I started the L & M Guitar course when I turned 60. Took me 18 months of solid work to complete it, no short cuts, just treated it like a college course and stuck with it. I avoided any other side tracts so as not to get distracted. It took six months to complete the Blues Spot Light course, and backed that up with "Blues Grooves" from Steve that I won on one of the live lessons and finished that one 2 months ago. The L & M Fingerstyle course was the hardest and that took me about 14 months to complete. I like that one so much I spent a year just learning classical music from "Classical for Guitar" that I also got from Steve. I figured if studying classical was good enough for Mark Knopfler it probably wouldn't hurt me to do the same. During that time I also finished the L & M Song Hits. I did not memorize them, just learned them to be able to play them with the printed music. Now, I am doing what I really wanted to do in the first place...learning rock and roll songs. So now after 4 and a half years I feel like I can play most any intermediate songs (classical, blues or rock) and now it really doesn't take that long to learn riffs. If I hear it (over and over LOL) I can figure it out. (Yes, it was worth it.) Still working full time as well. If I can do it, anyone can. You don't have to be gifted. The only week I don't practice every day is when I go to Chicago to a week long medical meeting after every Thanksgiving as I have for the last 32 years. If I behave, my wife might let me stop by the Chicago Music Exchange this time though. Good Luck to the rest of you on your own guitar journey. GH