A Guide for Beginning Musicians
Maggie’s first lesson was how to tune the guitar. A tuner had come with the guitar, so she thought it was no big deal.
She worked through the lesson and got it perfectly in tune according to the tuner, Something went wrong….
As with any journey, whether it’s cross-country, an international trip, or a trek into the wonderful world of music, you need to set your goals then create a plan to achieve them.
You may think that planning just to play an instrument isn’t important, but it is. Benjamin Franklin said: “Failing to plan is planning to fail”.
One of the major problems people have with learning an instrument, but especially guitars, is patience. All of the books, videos, and online lessons emphasize taking it slow and thoroughly learn the basics to establish good guitar techniques.
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We all have things we think we’d like to do or have. We set goals and sometimes they happen, sometimes they don’t, and often, it doesn’t really matter. And if a goal does come to pass it may not be life-changing…
Learn How to Play a Musical Instrument
Have you ever wanted to learn how to play a musical instrument or do something so bad you could feel it? Think back to when you first had the desire to play a guitar or piano or another instrument. Taking a guitar off the rack… It was heavier than he had imagined…
Practice Makes Progress; Not Perfect
Learning something new is often fraught with frustration. If you’ve ever tried to learn how to play an instrument like the guitar or piano, you have experienced frustration when you practice but don’t seem to make any progress…
Losing Motivation To Practice
Do you seem to be losing motivation to practice your guitar? In your guitar practice, if you are trying to practice too many things, each item gets less and less of your attention. Then, it’s not long before you have no motivation to practice the guitar or any other instrument.
How To Practice Guitar
Are you beginning to lose motivation because it is so hard? Did you know that everyone faces the same challenge? When we are learning something new it takes time, it’s often frustrating. When we get frustrated it often takes longer to become the guitar player that you’ve been dreaming about.
Think back to when you first had the desire to play. Remember when you went to the music store for the first time. You picked up a guitar off the rack. It was a little heavier than you had imagined.
You may have been really young, maybe 4 or 5, or maybe closer to 10, like I was. Or have just retired and want something to do during your golden years. No matter your age. A new adventure is about to begin, like moving to a new city with places to explore, new experiences to enjoy. Your new adventure as a guitarist is about to begin.
We all make mistakes. It’s part of being human. But, why do we keep making that same mistake over and over again?
It’s become a habit.
As Dr. Caroline Leaf stated in her podcast “Why We Keep Making The Same Mistakes + Tips to Break Bad Habits,” we keep making the same mistakes because we are not learning from our mistakes. She goes on to say that our minds were designed to self-regulate our thoughts. It is up to each individual to observe, analyze, and change thoughts that are not beneficial.
Having problems practicing?
The answer is really very simple. It’s not just how long you practice. Or how hard you practice. Or even what you practice. It’s how you practice. Vince Lombardi said it best, ”Practice does not make perfect. Only perfect practice makes perfect.” TrueFire’s Director of Education, Jeff Scheetz calls it Smart Practice and he’s designed a step-by-step guitar practice routine just for guitarists.
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