When Your Best Isn't Good Enough, What Do You Do?

 What now, you may ask.

Beginning guitar students have lots of doubts in the beginning, and it can be very frustrating. Let's say your guitar teacher has given you a song you really like, you've practiced and practiced and it's just not coming together. What do you do now? Have you reached a plateau, or are you not going to play any better?

Analysis, but not too much.

The first step is to record yourself and listen to what your playing sounds like. Is it as bad as you thought? Better? Worse? Be a critic, but don't beat yourself up over it. Listen with an open mind and be objective. Think about whether the whole song sounds bad or whether it's certain spots that you continue to have trouble with. Play the recording for your teacher so you can get a second opinion.

Ask for your teacher's honest opinion.

Any good guitar teacher will be honest about the good and points of your playing, so ask for his or her opinion. Maybe the song is too hard for you at this point in your development and you need to acquire more skills. I had a 10 year old student who wanted to learn Crazy Train after he'd been playing for only a few months. He insisted he'd "practice real hard", but the my bad news for him was that he just didn't have the technique down. It's hard to accept the fact that you can't play what you want to play, but like anything else, you need to be prepared to wait.

Trust your teacher or your gut instinct?

I've had students who get advice from so many different sources it makes things worse instead of better. Keep in mind that not everyone teaches the same way, and not everyone learns the same way. I let my students give it a shot, but if after a few weeks the song isn't fun anymore and they've hit the proverbial brick wall, it's time to step back and learn the techniques you'll need before you attempt the song again. Not ready to give up? More power to you, but again, don't be afraid to learn something that's a little easier to play.

Concentrate On The Music, Not Your Hands

Focus on the music.

Beginning guitar students tend to watch their hands instead of the music. This usually happens when they're close to having a piece of music memorized. As their confidence in the song grows, they tend to watch their fingers, look up to see where they are, and then get lost.

Don't practice mistakes.

Listen to yourself perform the song and watch for trouble spots. While I don't advocate watching your hands, I also don't advocate never looking at them. If you've made a mistake, stop, look at your hands and reposition your fingers. Narrow down the trouble area, and slowly and deliberately play through the passage several times. Don't try to speed up until you can play that section perfectly.

Don't go too long without listening to the song.

With You Tube, DVDs, CDs and iTunes available, there's no reason to not have a recording of the song you're trying to play. Listen and/or watch so you're sure you understand what the song is supposed to sound like. It's best to do that when you're not trying to play along. You'll be surprised at what repeated listening can do for you. It helps develop your ear and lots of times you'll hear things you missed when you listened earlier.

Play the song for you guitar teacher so you can gauge your progress.

I have students question why I make them play what they're working on, and the answer is quite simple. We want to correct mistakes, check fingering, and hear how things are progressing. When I took up banjo playing after years of concentrating on guitar, I made the mistake of trying to learn a song I didn't have a recording for. I practiced it for months, then when I tried to play it with others it turned out that I was adding extra notes. I actually quit playing the song for several months and concentrated on listening to the recording when I wasn't trying to practice the banjo. Only after I could visualize how the song went did I go back and re-learn it.

Want to Improve Your Playing? Be a Positive Thinker.

Sending negative messages to yourself.

It never fails to amaze me how many students start off a song with a phrase like "this is the one I always screw up." Or, "I just can't get that part to sound right." They'll then proceed to experience the self-fulfilling prophecy and screw the song up or complain, "see, that part doesn't sound right."

What causes these problems?

In many cases it's not lack of practice, but lack of confidence. Do negative thoughts or statements instill confidence? Absolutely not. How do you develop the ability to play confidently? Start off by listening to yourself play the song. Isolate the trouble spots, and concentrate on smoothing them out. If you continue to think a part doesn't sound right, listen to a recording of it. Don't try to play along at first,  just listen several times so you know exactly what it sounds like. When you can hum it or sing it, then go back and fix your mistakes.

There's plenty of help available, do some research.

With You Tube videos, guitar teacher websites, recordings, and all types of instructional material available, there's really no reason to struggle on your own. Find a guitar teacher, watch videos of the song you're trying to play, or any combination of those.

Change your attitude and your outlook.

