6 reasons you're not seeing guitar progress + solutions

Do you find yourself playing the same chords, licks, and scales over and over? 

Do you feel stuck and worry that your playing isn’t getting any better?

Feeling stagnant in your guitar progress is frustrating. Luckily, there are tried-and-true methods you can use to get inspired and make fast progress on guitar.

In this article, we'll review common reasons guitarists hit playing plateaus and how you can overcome those barriers.

Here's what we'll cover:

• You're missing structure and consistency 
• You're not aware of your progress
• You need to switch things up
• You're lacking music theory knowledge
• You're not taking care of your guitar
• You're in the trap of learning everything

Above all, this article will answer the question: what do you do when you feel stuck on guitar?

Reason #1: You're missing structure and consistency

Playing guitar is fun, but if you’re serious about improving, you need to commit to regular, focused practice sessions.

Even if guitar is just a hobby, developing a disciplined practice routine is important and will make playing guitar more enjoyable.

The phrase “practice makes perfect” is misleading. A more accurate statement is, ”practice makes permanent.” In other words, you have to practice properly to see improvement.

• Practicing the same scales, patterns, songs, and rhythms over and over again won't make you a better guitarist.
• Committing to a disciplined routine with an evolving practice plan is the best way to see improvement in your playing.
• This means stepping away from the guitar to figure out exactly what you need to work on.  

Many guitarists claim that they don't have time to practice, but for 90% of people, that's simply not true.

• Even 10 minutes of focused practice per day is better than just noodling on your guitar without structure for a couple of hours throughout the week.
• If you're having trouble practicing, try practicing guitar for 10 minutes at the same time every day (like after your brush your teeth or get home from work/school).

Structure your practice

Often, the main hurdle standing between a plateauing guitarist and a successful practice routine is structure.

• It takes planning to figure out what you need to work on, track your progress, and update your goals.
• Try writing down where you are now in your guitar journey and where you want to be. 
• Once you identify your weak areas and goals, you can start to identify what you need to work on.
• Or, you could try one of our Learning Pathways so you know exactly what to work on at every step of the way.

Set goals and milestones for yourself and create a practice schedule to follow. For example, if you're working on increasing your speed:

• Choose an exercise to work on, and find a slow starting tempo where you can play every note perfectly five times in a row.
• Then, increase the tempo by 5 BPM – make note of this in a practice journal.
• Once you can play the exercise perfectly, increase the tempo again.
• Repeat this until you reach your target tempo (and don't forget to stay loose while you're playing!)

By tracking your progression you can clearly see how you are in fact getting better, even if you don’t feel like it. Writing down your goals and tracking your progress are great tools for staying motivated and disciplined.

If you're lost on how to set guitar goals, check out this article.

Reason #2: You're not aware of your progress

If you’re a relatively new player, keep in mind that what and how you learn will change after you’ve got the basics and a solid foundation of guitar skills. 

• You might feel like you’re plateauing because you’re not learning as much or as quickly as you did when you first started.
• This is normal! There's a learning curve in guitar where, you make fast progress as a beginner.
• Once you reach the intermediate stage progress is more subtle and often harder to spot or pinpoint exactly.
• You’re just adding to what you already know, rather than learning something completely new.
• What you learn as an intermediate player may not be as obvious, either. Traits like playing with more emotion or better phrasing aren’t always apparent right away.

Our solution to this: start a practice journal. It'll help you celebrate the small wins and keep you motivated in your journey.

Reason #3: You need to switch things up

One reason you’ve stagnated could be that you’re experiencing boredom. You can get yourself out of a rut by playing something completely different.

• If you’re a metal guitarist, try studying blues or jazz for a change.
• Alternatively, if you’re a blues player, check out some metal or country guitar lessons.
• We're not suggesting that you change the music you love. Rather, diving into a new genre will equip you with new techniques that you can adapt to your favorite style of guitar.

If you write music and find yourself often using the same chords in the same key, try playing and writing in a key you are less familiar with.

• It’s no secret most musicians have a favorite and least favorite key to write in.
• Forcing yourself to work in less-familiar territory can spark inspiration and make you hear and experience chords and scales differently. 

A great way to quickly do this is by playing in alternate tunings:

• Drop your entire tuning down a half or whole step.
• Experiment playing in open tunings like DADGAD.
• Try learning a song in a different tuning and see how that makes the guitar sound and discover what you can do with it. 

Great guitar songs in open-G tuning:

• Rolling Stones - Start Me Up
• George Thorogood - Bad To The Bone
• Eric Clapton - Walking Blues
• Muse - Uprising

Great guitar songs in open-D tuning:

• Pearl Jam - Even Flow
• Joni Mitchell - Big Yellow Taxi
• Tallest Man On Earth - The Gardener
• Elmore James - Dust My Broom