<![CDATA[Guitars Are Hard - Blogs / Articles]]>Sun, 08 Mar 2026 13:45:44 +0000Weebly<![CDATA[Why Your YouTube Channel Is Probably Bigger Than You Think]]>Sun, 01 Mar 2026 17:46:40 GMThttps://www.guitarsarehard.com/blogs--articles/why-your-youtube-channel-is-probably-bigger-than-you-think(The figures in the article are from 26th April 2024.)

Most creators underestimate the size and success of their YouTube channels. When my own channel, Guitars Are Hard, passed 15,000 subscribers on 16 March 2024, it got me wondering: How big is that, really? We all know the mega‑channels with tens or hundreds of millions of subscribers — but what about the rest of us?

After digging into the numbers, I realised something surprising: If your channel has around 10–15k subscribers, you’re already far bigger than you think.

Let’s break it down.


🎯 How Many YouTube Channels Actually Create Content?
YouTube has 2.6 billion active users, but only a small fraction upload anything at all.
  • 4.4% of users — roughly 65 million people — upload at least one video per year.
  • That includes everyone from casual uploaders to serious creators.

So the moment you upload anything, you’re already in a relatively small group.


🏆 Hitting 10,000 Subscribers Puts You in the Top 10%
Here’s where things get interesting:
  • 90% of all creators never reach 10,000 subscribers.
  • If you’re at 10k–15k, you’re already in the top 10% of all YouTube channels.

That’s a huge achievement. Most people never get close.


💰 Monetisation: Who Actually Makes Money?
Only a tiny slice of creators ever reach monetisation:
  • Less than 6% of channels are monetised — around 3 million in total.
  • Monetised creators keep 55% of their ad revenue.
  • Typical ad revenue is $3–$5 per 1,000 views, depending on niche and audience.

But here’s the real kicker:
Sponsorships matter far more than ad revenue.

Even small channels can earn hundreds — sometimes thousands — from a single sponsored segment. I haven’t had one yet, but I’m ready when the universe is.


📈 How Big Is a “Small” Video?
Creators often beat themselves up over “only” getting 1,000 views. But the data says otherwise:
  • A video with 1,000 views is already in the top 12% of all YouTube videos.
  • 88% of videos never reach 1,000 views.
  • Videos with 5,000–8,000 views sit in the top 5–8%.

So if you’re consistently hitting 1k+ views, you’re doing far better than you think.


🎸 How Big Are Guitar Channels?
Since Guitars Are Hard is a guitar channel, I looked into the niche.
  • The biggest guitar channel is JustinGuitar with around 1.6 million subscribers.
  • That’s tiny compared to the mega‑channels with 50–200 million subs.
  • The 10th‑largest guitar channel has roughly 400,000 subscribers.

That means:
  • A channel with 15,000 subscribers is already well up the long tail.
  • You don’t need millions to be in the top tier of your niche.
  • Guitar YouTube is big, but not that big — which is good news for smaller creators.

If you’re starting a guitar channel, I’ve got a few videos with tips on growing past your first thousand subscribers — stick around to the end of the original video for the link.


🌍 General YouTube Facts That Put Everything in Context
A few more stats that surprised me:
  • 60% of YouTube content is in English.
  • In 2022, YouTube generated $29 billion in revenue — likely more today.
  • 70% of what people watch is recommended by the algorithm.
  • YouTube Shorts get 50 billion views per day.
  • YouTube is the second most visited website in the world (after Google).
  • The audience is 54% male, 46% female.
  • The biggest age group is 25–34.

All of this shows just how massive — and competitive — the platform really is.


⭐ Final Thoughts
Most creators think they’re small. But the numbers tell a different story:
  • If you upload regularly, you’re already ahead of most users.
  • If you’ve passed 10k subscribers, you’re in the top 10%.
  • If your videos get 1k+ views, you’re outperforming the vast majority of uploads.
  • And in niche communities like guitar YouTube, even 15k subscribers puts you surprisingly high up the ladder.

So keep going. You’re doing better than you think.

Thanks for reading — and as always, you’re amazing.
]]><![CDATA[Guitars Are Hard Hits 30,000 Subscribers — A Milestone Built on Chaos, Comebacks, and Community]]>Sat, 28 Feb 2026 22:50:09 GMThttps://www.guitarsarehard.com/blogs--articles/guitars-are-hard-hits-30000-subscribers-a-milestone-built-on-chaos-comebacks-and-communityReaching 30,000 subscribers should feel like a simple, triumphant moment — a neat little number that says, “You made it.” It is proof of the music lovers who’ve chosen to join this journey into guitar learning, gear exploration, mistakes, laughs, and the ups and downs that come with documenting life on camera.

