I find that I do much better when channeling theory through a bunch of different instruments and so I'll play for longer than an hour but not with one, singular instrument.

By working some melody through three of them, I find I'm not learning some idiot pattern, like a nintendo code, but rather understanding how the instrument works. If nothing else its going my brain working in ways it hasn't in awhile. This is hugely helpful when learning the accordion because honestly its one of the harder things I've done. I look at the really good players now as not some fringe oddity but as someone whos at worst smart as a whip.

As for the cycle, I'll give it a swing. But I don't mean like recalling it when soemone asks me, I mean mid-song going "nope, hit the sharp because F's are sharped in this key" (as an example)

Ah yep, gotcha. So when you're playing a song, remembering that you have to sharp an F if you're playing in the key of G? Again, I think that's something that just comes with practice/ memory. If I'm playing in the key of G, it'll just be placed in my mind that all Fs have to be F sharps. If I'm playing in the key of D, the same thing, I'll just have in my mind that I'm in D and therefore need to sharp all Cs and Fs. It's just something that comes naturally now, and as much as I dislike rote learning patterns I really think it was something that developed from constant practice and going over the keys/ cycle of fifths over and over via scales, block chords, arpeggios, all of those kind of exercises. You might be talking about something different and I may be completely off the mark again :)

Personally I think the best thing that you can do to learn quickly, which you ARE doing, is synthesising theory and practice. I think theory can be pretty abstract unless we learn it in accordance with playing an instrument or several instruments, in order to make it more concrete. It sounds like you're working hard and putting a lot of time and effort into these instruments so I think you'll probably learn really quickly and achieve loads in 2 months! Good luck with everything though.

Thanks, and hey thanks for responding.

It drives me bonkers that free-flowing threads like this are ignored.

Based on my experience, it took me 2-4 months after picking guitar to play Day Tripper into a nice, artistic sound, all by ear. Also, I almost figured out Lucifer Sam(didn't bother finishing), and fully figured out Watsername, my favorite song on the album.