Every day, I go through numerous guitar forums to help people, learn more and generally keep up with all that ails those who play. Every day, without exception, one thought comes into my head that would fix 98% of the questions posted. Drumroll please………..
Just do it.
I am sure you are totally angry with me right now and want to send me some nasty comments. But before you do, let’s look at some real world questions and explore the obviousness of it.
Q: How do I play like Tommy Emmanuel?
A: Play Tommy Emmanuel songs and the songs he learned growing up.
Q: How do I play over the iV chord in a Blues?
A: Practice playing over the iV chord with a looper or backing track. Learn solos by greats and how they approach the iV.
Q: How do I learn to play without the pick?
A: Throw out all your picks and play without.
Q: How do I learn to use my pinky?
A: Use your pinky all the time. Practice patterns that require you to do so.
I could go on and on here, but I suspect you get the point. Why I bothered to write this post was not to annoy, or belittle your quest. I wrote it to show you the obviousness of the solutions to most of your problems. One of the best skills one can have is the ability to self teach. Teaching is partly about looking for what a student is doing wrong – then creating a circumstance where that action gets used often. Seems a LOT of you already know the hard part – what you are doing wrong.
You know what you want and you know what you do, so get busy doing what you don’t do: play enough. Because the one thing you CAN do that will fix them all, is more time playing.
No more shortcuts – just do it.