Beating Frustration & Making Guitar Fun Again

Frustration can be a major hurdle to overcome when trying to improve at the guitar. In small doses, frustration can motivate and drive us to achieve, but too much frustration causes us to stop thinking clearly, to lose patience, to attempt to short circuit the learning process and in the worst of all cases to just give up.

Frustration slowed my own guitar progress for decades. I even quit for a few years. The worst part was that guitar wasn?t fun anymore. I had to force myself to practice. I had no patience with myself while I was practicing. Performing was hell. Frustration led me into a vicious cycle. Bad practice sessions led to bad performances which only made me put more pressure on myself, which made subsequent practice sessions even worse.

Frustration also causes physical problems. Are you trying to build speed and/or eliminate tension in your picking and/or fretting hand? Are you annoyed because this isn?t happening quickly enough for you? Do you, as a result, get angry and grit your teeth while trying to force yourself to get better at a pace that you want rather than a pace that is reasonable given your current skill level? Do you think all that teeth gritting and forcing the issue is getting you closer to your goal or further away from it (hint: it?s not closer).

The good news is I?m here to tell you that when it comes to frustration, we have a choice. We can choose to not be frustrated. We tend to think of frustration as some external force that we can?t control, but that?s not true. Frustration is a direct result of the way that we approach the instrument. We can choose to not be frustrated by doing a few simple things:

1. Setting reasonable goals
2. Staying aware
3. Enjoying the process

Let?s examine each one of these individually.

Setting reasonable goals is mostly about understanding the difference between short term goals and long term goals. A long term goal might be that I want to play like John Petrucci, but that is a completely unreasonable short term goal which, if I hold myself to that standard and nothing else, I will surely fail every day, beat myself up emotionally in the process and likely end up thinking that playing the guitar is not fun. In this case I need to set some more reasonable short term goals, goals that are reachable in days, weeks or months instead of decades. For example, my short term goals might be to learn all the notes on the fretboard, to learn five usable solo phrases against a given chord progression, or to learn the rhythmic structure of a particularly difficult passage. My long term goal might still be to play like John Petrucci, but I evaluate myself from day to day against my short term goals (which are very attainable) instead of my one long term goal (which may take a lifetime to achieve). Reaching my short term goals encourages me to set more short term goals, which ultimately move me toward my long term goal faster than just having one huge goal that seems so far away.

Awareness is our own personal monitoring system. There is a big difference between being frustrated and being aware of one?s own frustration. If I?m frustrated but not aware I will go on being frustrated and not enjoying myself, but if I?m aware of my frustration then I can do something about it. The presence of frustration is often a sign that something I?m doing isn?t quite right. Maybe I?m trying to build speed when I should be focusing on coordination and elimination of unnecessary tension. Maybe I?m assuming that I have a problem with my picking hand when my problem is actually in my fretting hand. Maybe I just need to take a break and take my dog for a walk to clear my head.

Enjoying the process means focusing on the journey instead of the destination. As clich?d as it sounds, this may be the most important aspect of beating frustration. If all you?re focused on is some brass ring that you think is out there that one day you?ll reach, I?ve got a wake-up call for you... there is no brass ring. There is only a continuous improvement process, and wherever you are as a musician at any given point along that process is fine. Ask yourself if you honestly ever want to get to the point where you?re not improving anymore. If you always want to be improving then you?ve just liberated yourself, because you?re now free from reaching for that one (non-existent) frozen moment in time when you?ll be ?good enough.? You?re now free to just enjoy getting better bit by bit every time you pick up the guitar.

And really, if we?re not enjoying the learning process, then why do we keep playing? There are two kinds of guitarists: professionals and amateurs. Most professional musicians could earn far more being miserable doing something else, so if we?re miserable as professional musicians what?s the point? As for amateurs, hobbies are supposed to be fun, right? If we?re not having fun then why are we spending time being miserable?

So in conclusion, if you?re frustrated:

? Re-evaluate your goals ? Do you have too many long term goals and too few short term goals? If so set some short term goals for yourself and measure yourself against those instead.
? Stay aware of your frustration level ? Frustration can be an indicator that you might need to try something different, or just take a break for a little while.
? Enjoy the process ? Find something you enjoy about learning and focus on that. Stop reaching for the brass ring that doesn?t exist and I think you?ll find that you?re enjoying yourself in the moment far more often.

