How I Learned To Play Guitar

I used to believe that the main element in learning how to play the guitar is simply practice. It looked like a reasonable assumption to make but later I realized practice is just one of many parts of the process of learning how to play guitar. The elements of the guitar playing recipe I wish to talk about now are patience, planning and persistence. I mostly try to avoid alot of theory and philosophy so I will try to use the qualities of persistence and patience to assist me in finding a direction learning to play the guitar.

Persistence and patience are often described as qualities but too much of any quality is not a good thing. It is simple to visualize patience when exercised too much can lead to absence of motivation and avoiding taking action. Persistence, if taken in too large a dose, leads to rigidity, meaningless repetition of exercises and the triumph of routine over flexibility. So I should not go overboard in rigidly practicing plectrum strokes or arpeggios for a certain time each day or going the other way and only practicing when my muse visits me.

A plan is the secret ingredient in learning to balance qualities of persistence and patience. A plan can be like a parent watching me and reminding me if I move away from my original aim of learning the guitar. If I have a solid understanding of the practical, real-world things that I need to begin to play the guitar my little psychological shortcomings will not hinder my progress. For example, if I want to learn to play songs I need to listen to as many artists as I can in my favorite genre and I also need to learn chords. I need to decide as I go along how to balance learning by observing other guitarists with the discipline of opening a music book and learning three more chords, or familiar chords in new positions.

I have written down my plan and I keep it in a safe place so it is always there to return to. If my memory fails, the written plan is there to remind me. If I do not practice the guitar for six months, my plan is there to help me begin again without delay.

So I write down what I think I need to progress with my guitar playing. I need to keep the guitar tuned so I download a tuner from the internet or bookmark an online guitar tuner. I need to find some sheet music for songs I want to learn to play and some chord charts so that I know where to put my fingers when I am learning these songs. Having all these kinds of resources are an important part of my plan to learn the guitar because having my stuff at my fingertips stops me from wasting time. If I am not learning the guitar from a teacher, I need to set myself an aim to achieve each week. I write down that I will have learnt a song or three new chords by next week. Next, I write down how much time I need to spend on practicing chords, learning theory or listening to music.

So if I have a plan for each week, I look at how well I have succeeded so I can see what my aim for next week will be. Once the initial work is done on creating a plan I can get on with learning to play.

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