To every one of you who has hit subscribe, like, comment or just taken a moment to watch a video — thank you from the bottom of my guitar-learning heart. Your support has brought us this far and means more than any algorithm could ever measure.

So yes, 30,000 subscribers is huge — but it’s the shared love of guitar (and the authenticity of this journey) that truly counts.

But if you’ve followed the channel for any length of time, you already know nothing about Guitars Are Hard has ever been neat, linear, or predictable.

This milestone isn’t just a number. It’s a story of survival. It’s a thank‑you letter. And it’s proof that this community is stronger than any algorithm.

To everyone who stuck around — thank you. Your support kept this channel alive through hacking, illness, burnout, personal trauma, and a seven‑month disappearance that made me look like I’d been abducted by a rogue guitar cult.

Subscriber Numbers Don’t Equal Views, Watch Time, or Community
YouTube loves to pretend that subscriber count is a measure of success. But anyone who actually creates on the platform knows the truth:

• A channel can have 30,000 subscribers and still get 300 views on a video.
• Watch time — not subs — determines whether YouTube shows your content to anyone.
• Community comes from comments, conversations, and connection, not numbers.
• The algorithm does not care how many people clicked “Subscribe” in 2022.

Even huge guitar channels with 150k+ subs struggle to get traction. Meanwhile, a random short of someone playing a guitar with a banana gets millions of views.

There is no straight line between subscriber count and success. So hitting 30,000 isn’t about bragging rights — it’s about endurance.

The Disruptions of 2024 and 2025 And why the channel went silent
My blog archive tells the full story, and it’s a wild one. Here’s the honest recap.

The December 2024 Hacking Disaster
In late 2024, my Google accounts were hacked, fraudulent ads were run at £350 per day, and Google’s automated systems punished me instead of the criminals. My YouTube channel was frozen. My appeals were rejected automatically. And for months, I genuinely thought the channel was gone forever.

This saga is documented in the article “Google Saved My Channel — The Incredible Comeback Story.”

It wasn’t resolved until April 2025, when a real human finally stepped in.

Illness and Exhaustion Throughout 2025
Even after the hacking nightmare ended, my health didn’t bounce back. I was constantly ill - with a persistent, reoccurring infection - feeling drained, tired, fevered and mentally foggy — the kind of exhaustion that makes even picking up a guitar feel like lifting a piano.

Burnout — The Slow, Silent Collapse
Burnout hit hard. Not the “I need a weekend off” kind — the real kind. The kind where you stop filming, stop editing, stop playing, stop caring. You even had unopened boxes of guitars silently judging you for months.

This period is described in the article article “You Brought Me Back From the Wilderness!”

Personal Trauma — The Part No One Sees
Behind the scenes, life was throwing punches. Every evening was consumed by a difficult personal situation that drained every ounce of emotional energy. Creativity wasn’t just hard — it was impossible.

The Seven‑Month Disappearance (July 2025 – January 2026)
No videos. No posts. No updates. Just silence.

I even lost my YouTube Partner status — something that took years to earn — simply because I didn’t post a single video or community update. I even ignored potential sponsorship and collaboration opportunities.

And yet… people stayed. People waited. People didn’t unsubscribe. People believed I’d come back.

That’s community. That’s what 30,000 subscribers really represents.

The Channel Is Back — And Re‑Energized
Something shifted in early 2026. The fog lifted. The burnout eased. The ideas returned. The guitars came out of their boxes. And the spark — the one that started this whole journey — came roaring back.

I’ve already begun rebuilding:
• New videos • New articles • New energy • A more sustainable approach • A renewed commitment to consistency • And a determination not to vanish for seven months again

This isn’t just a return. It’s a relaunch. We’ll focus on:
  • More engaging videos that help, entertain, or inspire
  • Improving consistency without sacrificing authenticity
  • Building community — not just chasing numbers
  • Crafting content that you want to see

There’s a lot of music left to explore… and we’re just hitting our stride.

What 30,000 Subscribers Really Means
It means resilience. It means survival. It means the channel refused to die — and neither did the people who support it.