Thanks for taking the time to check out this lesson. For a video version of this lesson and other free lessons please visit www.whyisuckatguitar.com.

comments policy  comments posted, 1 removed | this article is 80% spam-freeguitar/bass95 :
Fine lesson, except if you dont get frustrated, like me. Guitar playing is always fun, usually if you get frustrated, you overestimate yourself. Really helpful tips, but i think its in wrong section. This is just my opinion, but "for beginners" would suit better, I think.
POSTED: 03/11/2011 - 12:31 pm / quote |dvuksanovich :
If you don't get frustrated that's wonderful. People of all skill levels, however, experience frustration. Mine peaked while I was getting my Master of Music degree, so I can assure you that this is not just advice for beginners.
POSTED: 03/11/2011 - 01:03 pm / quote |no bs johnny :
This is solid advice.

I talk about the same thing on my blog.

Here's the kicker:

Frustration actually PREVENTS learning from happening. There's many reasons for this, but needless to say, I've experienced this firsthand.

As soon as I added a little "FUN" into my guitar life, I saw my skill improve dramatically. It's amazing how this works.
POSTED: 03/31/2011 - 08:52 pm / quote |

dvuksanovich :
So true. I had the exact same experience myself.
POSTED: 03/31/2011 - 11:53 pm / quote |

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Guitarists...Are You a Victim and a Loser?

I was thinking today about THE most dangerous enemy of musical progress…the victim mentality. What do I mean by this?

Often we can let our personal circumstances dictate our progress. For example, someone may let their guitar practice slide because they were really busy at work. This person may start making excuses such as "I didn't have time". This is victim mentality. It is believing that your musical progress is only possible when external circumstances allow it.

What they are really saying to themselves is that their musical dreams and goals are not as important as paying a few lousy bills .They are letting their boss's goals get in the way of their own.

Now…I can't point fingers at anyone. I've been guilty of having a victim mentality plenty of times! Especially when it comes to things like going to the gym :)But I don't have a victim mentality when it comes to guitar practice. There is virtually nothing that I will allow to get in the way of my musical progress.

So…how can you stop yourself from becoming a victim and a loser…

1.Stop making excuses. I can guarantee that for every excuse you can make there is someone out there who has overcome that obstacle. Don't allow yourself to make excuses. They are the death of your musical dreams.

2. Watch your language. For example, rather than saying "I couldn't find the time" say "I am acting like a complete and absolute loser and if I continue acting like this I will NEVER achieve my musical goals". Because that statement is pretty painful to say, you'll soon stop making excuses!

3. Think of solutions. For excuses that you normally make, think of ways of overcoming those obstacles. For example, if you are constantly using your work as a reason why you can't practice, ask yourself questions like…

"How can I get paid more but work less hours?".
"How can I get paid while I sleep?".
"How can I stay home all day and practice?".
If you ask enough questions like this on a daily basis, you'll find a solution eventually.

4. Think of your "Why". These are the reasons why you want to achieve your musical goals. If your why is strong enough, You will NEVER want to stop practicing for any reason.

5. Think of your role models. Use your role models to motivate and inspire you to keep on practicing.Every time you start to make an excuse, ask yourself "Would__________make this excuse?" For example, one of my favourite guitarists is Steve Vai. I could NEVER imagine making him excuses for not practicing!

To finish off here's a quote that you may want to memorize...

"You can either become a great guitarist, or you can make excuses, but you can't do both".

Practising Guitar - The Sneaky Person's Way To Get Better

People taking up the guitar generally fall into one of two categories: the first just want to learn to play a few chords so they can accompany themselves while singing their favourite songs. Or maybe they want the social life and perks that come with playing in a band. For them, practising can be a pain.

The second type is the person who from day one knows they want to be as good as the best in their chosen field, whether it's rock, funk, jazz, or classical. In other words, they want to emulate their heroes. And practice is the pain that leads to the gain.

If we're honest, most guitarists will admit to starting off with approach one and ending up on the road to approach two, simply because no matter how good you get, you have a nagging doubt that you could do better. You also feel that anyone listening to you knows this too, and they're wondering why exactly you don't sound like a profesional. (Although that's just paranoia--they aren't thinking that at all.)

Fortunately, the guitar is an instrument that will cater for both approaches. Someone once said it's the easiest instrument to play sloppily and the hardest to play well.

