September
is upon us, and with it a new school year. This is the time of year
when a new clutch of fresh-faced students show up at my teaching room
door, all eager and full of vim and vigour. And these first few weeks
of the academic year are when a seasoned teacher can usually see
who's going to make it, who's going to be a real stand-out player,
and sadly, who's going to fall by the wayside.
See,
playing guitar is not a skill that only a select elite few can
attain. Anyone, and I genuinely do mean anyone, can do it, as long as
they've got roughly the right number of ears and limbs (I speak as
someone with unilateral Grade 3 microtia, a condition which means I
only have one fully functioning ear). The late great blues legend
Jeff Healey was blind but overcame his handicap by playing the guitar
flat on his lap.
Thing
is though, it's not easy. Especially in the early stages.
There's a lot of frustration involved in trying to force your fingers
into all manner of unnatural contortions, and chord shapes that just
refuse to find their way into your fingers. So it can be a
hard road, and you can often feel like you're not making progress.
But be patient. Be disciplined. A Jedi's strength flows from the
Force.
Sorry,
got carried away there.
So
what does this actually mean in practice? Well, my first blog
mentioned the importance of focus when practicing -
http://jmguitartuition.blogspot.co.uk/2013_07_01_archive.html
– but commitment to a regular practice routine is also a must. For
the early days 15 minutes is a perfectly reasonable amount of time to
set aside for one or even two sessions per day (for more information
on structured practice sessions, check out my book Zero Point
Guitar), but it's essential to make the commitment to practice
every day. Twenty-one days in and it'll be a habit that's hard
to break, and that's when you'll find yourself making real progress.
Anyone
can do it. But not everyone will do it. If you're just
starting out this year, make the commitment to be one of the ones
who will. It's worth it, I promise.
