How To Play Guitar 20 Tips Part III
Jason Pearson
Welcome back to part three of how to play guitar - discover
20 tips to play like a pro…
Most guitar players desire to become a better guitar player.
Guitarist ask me quite often why they are not at the
level that they desire and what can they do. In the past
I have asked myself the very same question. Soon I began
to understand the answers.
Just as you have probably done, I have read a lot of how
to play guitar interviews and articles from great guitar
players. I often found it frustrating whenever the subject
of how to play guitar came up or when advice was offered
on improving someone’s playing.
With a few exceptions,
little time and space was ever devoted on this.
It is not uncommon to see a guitar player give advise to
learn to play the guitar summed up in as little as three
words: Practice! Practice!! Practice!!!
I remember when I first was learning how to play guitar I
would practice on some days so long that the ends of my
fingers would be tender to the touch and hurt for days.
We all know that practicing is the main ingredient. Does
a football player practice a few times and then is able
to play up to the caliber of an NFL football player?
Rarely are we told anything more than on how to play the
guitar then to just practice. In my long quest to become
an excellent player I carefully took note of what worked
and what did not - which parts conventional wisdom are
accurate and which parts are (at least in my opinion)
are not. I believe the following twenty tips have proven
to bring great results to those who use them:
11.
Imagine yourself having the skills that you desire.
Focus on that and concentrate. Convince yourself that you
can do it. Convince yourself that you are already on your
way to reaching your first goal - because you are. It’s
easier to manifest your desires when you can imagine
yourself already in possession of it. Keep your positive
mental attitude always.
12. Define what you plan to do with your musical skills
once you have them. If you plan on releasing your own CD
or making a living in music. LEARN AND STUDY MUSIC
BUSINESS RIGHT NOW!! The fastest way to do that is to
actually take how to play guitar and guitar buisness home
study course lessons and take private lessons from a pro
(or at least a semi-pro guitarist) Yes, you can take
lessons in this just like you can for learning guitar,
songwriting, etc. Do NOT wait until you are a great
player to start learning about this business! I can not
tell you how many players make this mistake (I made it
myself at first and have studying it intensely for the
past few years to get my own career where it is today.)
13.
Find out how your favorite players reached their
goals. Often times this is hard to do since you can’t
always sit down and talk to some very famous musicians.
But interviews exist as well as a few biographies on some
musicians (especially dead ones). Despite the fact that
many successful guitar players don’t really talk much
about this, you can find some that do. Believe me,
becoming successful is a lot more than just practicing
and luck! REMEMBER that their strategies won’t
necessarily work for you because your goals may be
different than theirs were. Still, you can learn from it.
14. Don’t compare yourself to others. There is no need to
do this anyway. Music should not be a competitive sport
among people, only within yourself. Compare yourself only
in relation to where you are in your strategy! Are you on
your way to reaching your next short term and medium term
goal towards your ultimate goals? Are you on schedule,
does your strategy need to be revised?
15.
Make sure you are practicing efficiently. Do you
really know how to practice the guitar? Are you focused
on setting daily and weekly objectives and then practicing
in such a way that you will be working towards those
goals? These are questions you should ask yourself. The
two biggest practicing mistakes I have seen in students
(besides not practicing enough) are:
1. Practicing is not goal orientated.
2.
Not understanding the difference between playing one’s
guitar and practicing one’s guitar.
If you are having any difficulties with practicing, talk
to your teacher about it. He/she should be able to help
you.
Remember that it’s okay to daydream and fantasize about
where you are planning to go, but it can’t stop there.
Don’t wish without planning! Don’t dream without doing!
And always, always, have a strategy. You may need to
revise certain aspects of your strategy as time goes on
and that’s okay, but don’t try to go forward without one
if you want the maximum results in the shortest amount
of time.
In my early days learning to play guitar, I
wasted a lot of time aimlessly desiring to get better
without having a clue as to how to plan for it. Sure I
practiced a lot, but without direction and without an
efficient path to follow. Most of my substantial progress
as a musician came only after I developed a strategy and
worked with it.
If you are wondering why I haven’t given you a detailed
explanation of the strategies I used in the past, it
would be pointless for me to tell you what my strategy
was, because it was specific only to my goals. Chances
are, your goals may differ greatly from mine in many
different ways.
That is why you need your own strategy
for your own personal goals. One last piece of advice
before we move on, write everything on paper and read it
everyday! It will keep you focused and on target.
Each of us has some natural ability of some kind. You may
already know what yours is or you may not yet discovered it.
If being a better musician is not coming easy for you that
simply means you are like the rest of us.
I have continued the next five tips of 20 tips to part IV
of how to play guitar - discover 20 tips to play like a pro.
The next tip I will be discussing is “Play with others in
a band or some type of ensemble.” Be sure to get part IV
with the next 5 tips.
Jason owns a few blogs on guitar lesson and how to play guitar and learn guitar and learn guitar online and learn to play guitar and free guitar lesson
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