Personally, I'm not so sure: a church organ, (think of all those pedals) and the bagpipes have got to be at least contenders for the title.

No matter, there is some truth in the statement.

But who cares? If your intention is to make your delivery of your favourite songs sound fuller, does it really matter what standard you are? Of course it doesn't. (As long as you aren't really, really terrible and inflict it on other people, that is.)

And besides, every time you pick up the guitar (or anything else), you improve. You build up muscle memory, for one thing. Practice really does make perfect.

And that's the important thing: it is necessary to practice.

Only ever playing while you sing those faves of yours does count as practice, if that's all you want to accomplish. And the good news is you can get to play pretty decent pretty quickly, just by learning the necessary chords, persevering, then learning how to play rhythm with a little variety.

If you want to be more versatile, though, practice will probably mean learning moves before being able to apply them to something meaningful--a bit like the wax-on-wax-off sequence in the movie The Karate Kid. And just like Daniel-san, you're going to get to the point sometimes where you wonder what the point of it all is, and whether you can take it without losing your sanity.

Or maybe you'll start to feel it's taking up too much of your life, that you could be doing something more useful or enjoyable (because, let's face it, practice is always dry and unenjoyable, isn't it?)

But should you ever get into the position where you feel you just can't face those exercises, there's a sneaky trick you can play to fool yourself into doing it.

(It works for other things, too, like exercise, and research).

It's this: tell yourself that you're only going to practise for two minutes. One hundred and twenty seconds, maximum. After that, no matter whether you're enjoying it or not, you absolutely have to stop. No carrying on. No excuses. And make yourself put the guitar down.

Try it. See what happens. You'll be a better guitarist in no time.

Guitar - Beyond The Chord Chart

We've all been there - soon after we get hold of our first guitar we know that to play anything people are actually going to listen to we need to "learn a few chords". These first few chords for most beginners end up being the open position chords, down at the first few frets.

Soon, we begin to associate these basic chords with shapes - E, A, D, C and G shapes. These 5 shapes are way more fundamental than we initially think, because once it comes to mastering the dreaded F chord, or more accurately, the "E-shape barre", we immediately feel liberated - we can now create major and minor chord variations up and down the neck.

Some stop there. Some may even go on to realize the "A shape barre" (based on the A string) can widen our scope of tone and voicing that little bit more. True, these two movable shapes are indeed enough for most of today's middle-of-the-road rock music. You can write great songs with a mix of the 5 open position shapes, and these two barre shapes, even epics!

But why stop there? Why limit yourself at all? There's so much more to discover on the fretboard. Different voicings - voicings that can make a chord on its own sound 10 times more intricately lush. The truth is, as guitarists get into their 2nd year of playing, these fixed form chords begin to sound, well...a little dull.
Too many guitarists are missing out on producing music that will astound themselves, let alone others, because of their love affair with the quick-reference chord chart, learning parrot fashion, shrugging off any understanding of "what that chord would sound like voiced...here" and knowing your several options.
You may be thinking "this sounds complicated, where do I go from here? What do I need to learn to be able to think outside the box when it comes to constructing interesting chords?"

Two words that will make some jump into their guitar case - chord theory
Chord theory is a subject area of guitar that doesn't necessarily have to be pretentious, elitist or just for jazz/classical guitarists. Explained and learned the right way, knowing some basic guitar chord theory can open up a songwriting factory in your head, producing its goods right on your guitar.

There are 5 steps you need to go through to reach your guitar chord nirvana (and I DON'T mean the band!), the first 3 you probably already have...
1) Learn the 5 barre chord shapes (E, A, C, D and G)
2) Learn the major scale in 8 (yes, eight) different positions based around these barre shapes
3) Use your knowledge of the major scale to create triads, 7ths and extended chords in several positions on the fretboard. This is the foundation for building unique and interesting chord voicings.
4) Use your knowledge of chord construction to create unique chord voicings with inversions all over the fretboard.
5) Don't forget to "float" chords occasionally with open strings.

Once you invest a little of your practice time learning chord theory basics (it doesn't take long to pick up), you'll start to investigate the fretboard as second nature. You'll come up with chord progressions and really use your ears to identify the "right" chord for the change. Your playing will open up to a diverse range of styles.

Most of all though, creating unique original music that is truly "you" won't be limited by the size of a chord chart - it will only be limited by the 6 strings on your guitar.

