I hope this article will help some students of guitar be able to assess their abilities accurately. Even if you are a beginner. I’ve taught a lot of guitar lessons and once in a while there are students who never think they can play. Even if they’re teacher like myself who has tons of experience in knowing who’s above average, average and below average. I believe the cause of this thinking is the dialogue in our mind when we practice or when we play or watch someone else play. Read that again. We have to be careful to practice in a way that is improving something maybe only slightly for the day. If we continue this dialogue it will become a solid mindset and maybe not even notice our progress.
I’ve heard it said that whether something is true or not, if you believe it, it’s true to you. I’ve seen completely capable players quit guitar because they thought they were supposed to play a certain way. Maybe they thought they would play Stairway to Heaven in the first 3 months of playing or virtuoso playing like 16thnotes at 250 beats a minute or be able to finger pick like a Tommy Emmanuel (if you don’t know Tommy, look him up for sure). If you’re picking up the guitar about 3 times a week and really don’t have a practice plan then these expectations are totally unrealistic. Most people just want
Do you have a plan each time you pick up the guitar? If not, you need one. You need to know that when you’ve just practiced something that it is definitely 100 per cent even in a small way better, more efficient.
Do you work on a song by just playing it start to finish, play it 3 or 4 times and that’s practice. Then you realize that every time you encounter the same 2 chords that cause you to slow down and break the flow of the song.
This is pretty common for beginners. What if you set a clock for two minutes and worked on moving the two chords back and forth. I’m pretty sure within a week or two you could really play the song without a hitch.
THE KEY IS TO MAKE THE HARDER PARTS THAT WE PLAY AS EASY AS THE EASY PARTS!
Do you ever catch yourself saying, “Every time I come to that part it messes me up”. That’s a sure sign, a red flag that you’re not practicing it in an effective way. You’re not practicing in a way to get the result you want. When I practice these days after all these years I get the result I want. It’s not always instantaneous. If you need help with guitar playing problems that frustrate you, please contact me at sidbardfield@gmail.com. I do Skype lessons or if you are local to New Orleans, Metairie, or Kenner, La. I do private lessons. Keep playing, keep moving forward!
Sid