We all
know the old stand-by of how “practice makes perfect”, and her
sister: “It's 1% inspiration, and 99% perspiration”. These two
had been over-used, misused, rephrased, rehashed, and generally
exposed to a lot of action and wear over the years. That had
effectively turned them into clichés.
And
yet, they still stand their ground in its grandiose truth of
rewarding persistence and dedication of hard workers, as opposed to
fleeting groove of “feeling it”. Inferior music aptitude will
get further through work than “naturally born gifted” ever will
on sheer talent.
Allow me
to use this cliché one more time, and
confirm that practice indeed makes perfect for anyone – it makes
pro out of novice guitar player. It is obvious when it comes to
technique for it requires mechanical skills, and those are acquired
through exercises and repetition only.
The
very structure of the practice will have everything to do with how
fast we can gain more skills and musicianship. If the guitar
practice is regularly re-occurring event filled with proper warm up,
mix of technical drills, guitar theory, ear training, jammin' etc.
then it is pretty good chance that regime like that can make anybody
into serious instrumentalist and musician in less than, or about, one
year.
 |
| Any time is good time for practice |
Think
about numbers of the guitar practices we should take in a year
(300+), and let's say that we learn a new guitar skill every week, one
lesson in music theory in that same week, and gain knowledge in two
other areas of the guitar savvy; that would mean that we learned and
mastered at least 200 skills in a single year. Can you name 20 guitar skills right
now? How about 50? It's a lot, isn't it?
My
favourite kind of students are semi-skilled strummers who are not
overly passionate about playing. Once you expose them to strict
practice schedule, they improve fast above their basic skill level by
simply upgrading and building around humble beginner knowledge.
The
progress can actually sneak up on guitarist with persistent practice
schedule, and we can find ourselves on the level we only dreamed of
before; when you start jammin' along with tunes that used to give you
headache when you tried to figure them out. You can catch yourself
thinking: “Holy how, I can easily play this!”. That moment is a
payout for all the time and practice you put in, and indeed, we can conquer
new tunes, new leads, licks and fills every day. That is how we know
that we arrived as musicians and guitarists.
Certain
guitarists I admired used to intimidate me with their grasp of guitar
playing skills and music, and especially expert technical level they
possessed. Playing their songs was a tall order for me: couldn't get
that unusual chord that they used, or that exotic sounding lead, and
I'd be stuck playing easy parts, never really getting to play along
throughout the whole song. Fast songs were the greatest challenge
for me.
Well,
those days are over now... solid foundation gained through steady
practice allowed me to jam along with just about anybody, and in any
style or tempo. Sure I get stumped by some parts still, but they are
not out of reach for me anymore: quite the opposite – they are just
tasty challenges ready to be cracked if I really choose to
pursue it.
And
that is many, many miles ahead of where I was before I took the
guitar practice seriously.
So,
keep on picking and jammin', stay well and be practicing every day.
In
hopes of finding you improved and more complete guitarist
I
salute you
Cheers!
Your
brother in arms (and fingers ;O)
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