Do you ever learn a tune and go to yourself,right that’s it I’ve got that perfect.
I tend to find myself learning the basics of a tune,then for months after,putting in different ornaments,or variations untill I think it sounds just right,then more times than enough reverting to a stage where I was maybe a month before and thinking right,now I’ve got it,and then the whole thing starts over again.
Please tell me it’s not just me,that I’m not alone on this merry-go-round of learning and unlearning 
I think I can agree. It’s hard to say; your avatar being a major distraction to the deciphering of your message. 
(Of course, I haven’t taken the time to find an avatar, so maybe I’m just jealous.)
The feeling of waning satisfaction with the way I play a tune is certainly a cyclical thing with me too. I hope it’s a sign that I’m continuing to develop as a musician-- I get just a little bit better as time goes by, and I’m ready to hear something more in the tune that wasn’t accessible before. So, yeah, I do that too.
Jennie
Willie… no you’re not alone.
I find that in many forms of music there are layers. When i first start playing something it’s only in the first layer, once that’s sorted out and i think i’ve got it sussed i then notice the next layer that wasn’t visible before and so begins the whole process again.
I think anyone who seriously thinks that is either extremely arrogant, or deluding themselves.
Personally, I don’t think anyone can seriously be considered an artist in any field who doesn’t innately believe and understand that “Good enough is not good enough.”
It’s the striving for the unattainable, and knowing that it’s unattainable, which obliges all those of an artistic bent to “suffer for their art.”
Perfect? PERFECT? ROFLMAO! no…occasionally I consider a rendition of a tune to be credible…once in awhile I may play a tune nicely. But perfection is nowhere in my musical vocabulary!
Yes and no.
Yes in that layer one may just be learning the notes. I’ve got a lot of songs down where I know the basic “notes”.
No in that it doesn’t mean I’m happy with how I play the tune. Now comes the really hard and artistic part that is ever reaching and ever growing.
Yes.
it happens to me all of the time. I think that I have a tune down really REALLY well, and am happy with the way it sounds to me. Then I hear someone else do it, and I realize that I have a long way to go. It seems to never end…but then I also realize that it prompts me to practice more.
Anyway, that was my long, drawn out way of saying, yes, it happens to me all of the time 
I’m glad that it’s not just me…was starting to worry a bit
Had an older gentleman work on my daughter’s fiddle recently. He used to play at the Grand Ole Opry on a regular basis about a half-century ago. He played several pieces for us and told us that he never plays the same tune twice.
One of the hardest things to let go of seems to be the need to sound like so-and-so or such-and-such a recording, version, etc. I believe that I often play my best when I am not thinking so hard…
That’s pretty much where I am and want to be. Of course it will be better when my variations flow emotion or choice rather than limtied skill and mistakes.