There was a time where I was making real progress. I’ve never had a teacher: all that fueled me was a passion for metal.
But now… I’ve seen so many people in my grade who are millions of times better than me, and I’ve let that prevent me from moving my playing forward. I can’t remember the last time I sat down and tried to learn a new song or even a new riff.
The key here is to stop comparing myself to others and start playing just for myself, for the sake of creating music. I resolve to start practicing at least an hour a day, starting today or tomorrow. Once I’ve kept this up for several months, I’ll consider this goal complete.
EDIT: Played for an hour today. Towards the end I was getting so into it I had to force myself to stop, since I can’t let guitar take precedence over piano practice. But…. learned a good deal of “Valhall Awaits Me” (Amon Amarth) and the bits I haven’t learned don’t seem that difficult either. Hopefully I’ll be able to get this in a performable state within a week or so.
EDIT #2: It’s going much better. Almost have the song down, it’s just a matter of getting my hand used to fast alternate picking again. Also got invited to play guitar in a friend’s band for a Battle of the Bands tryout.
