Hello Paul thanks for writing in! The easy answer to this is to get a gig. Even if just promising your family that you will perform something at the next gathering. Having a deadline (show date) and the pressure of not messing up in front of an audience will work wonders for your practice routine. You will discover discipline and organizational skills you never knew you had! :-) Some other pressure-causing scenarios are: 1) making a recording and 2) taking private lessons.

If you have no goal other than to play for yourself in your house, then chances are you won't feel compelled to get any better than "good enough" for yourself. It would be like being a boxer and never getting past hitting the bag.

Find ways to involve other people in your journey (audiences, teachers, sharing your own recordings) and I promise you that you will figure out ways to get better.

Good suggestions Arthur. I know what you mean about gig pressure. When I've been in bands, I really worked the set list. That's most likely what I'm missing right now. Thanks!

No problem Paul! Even if you find an open mic and make it a personal commitment to play one song there next week it might be enough :-)

Yeah, the trombone player in the band I play with always says that Gigs are better than rehearsals to tighten up your tunes. I think it might be all the adrenaline that comes with playing in front of others that tends to sear tunes into my brain.......