Well, I've been told that "figure it out" and "things come together"  will happen eventually.  Dunno just what the future holds, but I can attest that eventually is/can be w-a-y longer than 15 years.  

I think that would depend upon the person learning. Some learn quickly, some slower and some it takes a while for certain techniques to click and work for them.

Some of my students complained about the difficulty of getting good, clear, clean pull-offs, others had problems with chokes. Many of them had a problem keeping the time and the tempo where it was supposed to be for their expertise level. It just depended on the student.

I’ve found the skill that has taken the longest to develop for me is the ability to improvise a break that has a clear melody in it.

In jams I’ve found it relatively easy to improvise licks over a chord structure, but it’s a lot harder to make the melody pop within the licks and rolls if I’ve never heard it or played it before.

For me it's the picks. I can sort of deal with them, but after 50 years, it's just easier not to. I don't have to prove anything.

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Originally posted by ScruggsMcGee

For the grass community - What playing skill takes the longest to develop?

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Taste!

Expressiveness.

As to technique and playing skill, in my personal case it's improvising with single-string. 54 years in, I'm nowhere close.

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Originally posted by ScruggsMcGee

For the grass community - What playing skill takes the longest to develop?

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Skill? Skills! Do you have a minute? In no particular order:

Playing in time. Playing with precision. Being able to play any string with any finger at any time.  Being able to play a melody note, standing out (just a bit louder and maybe a hair before the time). Playing back up while singing. Listening while playing, so you know what your band mates are doing, making playing together possible.

This all will take time. Enjoy the ride!

Uh….patience….and the ability to not say what you think…..

I like to paraphrase Sheriff Wiggins, from the Simpsons:
"Learning the banjo is no picnic, y'know. It's one solid weekend of hard work."

For me, I could get the technical stuff and reading tablature down pretty quickly when I started at age 17. But all these tunes were new to me, I had never heard most of them before and this was before the internet days. So what took the longest to come to me was being able to hear the melody line pop out of all those rolls. Once that started happening, for me, everything else got a lot easier.

Honestly, practicing is a skill in-and-of itself. How structured is your practice? How slowly are you doing it? Are you making real effort to slowly incorporate new skills/ideas?

Ironically, learning to slow down, REALLY slow down when I practice accelerated my playing so much that more than a couple of people around me commented on it.

I don't know why it took me so long to take the advice.

Thats a pretty wide area to cover.
If youre talking basics then id say learning the various major and minor chord shapes and being able to smoothly switch from one to the other at various locations on the fretboard.
Beginners tend to just want to learn roll patterns at the expense of vamping and rolling thru chord shapes.

Hearing the chord and key changes in the moment.

When to shut up. You don’t always have to be the biggest noise in the room.

At almost 66, after a career in mechanics, my tired old hands are really slowing down. I was diagnosed with onset osteo arthritis in my hands and knees 19 years ago already. So unequivocally, the skill that’s taking the longest to develop by far, is the ability to keep what I have, and minimize the decline. Some days, playing feels like running in a dream. Very frustrating. BUT… it’s not all bad, as it’s forced me to simplify stuff, and play less/easier back up… which is also a good skill to keep developing, weather I want to or not.

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Originally posted by Dean T

At almost 66, after a career in mechanics, my tired old hands are really slowing down. I was diagnosed with onset osteo arthritis in my hands and knees 19 years ago already. So unequivocally, the skill that’s taking the longest to develop by far, is the ability to keep what I have, and minimize the decline. Some days, playing feels like running in a dream. Very frustrating. BUT… it’s not all bad, as it’s forced me to simplify stuff, and play less/easier back up… which is also a good skill to keep developing, weather I want to or not.

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Me to ... I'm 70 and my left wrist is gone. 
but !! I'm having a new procedure that is available ... lo dose radiation. It's basically a cancer therapy that has great success in arthritic joints and connective tissue. 
im hopeful but skeptical. 
I still play multiple gigs per week, but the after effects pain is tough. 
trying to keep the old man away.??

I think it depends. But there’s some skills that you develop when playing with a band that you absolutely can’t acquire any other way. I’m talking about the chemistry that develops when you play with the same people over and over for a long period of time. Could also be a jam if you meet with the same people often enough.

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Originally posted by ScruggsMcGee

For the grass community - What playing skill takes the longest to develop?

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Some skills to consider.