I've talked a little about this in other posts, but it bears repeating. Think positive thoughts, focus on what you're playing, and try to improve each time you play. Practicing the parts you already do well doesn't help. Work through the difficult passages, playing them slowly at first, then build up the parts around them. I tell my students to work on the hard part, then add a measure or two that lead into that part, and then on the measure or two after it.

Don't Lose Your Momentum, or, Keep On Keepin' On

Does your interest in learning guitar seem to be disappearing?

Don't worry, it's something we all go through. Call it a rut, a plateau, a screeching halt, whatever, everyone slams into the wall at one time or another. Sometimes it seems you're just not getting anywhere, or the music doesn't seem all that interesting, or you get this hopeless feeling that you're getting worse instead of better. These are complaints guitar teachers hear a lot.

Breaking out of the rut.

Although it sounds counter intuitive, sometimes taking a little break can help. I'm not talking about stopping lessons for 6 months, putting the guitar away, or anything that drastic. Instead, learn a different technique or style of music. After my guitar students have worked on notes for a while we switch to chords, then advanced strumming, then more difficult songs, you get the idea. In addition, you can recharge your batteries by taking a few days off from practicing. Listen to some music, watch some videos, visit some instructional websites, do something to make you want to play the guitar. I've exposed students to music they never heard before, didn't know it existed, and ended up liking it better than what they thought they wanted to learn.

Picking out the fun stuff.

Learning guitar is hard, especially in the beginning. Your fingers hurt, you sound terrible, and you're sure you're the worst guitar player ever! If you don't have a guitar teacher, find one. As soon as you're capable of it, try to find others to play music with. There are lots of people at the same level, and it really helps to try to make music together. You may have to play simple songs, but once you're a little more comfortable you'll be surprised at how good it feels to be in a group with similar interests and abilities. At our studio we run beginner jam sessions where there's no pressure, you only need to know a few basic chords, and you learn to work together. If your guitar teacher is working out of a method book teaching you notes, ask about simplified songs that you could play that are available. We use the Hal Leonard Guitar Method and supplement it with Easy Pop Melodies and Easy Guitar books.

Follow these tips and you'll find it much more fun to practice. And remember, talent is overrated, it's sticking with it that makes the difference.

How to Keep Getting Better on Guitar

Making steady progress.

Everyone wants to make steady progress on the guitar, but be prepared for times when it doesn't seem to get any better. We all reach plateaus, and sometimes it can be very frustrating. A plateau is just a temporary setback, so try to accept it as that. When I was first learning guitar and later banjo, I remember sitting there wondering if I just ran out of talent or skill, and that was as good a player as I was capable of being. Over the years many students have told me "I think I'm getting worse instead of better." Here are some ways to help you get off the plateau and back to making progress.

Work out the details.

Whether you're a beginning guitar player, an intermediate player, or even a guitar teacher, there are times when it's easier to play what you know and not work on the hard parts! I'm as guilty as anyone, with a list of songs that I've never finished for whatever reason. Sometimes it's a physical problem, sometimes it's mental, and be honest with yourself, sometimes you just don't like the song well enough to finish it.

Physical problems.

I've had students who will complain about not being able to execute a particular fingering, complaining that either their fingers aren't long enough or that the pinky doesn't work. Before giving up, you can try using different fingerings or playing the passage on a different part of the fingerboard. The nice thing about the stringed instruments is that you can play the same note in different places. Maybe you can find the same notes higher up the neck where the frets are closer together. Most students don't take the time to strengthen the pinky, they just chalk it up as not being able to get it to work. Practice some stretching and strengthening exercises and you just might be surprised at the difference.

Mental problems, or, don't think.

Self-fulfilling prophecy time. Here comes that part I can't play. I always screw this part up. I can never get this part to sound right. Sound familiar? Almost any one of those problems can be solved by not over thinking the problem, thereby building self confidence. Guitar is a lot like sports. While talent is important to some extent, the ability to play the part perfectly has a lot more to do with how you perceive it. Get rid of those negative thoughts. If you think the part doesn't sound right, listen to recordings, get your teacher to help you make it sound right, then move along. I have students who can play passage perfectly, but they still come in convinced it "just doesn't sound right when I play it."

