If you’ve been playing guitar for any length of time, you’ve probably noticed something: some weeks everything clicks. Your fingers land where they’re supposed to. The song you’ve been working on finally sounds right. You walk away from practice thinking, “I’ve got this.”
And then the next week? Nothing works. The same song that sounded great three days ago falls apart. Your hands feel clumsy. You can’t figure out what changed.
This is completely normal. Every guitar player who has ever lived has experienced this — beginners, intermediates, and professionals. It’s not a sign that something is wrong. It’s just how learning works.
Progress Doesn't Move in a Straight Line
People expect improvement to be steady — a little better every day, every week, every month. But that’s not how it actually happens.
Real progress comes in waves. You’ll have a stretch where everything feels like it’s moving forward. Then you’ll hit a patch where it feels like you’ve stalled or even gone backward. And then one day, without warning, something unlocks and you jump to a level you didn’t know you were close to.
That flat stretch in the middle? That’s not wasted time. That’s your hands and your brain catching up to each other. The work is happening even when you can’t feel it yet.
The Danger of the Quiet Frustration
Here’s the thing I’ve learned after 30 years of teaching: the flat stretch isn’t the problem. How people read it is.
A bad week feels like proof that you’ve gone backward, or that you’ve hit the limit of what you can do. So practice gets a little shorter. Then it gets skipped. The guitar sits on the stand for a few days, then a few weeks. Nobody decides to quit. It just happens quietly.
If you’re learning on your own, nobody is there to notice. Nobody tells you it’s temporary, and nobody changes what you’re working on so it’s fun again.
It happens to people in lessons too. Unfortunately, it’s not always obvious. Students don’t announce when they’re frustrated. They don’t call and say, “Hey Brian, I’m hitting a wall.” They just start showing up less. A student who was steady every Monday at five starts popping in randomly. Practice drops off.
That’s the part that gets me, because almost every time it’s fixable, and much faster if they share their feelings sooner.
What to Do When You’re in One
Don’t treat a bad week as a verdict. You haven’t lost what you built. Your hands are catching up.
Keep the guitar in your hands, even if it’s only ten minutes. A short session on a bad day does more than a week off. The gap is what costs you, not the bad session.
Change what you’re working on for a while. Try a different song, a different section, or something you’ve never played. Coming back to the hard part a week later is often what makes it fall into place.
And look back. Play something you couldn’t play six months ago. Most people in a flat stretch have lost sight of how far they’ve come.
What I Do When a Student Hits One
Anyone can try those things on their own. The hard part is knowing which one you need, and that’s tough to judge when you’re the one who’s frustrated.
That’s why I ask my students to tell me when guitar starts to feel like a chore. A quick call, a text, or an email is enough. It doesn’t have to be a big conversation. Just something like, “I’m not enjoying this as much right now” or “I feel stuck.”
Once I know, I can adjust. I might change what we’re working on, or pull back if I’ve been pushing too hard. Some people need more of a challenge, not less. Others just need me to show them how far they’ve come.
Every student I’ve ever taught has hit rough patches. The ones who keep going aren’t the ones who never get frustrated — they’re the ones who let me help them through it.
The Other Side Is Worth It
Those flat stretches? They end. Every single time. And when they do, the jump in ability on the other side makes every frustrating practice session worth it.
The people who stick with it long enough to experience that will tell you the same thing: the weeks where nothing felt like it was working were actually the weeks where the most important growth was happening.
So if you’re in one of those stretches right now, keep playing. And if you want help getting through it, reach out. That’s what I’m here for.
About The Author
Brian Fish is a professional guitarist who has been dedicated to helping other guitar players in Northeast Ohio pursue their musical dreams since 1994. He’s passionate about guiding others on their musical journey! He is the Guitar Playing Transformation Specialist, instructor, mentor, trainer, and coach at
Guitar Lessons Geauga.
Brian has also assisted people from around the globe in developing a solid sense of timing and enhancing their creativity through the fantastic rhythm course, “Ultimate Rhythm Mastery,” available at MusicTheoryForGuitar.com.
If you live in Geauga County / North East Ohio, Guitar Lessons Geauga can help you become the player you’ve always wanted to be.