It means that despite hacking, illness, burnout, trauma, and algorithmic nonsense… Guitars Are Hard is still here.

And now?

It’s re‑energized. It’s refocused. It’s determined. And it’s ready to be bigger and better than ever.

Thank you for being part of this journey. Thank you for sticking around. Thank you for helping this channel reach 30,000 subscribers — not as a vanity metric, but as a symbol of everything we’ve overcome together.

You know you're awesome right?
]]><![CDATA[How I Almost Became a Tinfoil‑Hat Conspiracy Theorist (Over a YouTube Ad Rejection)]]>Fri, 27 Feb 2026 23:16:17 GMThttps://www.guitarsarehard.com/blogs--articles/how-i-almost-became-a-tinfoil-hat-conspiracy-theorist-over-a-youtube-ad-rejectionEvery creator has moments where the platforms we rely on leave us scratching our heads. Recently, I had one of those moments—one that briefly sent me spiralling toward full‑blown conspiracy thinking before reality reeled me back in. This is the story of how a simple YouTube ad rejection almost convinced me Google was censoring me for political reasons.

The Background: A Birthday Video and a Simple Idea
At the start of January 2025, my channel celebrated its third birthday. To mark the occasion, I released:
  • A short video highlighting the birthday moment
  • Two longer videos looking back over the past year

In those longer videos, I broke the year down month by month, covering three things:
  • Major news events in the UK, the US, and around the world
  • What I released on my channel that month
  • What was new on my website during that period

The news section was light—just two or three major headlines per month. Nothing controversial, nothing political in the sense of advocacy. The only “edgy” moment was a small joke at the beginning about the leader of a North American country releasing a guitar. Harmless, silly, and over in seconds.

The videos performed reasonably well: around 2,400 views across the two long videos and about 1,400 on the short. Not viral, but respectable for my channel.

Why I Advertise My Videos
I occasionally use Google Ads to give underperforming videos a small push. Not to buy fake views—just to put the video in front of people who might genuinely enjoy it.

My approach is simple:
  • Up to £5 per video over a few weeks to advertise the video to the whole world
  • £1 per week / fortnight to advertise the channel to high‑revenue countries

Some videos don’t need this. Others surprise me by underperforming, and I give them a nudge. It’s a small, controlled, transparent part of how I grow the channel.

So naturally, I set up ads for the birthday videos.

And then everything went sideways.

The Rejection: “Election Advertising in the United States”
Every single ad—both the long videos and the short—was disapproved.

The reason?
“This promotion violates policy: Election advertising in the United States.”

I stared at the screen thinking: What? What election? What political content? What are you talking about?

I dug into the policy. It covered:
  • Candidates for federal office
  • Sitting office holders
  • Senate and House elections
  • Presidential and vice‑presidential campaigns

None of which had anything to do with my videos. I’m in the UK. I wasn’t discussing elections. I wasn’t endorsing anyone. I wasn’t even aware of any US elections happening at that time.

So why on Earth was Google flagging my birthday retrospective as political advertising?

The Moment I Nearly Went Full Conspiracy
This is where my brain betrayed me.

I started wondering:
  • Was it the joke about the North American leader and the guitar?
  • Did I accidentally trigger some automated political‑content filter?
  • Is Google suppressing content that pokes fun at certain world leaders?
  • Is this censorship?
  • Is this an attack on my free speech?

I could feel myself sliding down the rabbit hole. It was ridiculous, but the rejection reason made no sense, and when things don’t make sense, the mind fills in the gaps.

So I decided to test it.

The Experiment: Remove the Joke and Try Again
I combined the two long videos into one single video and removed the guitar joke entirely. Everything else stayed the same: the monthly news summaries, the channel updates, the website highlights.

If the ad was approved, I’d know the joke was the trigger.

If it was rejected again, something else was going on.

I uploaded the new version, submitted it for promotion…
…and it was rejected again!

This time the reason was:
“Election advertising in the United Kingdom.”

At that point, I realised the problem wasn’t the joke. It wasn’t censorship. It wasn’t political bias. It was simply Google’s automated systems misclassifying my content for reasons I still don’t fully understand.

And honestly? I stopped caring.

The videos had already run their course. They’d been watched. They’d done fine. There was no point fighting the system over a few pounds of ad spend, a few hundred views, and maybe a few new subscribers.

