I am feeling so very frustrated with my banjo playing. You guys are all so helpful, and I am working SO hard. I practice quite a bit, sometimes even a few hours a day (which is a lot for a stay-at-home mom of two young children), I think and I listen listen listen and I ask LOTS of questions. I am learning to play by ear, I can read standard notation and tab, I have had a couple lessons with different excellent players, I tape myself and watch the tapes, etc.
MY PLAYING SOUNDS TERRIBLE! It just feels so stuck, like I can't progress. Or, I make lots of progress but I never get good. I have maybe a dozen tunes that I play from memory, and I am still struggling on every.single.one. Nothing plays in my sleep, unless I have been playing the same tune for a few hours and then sometimes I'm almost there (unless I try to tape it). I keep trying to make some videos to post to my page so that I can demonstrate my progress from the tape I made when I was just starting and ask for advice, but I cannot get through a single song while the camera is rolling without making a million mistakes, tone or no tone. If I play fast enough to make it sound like a song, I'm lucky to hit half the notes! I'm so terribly discouraged.