You know, I have a story similar to yours. My dad was a health nut and got me started lifting weights when I was 13. I did it on and off for years, even going to the gym for years or two at a time and staying committed. I'd get a little bit of definition but still stay skinny. I've been skinny my whole life.

Now I'm 33. Some guy on reddit said he'd coach me online, so I gave it a try. I'm tracking my macros and doing the workouts he recommends in my own gym, and the progress I'm suddenly making is kind of freaking me out. In a two week span, my legs have gotten weirdly big. My upper body looks lumpy. Every session I can lift more weight, and I'm getting stretch marks on my chest and back, simultaneously losing the relatively small amount of fat that I have and gaining muscle. I'm on the fast track to Gainsville, and all it took were a few relatively minor changes.

In retrospect, my problems were I wasn't tracking my calories or doing enough volume, and now that I have a trainer that put me on the right course I'm making a ton of progress.

My point in telling you this is maybe you just need to find the right teacher and practice regimen to make progress, and if you find it, you'd be surprised how fast you get good.

As an adult, maybe it will take you twice as much practice to get good than someone who's, say, 13. But you can still get there, and it's still worth it.

Perhaps you simply need to try again with a different approach and a different teacher and it will "click." They will give you exercises that will actually develop your ear and sense of rhythm. But you do have to commit to focused practice, no interruptions, and not in front of a computer, nearly every day for several months.

Oh, also I believe we have the same taste in music. I've learned how to play both About a Girl AND Drivin' on Nine on guitar.

Also, I saw the latter song in some venue in San Francisco in 2008. It was sublime.

I almost got a chance to interview Kim Deal for my college radio show before the concert, but they backed out.