Improving your guitar playing

Here is a question most beginner guitarists need answered at least once a month:

“Assuming an average student with no “natural talent”, with a teacher and 2hr. daily practice schedule, how long until you can play some decent songs competently (I don’t mean flawlessly). I am referring to something like a “Jim Croce” kinda tune.”

Here is the answer from Jamie Andreas of guitarprinciples.com:

“In the ideal situation someone practicing two hours a day would begin to be making music in about three months. This means strumming chords all the way through a song, changing smoothly and keeping up with the tempo. The ideal situation would be that they are being taught according to The Principles, so that there would be no hit or miss results, but rather, they would learn how to practice right from the beginning, how to train the muscles to move, and the fingers to develop strength and stretch, without at the same time building in the very “hidden” tensions that will actually make smooth controlled movement impossible.

In other words, I know that if I have someone sitting in front of me, and I train them in how to practice according to The Principles, they will without a doubt be able to play notes and chords smoothly, they will be able to “make music”. Now understand that when you say “play a Jim Croce song”, or any other song, it all depends on HOW you play it. You certainly won’t be able to play the complex fingerpicking arrangement used on “Time In A Bottle” within three months, although perhaps some very talented individuals might. But anyone can reach the level of strumming chords to a steady beat. And in time, anyone can reach the level of doing those fingerpicking arrangements. ..”for all those taking lessons: in any 6 month period, if you are not seeing any real indications that you are becoming able to do things you couldn’t do before…… then something is wrong.”

The bottom line is that with enough time and correct practice, anyone can reach any level they desire. The level of technical sophistication of just about anything you are going to hear in the folk/pop realm, is attainable by anyone. And a good rule of thumb for all those taking lessons is this: in any 6 month period, if you are not seeing any progress, any real indications that you are getting better, and becoming able to do things you couldn’t do before, then something is wrong. If you are not finding the things you can already do becoming easier to do, then something is wrong, your technical development is not being tended to properly.

And further, as a person who constantly sees guitar students who come from other teachers, I can tell you that in the majority of cases, the technical development of students is (I would go so far as to say) COMPLETELY neglected. All you have to do is read some of the testimonials and some of the reports that students who I am presently working with have posted on my site to see the truth of that unsettling comment. So it is each students responsibility to oversee the integrity of their own development.”

Jamie Andreas’ guitar method is thought by some people to be too oriented towards classical guitar players or too analytical but if you want to learn to play any style of guitar and you need a source of inspiration in your email inbox every week, go to guitarprinciples.com and sign up for the newsletter.

And today’s video answers the question, “What can I do if I put my mind to it?”