the biggest 'leap' I made between knowing a few chords, and a few riffs, and actually learning enough to pick up a guitar at a party without embarrassing myself occurred when I started learning full-length songs.
I am in the middle of that journey myself. I bought a guitar a little over ten years ago, got some starter pointers from a passing acquaintance, then spent ten years picking up the guitar every few months, pounding out some open chords reading tabs, and not progressing at all. Bought various software to help (guitar pro, rocksmith) which is good software, but doesn't correct bad habits.
Finally I got tired of just being shit and went to a teacher. Almost every lesson he's correcting a bad habit or providing insight into what I personally am doing incorrectly, and the practice I'm am given each fortnight relates to improving those specific weaknesses. Rocksmith is a hell of a lot of fun, but it's also quite sloppy in what it expects and you can get away with horrible habits (despite this, it's a very impressive bit of software). Guitar Pro is good for isolating the track you want to play in a popular song and repeating things to get the timing right. But for me, personally, it's a meatspace teacher that is making the difference. A teacher isn't cheap - one lesson is roughly the same as the software above - but I can see which of my skills are progressing and by how much.
The journey is interesting. I'm smart, but have no penchant for applying elbow grease. I'm used to picking things up quickly... and the skills in playing a musical instrument well can't be gained in a short time - you have to put in the hours. It's also interesting that the more I learn about the instrument, the further away the target of 'doesn't suck' seems to get :)
Grats on the progress. I know how painful the journey can be, especially when you feel like you're only so far away from being able to do so much more.
I'm kind of in the same boat, which is that I generally learn things quickly, but the hand-eye coordination aspect of guitar has proven to be a whole new degree of difficulty. It's not surprising when you think about it, but at the same time, watching somebody play something that looks easy and then being unable to replicated it is a nightmare. It took a long time to learn that their ease is simply indicative of the talent they possess, and not as much my lack thereof.
As pertaining bad habits, I've found that a lot of them are self-correcting as you add more songs to your repertoire. I originally learned to cheat the A chord (barring it with two fingers, instead of either barring the three notes with one, or fingering the three notes with three fingers) because my early training hadn't built up the finger strength to do otherwise, but trying to learn Jane's Addictions "Jane Says" made that an untenable situation, and forced me to learn it the right way.
That's no indictment of an instructor, mind you... I've used them, and they're invaluable, especially in their ability to craft exercises that correct bad habits, or help to improve on your weak areas -- you'll never get that out of a YouTube video... but I think that the defining factor between feeling crappy and feeling like you're making progress is good, constructive practice. Practicing the same three songs over and over again will of course be beneficial, but not nearly as beneficial as practicing a different three songs each week, and/or progressively learning new techniques.
I've been using Rocksmith. I think it only lets you get away with bad habits as long as you are comfortable with whatever rating it gives you. I know I was stuck in terms of progress until I learned proper technique elsewhere, then I could do the fast and difficult passages and getting 100%s on more songs. I learned those proper techniques off YouTube, but am also thinking of getting a proper teacher.
I am in the middle of that journey myself. I bought a guitar a little over ten years ago, got some starter pointers from a passing acquaintance, then spent ten years picking up the guitar every few months, pounding out some open chords reading tabs, and not progressing at all. Bought various software to help (guitar pro, rocksmith) which is good software, but doesn't correct bad habits.
Finally I got tired of just being shit and went to a teacher. Almost every lesson he's correcting a bad habit or providing insight into what I personally am doing incorrectly, and the practice I'm am given each fortnight relates to improving those specific weaknesses. Rocksmith is a hell of a lot of fun, but it's also quite sloppy in what it expects and you can get away with horrible habits (despite this, it's a very impressive bit of software). Guitar Pro is good for isolating the track you want to play in a popular song and repeating things to get the timing right. But for me, personally, it's a meatspace teacher that is making the difference. A teacher isn't cheap - one lesson is roughly the same as the software above - but I can see which of my skills are progressing and by how much.
The journey is interesting. I'm smart, but have no penchant for applying elbow grease. I'm used to picking things up quickly... and the skills in playing a musical instrument well can't be gained in a short time - you have to put in the hours. It's also interesting that the more I learn about the instrument, the further away the target of 'doesn't suck' seems to get :)