The Art of Playing Jazz Guitar

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I'm not going to kid you; playing Jazz Guitar is extremely difficult at best and almost downright impossible at worst. However there are things you can do to improve your improvisation skills and feeling and we'll discuss them throughout this multi part series so look for additional parts in the near future.

Practice

What can I say about practice? Just do it and do it often! Do it everyday. When you think you have done enough do it again.

I am not just talking about picking up the guitar and playing a few songs I am talking about real practicing for the environment that you will eventually be playing in which is, of course, in an ensemble with other musicians who we hope will always be better than you.

Here are the basics...

When practicing always use a metronome!

If I didn't make that part clear perhaps this may help: ALWAYS USE A METRONOME!

If you feel that you don't need a metronome stop reading this article, stop practicing and go get some ice cream because you will get the same or even better results and you certainly will enjoy yourself a whole lot more in the process if you do. If you are committed read on.

Still with me?

When using your metronome try to feel your timing on different clicks. For instance for a swing feel have your metronome click on beats 2 and 4 rather than 1 and 3. This will give you an instant swing feel and also take away that nasty crutch so you are forced to know where beat 1 really is.

We never, ever, want to rely on our drummer, who may be in the middle of a complex experimental improvisation just when you need him/her the most, to tell us where beat 1 is. How many times have you been in that situation?

Sound simple? It is!

Sound easy? Try it for a month and you let me know how it goes.

Let's delve into this a little. When practicing using this technique of displacing metronome clicks for beats try these: practice a 3/4 tune using the metronome clicking once per measure and only on beat 2. Then switch to only on beats 3. See how the feeling changes. Practice it, learn it, feel it and then you can start to own it.

If you want to get fancy place the metronome to click every fifth beat while you play a tune in 3. This will shift the accents and feeling from bar to bar and will also allow your brain to break free from it's learned behavior which is designed to make you not want to think.

What did you say?

That's right! More times than not the human brain is your biggest enemy. It always seeks comfort and practicing in the fashion described above is not at all comfortable for your brain. In these cases I recommend telling your brain what my son often likes to say, "To bad..., so sad!"

We as musicians need to experience and comprehend the natural tendencies of the brain's normal behavior so we can learn to truly challenge ourselves to open up our minds to the gargantuan creative possibilities that await us when we do. This doesn't happen by accident nor does it happen by itself nor will it come easy. It takes an extreme effort on our parts.

Whether you have your instrument with you or not you can practice your timing. If you get a small battery operated metronome, which I recommend, you can bring it with you when you are driving back and forth to work. Practice the above examples in your car while singing. Don't worry if you can't sing you are trying to own these feelings and if you can't articulate these feelings with your voice you will never truly own them.

I have outlined several examples for displacement of beats. The idea is simple enough so that you can come up with more deviations on your own and you should keep changing them when you practice.

The point here is that true understanding and your eventual ownership of various beats and feelings associated with them do not reside strictly inside those beats and feelings. By looking only inside the beats you are shutting off all creative thinking that is necessary to truly exploit their full potential.

Real understanding resides outside and you must find out what that means. To truly find it you must force yourself and be willing to look everywhere else but the beats themselves. This simple metronome technique will get you started and point you on your journey to achieving that goal. Don't limit yourself to applying this technique only to timing but that statement is for another part of this series.

Have fun, practice and always play your heart out!

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Practising Guitar - The Sneaky Person's Way To Get Better

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People taking up the guitar generally fall into one of two categories: the first just want to learn to play a few chords so they can accompany themselves while singing their favourite songs. Or maybe they want the social life and perks that come with playing in a band. For them, practising can be a pain.

The second type is the person who from day one knows they want to be as good as the best in their chosen field, whether it's rock, funk, jazz, or classical. In other words, they want to emulate their heroes. And practice is the pain that leads to the gain.

If we're honest, most guitarists will admit to starting off with approach one and ending up on the road to approach two, simply because no matter how good you get, you have a nagging doubt that you could do better. You also feel that anyone listening to you knows this too, and they're wondering why exactly you don't sound like a profesional. (Although that's just paranoia--they aren't thinking that at all.)

Fortunately, the guitar is an instrument that will cater for both approaches. Someone once said it's the easiest instrument to play sloppily and the hardest to play well.

Personally, I'm not so sure: a church organ, (think of all those pedals) and the bagpipes have got to be at least contenders for the title.