What I Learned (and How Close I Came to the Rabbit Hole)
The whole experience was a reminder of how easy it is to jump to conclusions when something unexpected happens—especially when algorithms are involved and explanations are vague.

For a brief moment, I genuinely wondered whether I was being censored for making a harmless joke. But the more I looked at it, the more obvious it became that this was just an over‑sensitive automated filter, not a grand political conspiracy.

The videos are still up--Another Year Wiser (parts 1 and 2) and the short Guitars Are Hard Is 3 Years Old.

If you watch them, see if you can spot anything remotely resembling electioneering. I certainly can’t.

Final Thoughts
This little misadventure taught me two things:
  • Algorithms can be hilariously over‑cautious.
  • My brain can leap to wild conclusions faster than I’d like to admit.

Thanks for sticking with me through this story. If you enjoyed it, feel free to comment, subscribe to the channel, and check out the birthday retrospectives yourself.

And remember: stay awesome. 


]]><![CDATA[Is It Worth Starting a YouTube Guitar Channel in 2026? A Deep Dive Into the Reality]]>Fri, 27 Feb 2026 22:19:26 GMThttps://www.guitarsarehard.com/blogs--articles/is-it-worth-starting-a-youtube-guitar-channel-in-2026-a-deep-dive-into-the-realityStarting a YouTube guitar channel in 2026 might feel like stepping into a crowded room where everyone is already shouting. But is it still worth doing? I recently explored this question by watching a video from Josh Guitar titled “Starting a New YouTube Guitar Channel in 2026” and reflecting on my own experiences running a guitar channel with around 30,000 subscribers.

This article walks through the key ideas from that video, adds my commentary, and ends with my honest take on whether you should start your own channel this year.

The State of Guitar YouTube in 2026
The video opens with a surprisingly blunt piece of advice from one of the featured creators:
“Just give up. It’s not going to happen.”

A bit dramatic, sure—but it reflects a real frustration many guitar YouTubers feel. Views are harder to get, growth is slower, and the guitar isn’t the cultural centrepiece it once was. The 80s and 90s were peak guitar culture; today’s music landscape is dominated by electronic production, hip‑hop, and hook-heavy pop (poop?).

Creators with 150,000 subscribers still struggle to get traction. Even with 30,000 subscribers myself, I can put out a video that barely moves the needle. Sometimes a video you expect to explode gets nothing. Other times, something random takes off. It’s unpredictable, and yes—disappointing.

But that doesn’t mean it’s not worth doing.


Tip 1: Make Content You Actually Love
Every creator in the video agreed on one thing: you must love the content you make.

If you’re passionate about what you’re playing, teaching, or reviewing, that energy transfers to the viewer. And because YouTube is a long game—three, five, even ten years—your content has to be something you can sustain without burning out.

Chasing views is a fast track to misery. I learned this the hard way. In 2025, I hit a wall so hard I didn’t touch a guitar for months. I lost my calluses. I lost my YouTube Partner status. I had guitars still in boxes because I couldn’t bring myself to film anything.

Why? Because I was making videos I thought would get views, not videos I actually cared about.

In 2026, I’m changing that.


Tip 2: Provide Value (Even If You Don’t Call It a “Business”)
One creator in the video framed YouTube as a business: you provide a service, solve a problem, or help someone improve.

I agree with the principle, but not the language. Thinking of your channel as a “business” can feel cold and transactional. Instead, I prefer to think of it like this:
What would have helped me when I first picked up a guitar?

If you’re even a few steps ahead of someone else, you have something valuable to share—mistakes, breakthroughs, encouragement, shortcuts, humour, whatever makes you you.

That’s the service.

And if you do it well, people come back—not just new viewers, but your existing subscribers. That’s something I’m working on this year: turning my ~30,000 subscribers into an actual community, not just a number.


Tip 3: Don’t Overthink the Algorithm
The algorithm isn’t a mysterious god. It’s a machine that pushes videos people click on and watch.

If a video doesn’t perform, it’s usually because:
  • not enough people clicked
  • people clicked but left quickly

That’s it.

Creators (myself included) tend to spiral: “Maybe the algorithm hates me.” “Maybe my audience is bored.” “Maybe I should go back to doing X.”

But the truth is simpler: keep making content you love, and keep improving your craft. The rest follows.


Bonus Tip 4: Protect Your Mental and Physical Health
This one hit home.

