Thoughts on learning to play a musical instrument
I've often heard people describe their skills playing a musical instrument like this: "Yeah, I really wanted to, and I really tried it a couple of times, but I sucked so much that I gave up". This statement closely corresponds to how I used to look at learning something new; Some things I'm good at, and other things I can never learn.
Nowadays, I usually respond to a statement like this by saying: "You know why right? ... (pause for reply) ... It's because you didn't practice...".
(Source)
What do you practice?
Some years ago, about 8 years I think, a close friend sent me a link to the following video. The speaker is the inspirational speaker Prem Rawat. He conveys a very simple truth in a very elegant way:
Whatever you practice you're going to get good at!
Watching this video changed the way I had thought about learning something up to this point. Mr. Rawat made me aware that I can get good at anything, if I only practice it enough. If I practice cooking, I will eventually get good at it (which I did). If I spend a lot of time praciticing and evaluating my communication with other people, I will eventually become a great communicator.
And if I'd practice to be angry and negative every day, I'd certainly get good at that as well.
My journey learning to play the guitar
In a sense, the above is what laid the foundation for the energy and inspiration I needed to get started.
8 years ago I bought my first guitar, an acoustic one. I played it 1 hour every day for maybe 3 months. It always sounded bad back then. Each strum was a cat dying, each chord a nightmare, so I got demotivated. I stopped playing for at least 2 years.
A couple of years later, I picked it up again, and noticed to my surprise that I my fingers automatically found the chords I'd been practicing earlier. Newfound inspiration! Another 3 months, then stop.
Another year went by. I was going on vacation for two months with some friends, and knew that I'd have the possibility to play the guitar, and that it would be welcome. So I picked it up again and started practicing the old songs that I now could play and sing pretty well, along with a couple of new ones. At this point I also started to experiment more as my understanding of the instrument and music in general grew.
I played the guitar on my trip and had a lot of fun with it, but then I lost interest again until very recently: A good friend of mine, @danispacerocket (the best guitar player I know), gifted me one of his old electrical guitars only 1 week ago. As soon as I'd bought my guitar amplifier (a Peavey Audition 110) I started playing non stop.
Everything I had practiced before was all right there in my fingers and my mind, along with a profound inspiration and appreciation for the tones (and the countless hours of practice behind them) that came out of the amp. And now with an electrical guitar, I could finally create the sounds that my favorite music often consists of.
I believe that this time it will last for more than 3 months. My hope is that I continue to have energy and inspiration to continue playing a little everyday, enjoying the music as my skill steadily increases. Besides, I also have a goal: I want to submit real entries in #openmic, which I'm now closer to being able to do than ever.
If you want to learn to play an instrument, don't postpone it, just start practicing! Just don't expect to be a pro right away, or you will most likely just get demotivated and quit playing altogether.
Very cool story. I've been on and off playing the guitar for the past 4 years in a very similar fashion. It's reassuring to hear that other people have run into this 'sporadic motivation' issue as well. I had a breakthrough about a year ago, when playing one day and my partner said, "yeah you've gotten a lot better. I actually don't mind listening to you play now. It's not torture anymore".
Chalk one up for the good guys.
Thanks for stopping by and for sharing your story! Glad you liked it. I agree it's reassuring to hear that others are having similar experiences.
Awesome that your partner acknowledges your progress! Good sign.
Thank you for sharing your story. I enjoy singing together with friends, family and colleges. A gathering with a guitar-playing person present, who accompanies the song, is always a success! I believe that a lot of people would like to master an instrument, but many (me included) give up too soon. It's not necessarily the expectation to become a pro immediate that make us give up, but also because we realize that expected results means you have to spend much time practicing..
Glad you liked it! Playing/singing music is the best, and the guitar is definitely a nice all-rounder for many different occasions. That's one of the reasons I really want to learn it well.
I agree that it can be overwhelming to realize just how much practice that is needed.
I played guitar for ten years before I learned my fist song.