The Top 5 Reasons People Quit Playing the Guitar and What You Can Do to Overcome Them

A disclaimer here, this article is not encouraging you to quit guitar. In fact, I want to help you stick with playing the guitar. Many people learning to play the guitar often quit before realizing their full potential. This article breaks down the most common reasons people quit playing guitar and what you can do to overcome your excuses. Read on to find out more.

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You’re Not Getting Better

If you have been playing for over 3 months and feel like you’re not improving, you might think that it’s time to give up. This is a very common problem for guitar players of all skill levels. Here are some reasons why you may feel like you are not improving regardless of how much you try:

Practice

You may get caught in the trap of practicing something and wanting to get it right ONCE.

When you learn this way, you fail to integrate new skills into your playing.

Failure to know what to practice

Getting the right material to practice is very important. When you play the same old chords and finger exercises, you stop improving and simultaneously get bored of the guitar.

Solution

• Go back over the basics because you are likely making some basic mistakes that greatly impact your playing.
• Learn to use your thumb independently from other fingers, and you will be able to break free from standard, pattern-style fingerpicking.

You Don’t Have Enough Time to Practice

If you can’t find the time to practice, it’s probably not worth continuing. Finding time to practice guitar may be increasingly difficult as hobbies and other recreational pursuits get pushed down the “to do” list.

Solution:

• Smart practicing and cutting on time wastage

Plan your time wisely and prioritize what you practice. This will give you the shortest possible way to fulfill your goals.

• Make use of your free time

When you find some free time, especially once you get home from work, use that time to practice.

You’re Not Motivated

If you don’t enjoy playing guitar or don’t feel motivated to play, it might be time to quit. When you are not having fun during the guitar exercises perhaps you are getting frustrated, discouraged, or just finding practice grueling and uninteresting.

Solution:

Many beginners struggle to experience the fun at first because they can’t play songs that sound good to them. The solution is to learn how to have fun before you even get to that point.

Your Skills Are Holding You Back.

Maybe your skills aren’t good enough to play the songs you want to play. As a new player, you will often experience frustration since it will seem impossible to make your hands and fingers coordinate well. You may not form chord shapes correctly or struggle to press the strings to the fretboard. In extreme situations, you may experience pain in your wrist, shoulders, or back.

Solution:

• It is important to realize that learning guitar or any new motor skill requires you to practice to get better.

• If you experience pain when practicing or after practicing guitar, talk to your doctor about it. This is because you can injure yourself playing guitar. A lack of skills can give you overuse injuries that require a little rest and ice, but in other situations, they can be very serious. Talk to your doctor.

• The next way of giving yourself a good chance is to learn to play with good form and posture. You can practice using classical guitar playing positions. Most new players do the exact opposite-playing while holding the instrument in a bad position. Bad posture makes you struggle to fret chords and notes correctly, and your progress stops. Getting comfortable will get you playing the tight codes for the songs you want.

It’s Become More of a Chore Than Fun.

If playing guitar has become more of a burden than something fun, it might be time to stop. Playing guitar should be fun, but sometimes it can get the best of you to the extent that you don’t feel like you want to play the guitar anymore. You can even feel depressed about playing the guitar. Here is how to avoid and overcome guitar burnout:

Solution

• Stay Positive

You must remain positive when playing the guitar because it takes a long time to grow and become proficient. Negative feelings will lead to burnout. You will not make progress if you feel like you can’t do it. Suppose you run out of possible good guitar teacher to help you move forward. Stay positive and give yourself time to learn. This will help you to avoid burnout, since you’ll see progress.

• Take a break from playing but don’t Stop.

You cannot do the same things all the time without feeling burnout. For example, if you work, you realize that you don’t want to work on the weekends. Everyone needs a break to recharge so that you are fresh to work again. Playing guitar is the same way, so step away from practicing every few days and do different activities.

• Play With Like-Minded Musicians.

Playing at home by yourself can lead to boredom and feeling burnout. When you can play at home, you can’t get enough music experience to its fullest. Playing in a band situation stimulates your creativity and gets you excited about music, and you won’t see it as a chore. Additionally playing with other people of similar interests is one of the best things you can do to reduce musical ruts. Think less about your techniques and have fun making music with others, often.

Conclusion

The tips in this article will help you reduce guitar burnout and feeling like quitting. When you don’t have the incentive or the motivation to play guitar, apply the solutions given. These include changing the way you play to keep things fresh and exciting like joining a band or class. Keep practicing and the musical journey will be fun. Quitting guitar should not be an option.