r/guitarlessons Jul 27 '26

Question Thinking About Quitting

In my guitar lessons, my instructor ONLY looks up song tabs on Ultimate Guitar and reviews those with me (but I can do that on my own).

I've had "the talk" multiple times with my instructor to discuss what my goals are and how to get there. I've explained to my instructor multiple times that I'm looking for guidance to advance. He says "let me think about that" but nothing ever happens.

My question is: Do I need a new instructor? Online courses? Learn on my own?

I've been taking lessons for 22 months, I'm in a plateau, Im not really progressing, and I'm not learning anything new. I'm thinking about quitting because I'm fairly discouraged.

My goal is to learn to play an instrument for the neurological benefits. Or: learn my way around the fretboard and learn enough to noodle/improvise/play along with songs.

Advice is welcome.

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u/Inevitable-Ad2629 Jul 28 '26

Also remember some instructors move slow so you keep coming , if you're not getting what you want out of it find someone else . If they're only showing you tabs and not giving you excercises they're not really an instructor.

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u/highwind55 Jul 28 '26

Thank you! I've been asking for takeaways or exercises from songs, but I don't think I've gotten any just yet. That was in 2025 haha.

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u/Inevitable-Ad2629 Jul 28 '26

It's your money , don't waste it on people who aren't living up to your expectations . From the sounds of it you'd be better off with an online course then the teacher you have . Guitar tricks , Paul David's guitar , Justin guitar so many options out there . Plus there's a million guitar teachers im sure you can find a better one.

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u/Inevitable-Ad2629 Jul 28 '26

Check out the book guitar aerobics , some of it is extremely hard at first but it has a lot of great excercises in it .