Am I doomed?

I read a thread on this site where people were saying that you should be able to here the solo or progression in your head before you play it. Am I in trouble if I can't do this? Obviously I can do it when I play covers, but not with my own stuff. I just play around and keep what sounds good. Is this something that can be learned or is it a natural talent that separates good players from great players?

thats something that can be learned, but not taught. it just takes some practice i think

Time, time, time...Eventually you will get a feel for every note on the fretboard. I don't just mean what the notes are, that's fairly obvious. What I mean is, you'll have a particular sound you want to produce and you will know exactly which combination of notes will produce that sound. Simple as that. There is no theory behind playing with feeling. There is just you and your guitar. So you better get to know that thing.

Best of luck and rock on.

Actually it's sort of funny that you bring this up.

My friend told me earlier today that I had to learn how to play the song "Lucky" by Jason Mraz and Colbie Caillat. I remembered that the song was in C major, so I sat down and sang the song in my head.

Needless to say, I was able to write the whole song in less than a half hour just by thinking of it in my head. I was quite proud of myself. However, that kind of stuff is something I do every week with different songs, so being able to hear the progression in my head and mirror it on my guitar is getting easier. Of course, I can't do anything complicated.

Just take some time

your kinda at my level. at least with "hearing your own music then playing it." for me i use a piece of a scale to make that general sound and then play tht lick the best i can then try it in different keys

im not sure what you mean, are you saying "compose what you hear in your head?" thats not always true. i do it if i have a basic melody then i add harmony,rhythm to it till i like it. like making a pot out of clay, you have to visulize it, then sculpt it to the way you like.

Don't forget that music is art some people have natural talent. As for the rest of us we have to work at it, but here's a saying my Fundamentals of Design teacher Hogan told me one day when I was down on myself "You have to 1000 bad drawings, before you do a good one, because you have to get the bad ones out of your system so that there's room for the good ones" I kinda paraphrased a bit but the point is if you hear try to play it if it doesn't work try again. Practice makes perfect keep try and also add scales to your musical vocabulary. Research scales and by what you learn chose a scale that you think suits you best and then your hands, and inner musician go wild. You'll be playing everything that crosses your mind if you do that trust me. ROCK ON

I agree with what people have stated here, it is just something that takes time and needs to be learned, but it isn't something that happens overnight. Here is the beautiful thing though. Unlike some subjects in school where you have to force yourself to study, learning music is something that is just very enjoyable and a pleasure and not really work. Just keep at it and it will come eventually!