Ponec

orourke - You have pretty much described my playing experience up to this point so I understand completely. d_dave_c - Also, same kind of story here. Got married, had a few kids, quit hanging with the band members, pretty much left guitars in their cases for 10 years. Got back into it eight years ago and as you said, "the progress is slow going". I only really get to play after the wife and kids have gone to bed. I find myself doing the same thing over and over as I do some minor pentatonic wanking to warm up. Then by the time I warm up, it is time that I need to go to bed. Very frustrating. Keep 'em comin' guys. I find this VERY interesting if not a little therapeutic. -Ron BTW orourke - Thanks for the compliment on the forum. I am hoping to attract a good crowd to it.

I am interested to see if anyone else has dealt with this kind of problem... I have suffered from a mild form of chronic depression all my adult life (I am 41 now). This depression extends to my guitar playing in that I get very depressed when I take stock of my abilities compared to how long I've been playing (about 25 years) and how much time and resources that I have put into it. Roughly six months ago there were a couple of traumatic/catastrophic events in my life that pushed the general depression to an all time low. About a month into this depression a couple of old friends of mine invited me out to see Sonny Landreth at a local venue. This guy is flat out phenomenal. I would rate him one of if not the best guitar player on the circuit today. Upon watching Landreth up close I have become so despondent with my own playing that I find it very difficult to even pick up my guitar and play. I am trying to work through this. I even set up a new guitar forum on my server to keep grounded in the guitar world and to try and re-light a fire under my playing. (Time for a shameless plug - go to http://www.theguitarcave.com/phpbb2/index.php to check it out.) Anyone else dealt with this or is dealing with this type of problem? I'd like to hear about it. -Ron