u/Mad_Season_1994

This is a learning app by Gibson that has a course in it for beginners to build a foundation for playing. It’s stripped down tab as you can see and lets me loop certain sections and lower the speed to 50% at a minimum. But there’s A LOT of stuff this app covers. And what you see here is just part of their course for playing melodies. Just a pattern to walk up and down the board.

But I’m worried that for single note stuff like this, not even any chords yet, the fact that I have to loop certain parts over and over and over again to get them clean, and that one song can take me days and days to play proficiently makes me feel like I’m doing something wrong. That there’s some trick to technique I just can’t figure out that would give me the edge I need to move forward.

But I’m probably wrong and wanted to get a second opinion.

I’ve always wanted to try a Martin and, while I was going in to a local store to buy some acoustic strings, I saw they had two rooms dedicated to Taylor and Martin guitars. And the associate was kind enough to let me try a D-18. And even though I don’t know any songs by heart yet (only four months in), I know some of the notes from one of the greatest acoustic pieces ever: Wish You Were Here. And when I played it, I kid you not it felt and sounded perfectly like it was from the record. Even when I went back home and played the same exact thing on my Yamaha, the difference was noticeable to me.

I know WYWH was made on Dave Gilmour’s Martin D-35 but still, it felt like I was him playing it for the first time. I also just fretted some chords I know and made up a strumming pattern to jump between them, and the whole instrument just felt right to play. And it was hard to walk away from it.

But in the spirit of self improvement and trying not to impulse spend anymore, I had to let it go. I have been putting aside money for one per paycheck and plan on going back around my birthday in November. But I get the hype around the brand and the legacy now.

So I have a Strat and a Yamaha acoustic. My Strat has 9’s on them and my Yamaha has Elixir Custom Light 11’s. Even just doing a hammer on on my acoustic takes noticeably more force than on my electric. And even if I don’t play anything and just try to bend my acoustic strings, I only get two of them to push and can’t do a third. Just don’t have the strength for it yet I guess.

Would putting on extra lights make a difference or no? Or is it possible my acoustic’s string action needs adjusted? Let me know

I’m four months in and play every day, usually in bursts. I usually drill a song a few times > go do something else > come back and up the speed and see how I do and go from there. And I’ve also started in person lessons.

But at the same time, I’m pretty reclusive these days. I’ll go out to events like concerts, go to church, volunteer when I can, etc. So I’m not a shut-in. But I’m also like the protagonist in Pink Floyd’s The Wall: repeated bad shit that’s happened to me has made me retreat further into the shell my parents tried to get me to break out of when I was a kid. And I can’t afford to check myself in to a facility since I’ll lose my job. That, and I don’t want to lose my ability to play my guitar.

It’s why I wonder, since I don’t have the bravery to change and break out of my wall these days, if I will still get objectively better at guitar since I won’t have the opportunity to jam in person with others, join a band or anything like that. Or am I truly holding myself back here?

So I graduated college in 2019 and thankfully didn’t have too much debt as I went to a school that’s not overly expensive and has tuition reduction for students born in the state. So I made my payments on time every month, even through Covid and the lockdowns when they were on a pause and I didn’t need to pay. I then later found out about HYSAs and would put money aside per paycheck into one until enough was in there to take a chunk out of my debt. And with my grandpa passing last month, my mother got his accounts semi in order and I have some money (not a lot to some, but a lot to me) that I used to pay off the last little bit.

So yeah. One less thing I have to take care of every month! I’m just supremely lucky to be able to live with my parents (I pay rent to them each month and wfh) and don’t really have any debt in general besides my monthly credit card statement. I just wish I could’ve paid it off while my grandpa was still around..

Sorry if that’s a weird question. Even though I’m still a beginner and suck royal ass at this godforsaken instrument, I still do love it and want to get better. I play every day and have also started lessons. But outside of guitar, I don’t really have much.

I have an extremely small family in my life (less than 10 people), and I can’t have and don’t want kids. I also don’t have any friends because I’m a socially awkward fuckup who’s tried to make friends and socialize but never got good at it. And yeah, I don’t have anyone romantically involved with me either.

But all that aside, assuming my collection grows over the years but I still become an old man, what would be the best thing for me to do with my guitars? I’d prefer to donate them if possible since I won’t need any money where I’ll be going. Would there be places or orgs that take donations of guitars? Please do let me know.