Bought so many beginner materials and they're fucking awful. I can't understand jack shit.
The closest I got to sticking to anything were the eMedia programs, at least the acoustic one. I bought the metal one but I'm not sure it works anymore on current Macs and I didn't want to rebuy it.
Bought a piano and the situation is even more dire.
Music is awful for self teaching. Absolutely awful.
Moving on from the beginner-intermediate level, I recommend TrueFire. They offer a huge range of video lessons from expert tutors in most genres. An all-access pass costs $19/mo, which is outrageously good value IMO.
https://pianowithjonny.com It's awesome :-) I'm playing passable blues riffs and have taught myself to read music with the help of some free apps (Music Tutor on iOS).
There's also a great series of books by Joseph Alexander for the guitar (fretboard fluency, etc). Definitely worth checking out.
For me, the most important thing has always been motivation. Right now I want to be able to walk into a bar/hotel/train station and bash out "Great Balls of Fire" a la Goose in Top Gun. So damned cool... :-D
I play bass with Rocksmith. I play 2 player with my partner (she plays guitar). Its a lot of fun and you do get better.
As a plus the cable doubles as a generic 1/4 plug to usb interface you can use with a lot of software.
Rocksmith has video tutorials as well.
Thanks for the lead.
If music was a video game no one would buy it, because the reward curve is so unrewarding.
At some point you have to accept that unless you're in the 0.01% of the population with genius-level talent, you will only ever make slow progress towards a distant goal. Because that's how it is for everyone who isn't a genius.
The people who can play are the ones who started as embryos, and/or are motivated to keep at it. Not everyone has that motivation or that background, and that's fine too.
At age 50, when I took up piano lessons again, it was _so_ much easier. After 30 years of working, staying on-task for a 30-60 minute practice session was a piece of cake.
Also, a good teacher ($), a good instrument ($ to $$$), and a tolerant family all really help.