No matter, there is some truth in the statement.

But who cares? If your intention is to make your delivery of your favourite songs sound fuller, does it really matter what standard you are? Of course it doesn't. (As long as you aren't really, really terrible and inflict it on other people, that is.)

And besides, every time you pick up the guitar (or anything else), you improve. You build up muscle memory, for one thing. Practice really does make perfect.

And that's the important thing: it is necessary to practice.

Only ever playing while you sing those faves of yours does count as practice, if that's all you want to accomplish. And the good news is you can get to play pretty decent pretty quickly, just by learning the necessary chords, persevering, then learning how to play rhythm with a little variety.

If you want to be more versatile, though, practice will probably mean learning moves before being able to apply them to something meaningful--a bit like the wax-on-wax-off sequence in the movie The Karate Kid. And just like Daniel-san, you're going to get to the point sometimes where you wonder what the point of it all is, and whether you can take it without losing your sanity.

Or maybe you'll start to feel it's taking up too much of your life, that you could be doing something more useful or enjoyable (because, let's face it, practice is always dry and unenjoyable, isn't it?)

But should you ever get into the position where you feel you just can't face those exercises, there's a sneaky trick you can play to fool yourself into doing it.

(It works for other things, too, like exercise, and research).

It's this: tell yourself that you're only going to practise for two minutes. One hundred and twenty seconds, maximum. After that, no matter whether you're enjoying it or not, you absolutely have to stop. No carrying on. No excuses. And make yourself put the guitar down.

Try it. See what happens. You'll be a better guitarist in no time.

Jamie Jones helps you go from complete beginner to intermediate guitarist. Get the building blocks for your guitar success: to receive your free online guitar lessons, visit: www.guitarism.co.uk.

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SELECTING THE BEST TYPE OF AMPLIFIER FOR YOU

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So, you’ve got your eye on an electric guitar, or an acoustic with a pick-up. Then you’re going to need an amplifier! But there’s such a huge range, it can be daunting to even know where to start looking. Well, there’s some key questions that can help guide you…

How good does the sound of my amp need to be?

Well, are you aiming to form a band and play some gigs, or just be able to hear your electric guitar in your bedroom? If you’re a bedroom player, then any old amp will do to get you started. It’ll come down to your personal preference as to how much you invest. If you want to get out and play live, then you might need to think about a quality amp - like a Marshall, Fender or other top brand. In the Pro Guitar Tips course, we devote a whole chapter to ‘How to Get a Great Tone’, to help you decide between a solid state or valve amplifier. It could actually take over a whole blog, it's such a personal choice too. But as someone starting out, the next question you need to ask yourself is:

How loud do I need to play?

As loud as %&*^ing possible, I hear you say! Well, to simplify things a bit, amplifiers come in all different volume sizes. It’s fair to say the bigger the amp, the louder the sound. Amp power is rated by watts, with really loud amps ranging from 50-200 watts. If you’re just looking for a bedroom practice amp, then around 10 watts will do you nicely. If you want to be able play with a live drummer and still hear the sound of your guitar, then you’ll probably need 30+ watts of amp power.

How am I going to transport the amp?

I know a lot of guitarists who think they need the biggest amp. But I don’t know a lot of guitarists who do stadium sized shows! Bigger doesn’t necessarily make you play any better! Remember, the bigger your amp, the harder it’s going to be to transport to rehearsals and gigs – at least until you get your own road crew! You don’t want to put too much stress on your back just trying to lift the thing. Use common sense! Most gigs you'll play will use PA systems, where a microphone is placed in front of the amp, which is re-amplified to be mixed with rest of the band to heard by the audience.

How much money should I spend on an amp?

If you’ve got a limited budget, then I recommend spending the bulk of it on your guitar. A better guitar will be easier to play and will deliver rewards when it comes to sound quality. You can always upgrade your gear, but it’s great to start with something with longevity. Exactly how much to spend on an amp comes back to your intended use, and personal preference. As usual, the more you spend the better the amp will sound. (The next figures are a rough price range guide in US and Australian dollars.)

Beginner: US $100-200 AUD $150-300
Intermediate: US $250-500 AUD $300-700
Professional: US $500-3000+ AUD $700-4000+

The combination of equipment is really important to your overall sound. A great amp with an average sounding guitar (and/or guitar player!) is still going to sound average. Trust your ears to tell you what sounds good, and practice hard!

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