YouTube can consume your entire life—filming, editing, planning, researching, thinking, worrying. I’ve spent countless late nights in my studio, sometimes until 4 a.m., trying to keep up with a schedule I invented for myself.

The result? Burnout so severe I couldn’t even pick up a guitar.

Creators often feel guilty when they’re not producing. But taking breaks is essential. Your channel will still be there. Your audience will still be there. YouTube isn’t going anywhere.

Your health matters more than your upload schedule.


My Own Take / Tip 5: Should You Start a Guitar Channel in 2026?

Yes--if you do it for the right reasons.

The golden age of easy growth is gone. The big channels got in early, and the guitar niche isn’t as fashionable as it once was. But that doesn’t mean there’s no room left.

What matters now is your USP—your unique selling point.

For me, it’s the mix of humour, honesty, and the fact that I’m learning and improving on camera. The videos that work best are the ones only I could make—where my personality is part of the content, not just the guitar.

Your USP might be:
  • your teaching style
  • your tone chasing
  • your genre focus
  • your personality
  • your humour
  • your storytelling
  • your journey as a beginner
  • your gear knowledge

Whatever it is, lean into it.

And think about evergreen content—videos that stay relevant for years. Things like:
  • “The first 5 chords every beginner should learn”
  • “How to finally play barre chords”
  • “The truth about learning guitar at 40/50/60”

These videos keep bringing in views long after you upload them.


Final Thoughts
If you want to start a guitar channel in 2026, do it. Don’t let anyone tell you not to. But go in with your eyes open:
  • It’s hard work.
  • Growth is slow.
  • Burnout is real.
  • The algorithm doesn’t care about your feelings.

But if you love guitar, love creating, and love helping people, it can be one of the most rewarding things you’ll ever do.

And remember - you’re awesome.

​
]]><![CDATA[Google Saved My Channel - The Incredible Comeback Story]]>Thu, 26 Feb 2026 23:58:48 GMThttps://www.guitarsarehard.com/blogs--articles/google-saved-my-channel-the-incredible-comeback-storyThis article was originally written on the 19th April 2025:

I’m Back — And I Owe It All to Google
After four long months away, I’m finally back — and I have one group to thank for it: Google. Yes, really. Their intervention has brought this whole saga to an end, and now I can return to making videos, creating content, and getting on with life.

This is the story of what happened, how it derailed everything, and how it finally got resolved.

A Quick Reminder: The December 2024 Statement
Back on 9 December 2024, I posted a video with a sombre message. In it, I read a statement explaining that I had become the victim of:
 - Hacking
 - Unauthorized activity on multiple Google accounts
 - Financial fraud involving substantial amounts
 - Potential suspension or removal of my YouTube account

At the time, I warned that my channel might be disrupted for days, weeks, or even months. Unfortunately, it turned out to be the latter.

What Actually Happened
Shortly after that video, things escalated.

One of my Google accounts had been hacked — seemingly from Russia — and whoever gained access began running illegal Google Ads costing £350 per day. Although the ads were eventually blocked, the damage was done. My accounts were automatically suspended for “policy violations,” even though the violations were committed by the hackers, not me.

I appealed. Then appealed again. And again.

Every response was an automatic rejection. No human review. No nuance. No understanding of the situation. Eventually, I ran out of appeals entirely.

The consequences were huge:
 - Multiple Google services became restricted
 - My YouTube channel was effectively frozen
 - My workflow, routines, and creative output were all disrupted
 - I genuinely began to give up on the channel

For four months, it felt like everything I’d built was slipping away.

The Breakthrough Email
Then, on 16 April 2025, everything changed.

I received an email from Google stating that a Google Ads specialist had finally conducted a full human investigation into my accounts. They confirmed:
 - There was unauthorized activity
 - Hundreds of pounds of fraudulent ads had been run
 - The ads were linked to something called “Gramml”
 - A credit had been applied to my account
 - My accounts were being reactivated

I didn’t quite believe it at first. After months of brick walls, it felt too good to be true.

But then I checked.

And there it was:
“Your account is unsuspended.”

The warning banners were gone. The restrictions were lifted. My YouTube page was normal again. Even the fraudulent ad charges had been reversed, leaving my account in credit.

After four months of frustration, it was finally over.

What This Means Going Forward
This article marks my official return. I’ve got ideas, plans, and a renewed sense of energy. I’m already preparing new content, and you’ll start seeing fresh uploads very soon.

