As I continue to take guitar lessons, I also continue to analyze the learning process and the relationship between an instructor and the student. There have been a few things that I’ve learned during this process with a new guitar instructor. Just as a reminder, I have been playing guitar for about a year, basically self taught, but of course used resources on the net to try and acquire knowledge that could help me progress. I still take golf lessons and work on my game, but the process with guitar is new to me (I’ve been playing drums since I was a kid). By the way, if you have are thinking about learning a instrument – do it – you won’t regret it. And it’s never too late!
Like most self taught students, especially beginners, there is a tendency to develop some poor fundamentals, which can really become an obstacle in a student learning to improve a skill and for me it was no different with guitar. My “setup”, how I held the guitar both with the right and left hand, my posture, etc, all needed some adjustments. and of course like all golfers (and probably all motor skills), changing something that you have been doing for some time and becomes a “habit”, can be frustrating process as more times than not we can’t perform the skill to the current level we have attained. So this is where patience and determination become a necessary part of the process. For me, I look at playing the guitar, just as golfers look at golf, as something they will hopefully able to enjoy for the rest of their lives. But, and this is the big part, if you choose to improve at golf or any motor skill, you need to enjoy the process and become less focused on the results. While this is certainly easy to say, it’s much harder to do. I’m sure I lost MANY students after the first lesson – they became frustrated, didn’t see the results and improvements that they desired, so decided not to return for a second lesson.
Well, and I’ve said this before, you need to give any instructor a fair shot. If you are struggling with integrating a new idea or change, go back to the instructor and discuss the challenge you’re having and give him or her the opportunity to give you some helpful ideas, or to possibly even take a different approach. As an instructor it’s easy for us to believe that after the lesson the student fully understands and can integrate a change, but then when left on his own he struggles, gets frustrated, and gives up.
Another possible practice recommendation, I have learned through guitar and working on new things and becoming physically uncomfortable (like a grip change in golf), I take a break and start playing a song. As a golfer, if you are working a grip change, you might want to take a break, go hit some chips, putts, or work on your bunker game (all things you should be doing anyway), then go back to the tee and practice the new grip. Change does take time, but if you muster up some patience and determination and learn to execute and integrate the needed changes, over time, the rewards in your improvement will be realized.
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