realize that between the 2 of us we might have enough combined talent to play a gig for deaf people?? But seriously, I don't wanna hear that, especially considering how good you are too! We'll need to get together soon again just so I can knock some sense into you.

Also, I'm right there with @Gouch and @Buco about taking some occasional time off and coming back to it - whenever I have to go out of town for work/vacation etc., it's like my ears just completely open up the next I'm with the guitar again and I can hear everything I want to do. Maybe someone else can chime in but who was it that said to play lead before the chord changes, as in where you're going should almost be into the next chord right before it changes?? That's kind of what happens naturally whenever I'm away from the guitar for 1-2 weeks.

And since we're commiserating on becoming bummed about playing...I'm now recalling the longest time I ever stepped away, almost 5-6 months back in 2000 during Covid. No "shut down" for me because I'm in an "essential industry" and for a minute there I was just losing it mentally having to cope with the loss of routine normalcy (or whatever it was I had perceived "routine normal" to be). This was almost right after I bought my Dupont from Michael in 2019 and the music just completely left me during that period of time...had this beautiful new guitar just sitting there until one day I woke up, started to feel the music coming back and got over myself. That's when everything really started clicking for me in terms of technique, coming back after that long was almost like an epiphany in some ways.

Anyway, sorry for rambling again but just to sum up, whether it's a song/head, rhythm progression, lick/phrase, etc., seek JOY in anything you're playing, become obsessed with practicing whatever it is that brings you joy and try to get it in 20-30 minutes of practice time a day if possible. That's how I practice and after a couple lessons with Antoine Boyer, I learned that's how he's always practiced too (and if wanting to spend more time per day, break up the practice sessions into multiple 20-30 minute sessions within the same day instead of going for straight 2-3 hour practice marathons).