I had even been considering making a desperate plea video asking if anyone knew someone at Google who could help get a human involved.

Thankfully, that human eventually arrived on their own — and common sense prevailed.

So yes… I’m back, baby.

The YouTube journey continues.

A Final Word
Thank you for sticking around. Thank you for your patience. And thank you for listening to this whole saga. I hope you pretend to have missed me — even if you don’t know who I am.

More videos and articles coming soon. Just tell me the what you want to see.

And stay awesome.

19/04/2024
]]><![CDATA[You brought me back from the wilderness!]]>Thu, 26 Feb 2026 23:26:05 GMThttps://www.guitarsarehard.com/blogs--articles/you-brought-me-back-from-the-wildernessFor anyone wondering whether I fell off the face of the Earth, evaporated into the digital void, or got lost somewhere between a guitar warehouse and customs:

Hi. Yes. It’s me.

The YouTuber who vanished longer than a guitar shipped from China.

From July 2025 to the end of January 2026, I posted zero videos. Not a blurry community post. Not a “my camera died lol” excuse. Nothing. I ghosted the platform harder than someone avoiding their new gym membership in February.

Today, I’m finally ready to explain what happened — honestly, dramatically, and with a healthy dose of wow, I really did that, didn’t I?

Burnout: The First Domino
Let’s start with the big one: burnout.

Imagine trying to edit 4K video on a brain running Windows 95. That was me. Every day I’d say, “Tomorrow I’ll film a video.” And every tomorrow, my brain replied, “No, you won’t.”

Fun fact / fake news: around 90% of YouTubers experience burnout. The other 10% are either lying or made of titanium. I was not titanium.

Also, 70% of YouTube channels stop posting and go dark in just three short years. Had I become part of that all too real statistic?

Illness: The Victorian‑Novel Era
During those seven months, I collected random illnesses like a Victorian character in a tragic story. I’d come home from work, blink, and wake up three hours later like someone had unplugged and rebooted me.

And speaking of work — there was a lot of it. The kind that drains your soul until staring at a wall feels like a productive evening.

Low Motivation… or Depression?
There were days I genuinely wondered: Is this low motivation, or have I become a houseplant?

Either way, just like my house plants, I wasn’t thriving. Like them, I needed sunlight, hydration, and maybe someone clapping encouragingly nearby. I didn’t have any of that.

The Sad Kind of Laziness
Yes, some of it was laziness — but not the fun, Netflix‑and‑sofa kind. (And certainly not the Netflix-and-Chill kind.) More like: I physically cannot function, so I will become a blanket burrito and hope the world leaves me alone.

Disappointment: The YouTube Rollercoaster
Then came disappointment. With my channel. With growth. With views. With comments. You may know that feeling when you work really hard on something and YouTube replies:

“Brilliant! Here are 17 views and a comment from a bot.”

Except I didn’t even get bots. I got real people saying, “You suck.” 

Not exactly motivational.

A Traumatic Personal Situation
Towards the end of the year, things got genuinely difficult. Every evening — and I mean every evening — was spent dealing with a personal situation that swallowed all my time, energy, and emotional capacity. I had to dig deep and find personal reserves that I didn't know I had.

I wasn’t filming at 2 a.m. because I was too busy trying to survive real life.

The Twist: I Wasn’t Out of Ideas
Here’s the weirdest part: I had loads of ideas. Enough to make two videos a week. I even had two or three unopened boxes of guitars and gear sitting there silently judging me for months.

Picture me walking past them daily:

“Yes, I see you. No, I can’t unbox you. Please stop looking at me like that.”

I’ve since unboxed two. Progress.

The Consequences: Losing Partner Status
Because I stopped posting for so long, I actually lost my YouTube Partner status at the end of January 2026. That means I'm not getting paid for video advert views. Despite over 28k subscribers, I was back to creating videos for zero income. Something I worked incredibly hard to earn just… evaporated...

I later found out that one single post on the channel - a comment, a picture or a poll - would have been enough for me to retain my partner status and income.

Oh, well, you live and you learn...

As I said earlier, statistically, 70% of channels go inactive within three years. Apparently, I said:

“Let me contribute to that statistic real quick.”

The Comeback Plan
But here’s the good news: I’m not giving up.
 - Not on you.
 - Not on the channel.
 - Not on partner status.

I now have a structured plan to stay consistent — at least consistent enough to stop YouTube from snatching my status away again. No more seven‑month disappearances. No more digital tumbleweed.

I’m back. Re-energized and re-born!

And I’ve finally opened those boxes. Well… two of them, anyway. But still.

What the Last Seven Months Taught Me
If there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s this:

Creativity doesn’t die. Passion doesn’t expire. And sometimes the bravest thing you can do is simply start over.

Life knocked me off track — hard — but I’m climbing back on.

Thank you for sticking around. Thank you for not unsubscribing. Thank you for giving me a second chance.

New videos are already up, filled with humour, honesty, gear, music, guitars, and hopefully fewer accidental sabbaticals.

Let’s rebuild this channel together.

If you’ve ever gone through something similar — a burnout, a long pause, a life‑derailing moment — I’d love to hear about it in the comments.

And if you haven’t subscribed yet, now’s a great time.

See you in the next video / article!

Remember, stay awesome.

]]><![CDATA[Life of A Guitarist]]>Thu, 26 Feb 2026 22:26:12 GMThttps://www.guitarsarehard.com/blogs--articles/life-of-a-guitarist
🎸 The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly of Being a Guitar Player
Being a guitarist is one of the most rewarding creative pursuits you can take on — but it’s also one of the most misunderstood. Whether you’ve been playing for years or you’re just starting out, the journey comes with physical challenges, emotional highs and lows, and a whole lot of myths that refuse to die.

This article breaks down the real experience of being a guitar player: the good, the bad, and the downright ugly.

😖 The Bad: The Challenges
Every Guitarist Faces Physical Strain
Playing guitar for hours isn’t as effortless as it looks. Long practice sessions can lead to wrist pain, stiff fingers, shoulder tension, and back problems from poor posture. Over time, these aches become familiar companions — reminders of the hours you’ve put in.

The Cost of the Hobby Guitars are addictive
Amps, pedals, straps, picks, cables, cases… and then more guitars. Gear Acquisition Syndrome (GAS) is real, and it’s expensive. No matter how much equipment you own, there’s always something new calling your name. Your heart loves it — your wallet does not.

Someone Is Always Better
You might feel like the best guitarist in your neighbourhood… until you hear the kid down the street shredding like a prodigy. Or the tiny classical player who’s been practicing since before she could walk. No matter how much you improve, there’s always someone faster, cleaner, or more naturally gifted. It’s humbling — and occasionally maddening.

🤨 The Ugly: Misconceptions About Guitarists
The Rock‑Star Fantasy
Many people still believe that guitarists live a life of fame, fortune, and endless glamour. The truth? Most guitarists juggle gigs, teaching, rehearsals, and day jobs. Success takes years of work, and even then, it rarely looks like the movies.

The Brutal Reality of Practice
Every guitarist hears the same advice: practice, practice, practice. And it’s true — but nobody warns you how much you’ll end up hating that solo you’re trying to learn after listening to it on repeat for weeks, usually in 1 second increments! Frustration, boredom, anger, and burnout are all part of the process. Eventually, you get there… able to play one song almost perfectly.

🎉 The Good: Why We Keep Playing
Creative Expression
The guitar gives you a voice beyond words. Whether you’re strumming simple chords or crafting intricate solos, it’s a powerful way to express emotion and connect with others.

Mental Health Benefits
Playing guitar can reduce stress, improve mood, and boost overall happiness. It’s a form of therapy — one that doesn’t require an appointment.

Achievement and Growth
Every milestone feels incredible: your first clean chord, your first gig, your first original riff. Guitar teaches patience, discipline, and perseverance — skills that carry over into every part of life.

Community and Connection
Guitarists find each other. Bands, jam sessions, open mics — the instrument opens doors to friendships, collaborations, and unforgettable experiences.

Personal Satisfaction
At the end of the day, we play for ourselves. That perfect lick, that smooth rhythm, that moment when everything clicks and you're playing 'in the pocket' — it’s addictive in the best way.

🎸 Final Thoughts.
Being a guitarist isn’t always glamorous. It’s hard work, expensive, occasionally painful, and emotionally chaotic. But the passion for music keeps us going. Every challenge is worth it for those moments when the guitar feels like an extension of who you are.

What challenges have you faced as a guitarist, and what keeps you inspired to keep playing?

Stay awesome.
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