Secrets To Overcome Stage Fright

How to you get to the point where you can relax when playing on stage?

You will be nervous the first few times, no doubt about it. Learning to relax is a skill that you develop over time by playing in public when you can. My very first solo performance came when a friend who thought he was being funny signed me up for my high school talent show. I did a Jonathan Winters stand-up comedy routine, and was as nervous as I could get. After a few performances, when I realized they weren't going to boo me off the stage, I got to where I could relax and enjoy myself. There's doubt when you're up there by yourself, so confidence in your ability is the key.

Performance experience, practice, and passion are the keys.

The hardest part for me, even now, is when I play a song in public for the first time. I practice it until I'm confident that I can play it flawlessly, but there's still that tiny bit of self doubt in the make of my mind somewhere. After I've performed it in public a few times it becomes part of my song list and I don't really think about it.

Warming up helps too.

Some songs give me trouble even after I've performed them live, so then what I'll do is practice them a few times before I go on stage. I try to play the song faster than usual, so it seems easier to play it when the time comes. Difficult passages get played a few extra times, making me feel more confident about my ability to play them correctly. I start out playing chords, doing some stretching exercises for the left hand, and rolls or finger picking patterns with the right hand.

Sometimes you're just going to have a bad night.

The other thing I've learned is that sometimes the harder you try, the worse you get. Once you can accept that, it will help you relax and things will get better. I'd like to tell you that it never happens, but it does. Sometimes there's a reason, maybe your day didn't go well, or you got bad news about something, but other times you're just having an off night.

Don't get discouraged.

This last piece of advice is simple, you just have to keep trying. The more you perform, the easier it will become, and that's a fact. In my case, I'd say that I've replaced being nervous with being excited about playing. There's still adrenaline flowing, but now it's positive energy.

Everyone goes through it.

Whether you're a beginning guitarist, or a more advanced player, your experience will be the same. So go to some low pressure open mics, jam sessions, and musical gatherings. You'll always find someone who's in the same situation and you can help each other get over being nervous. I start my guitar and banjo students out with a controlled, slow jam, with no pressure. You don't have to play a solo unless you want to, you don't have to sing, you just get used to playing with others.

Give it your best shot, practice a lot, and get out there and mingle. Before you know it you'll be over your beginner's fears, you'll be relaxing, and best of all, you'll be enjoying music!

Avoiding Information Overload

Are you suffering from TMI? (Too Much Information)

There are literally thousands of resources for learning to play guitar. Beginning guitar players are being bombarded with information, opinions, learning methods, DVDs, you name it. There's really way too much to choose from, so your progress stops because you don't know who to listen to.


What should you learn first?

Some guitar teachers advise you to learn notes, some think it's chords, other think it's songs, and still others think it's technique. Here's how I approach teaching a beginning guitar student. Keep in mind that I don't engage in "cookie cutter" lessons where I teach the same way whether you're 8 years old or pushing 80.


There are things you should think about.

Even though you're just starting out, you should give some thought to what you're trying to do. For example, if you goal is to play and sing, you should probably start out by practicing chords. As soon as my students can play 4 or 5 chords I get them working on a song. It's a lot more fun to practice chords when they end up sounding like something. Don't buy a chord book with the intention of just memorizing all the chords. Unless you have a use for a give chord you're not likely to remember it.

Note reading, tabs, and chord charts.

While it's easy to find tablature, or tabs, for songs, it's still a good idea to learn at least a little about standard notation. Reading music is not as difficult as most people think it is, and there are lots of times when it's more useful. Tabs are not standardized, so most of them don't indicate rhythm. To use a guitar tab you'll need to have a recording of the song and preferably a way to slow it down. The program we use to slow songs down is: RiffMaster Pro. (Affiliate link.) The advantage to tab is that it's a number system so it's easier to read sometimes. Most songbooks come with the chords listed at the top of the 1st page and placed over the correct words.

Find yourself a teacher, at least in the beginning.

A professional, experienced teacher can help you sort through the choices available as well as answer questions. One of the problems with teaching yourself to play guitar is that it can take a long time to learn what a teacher could show you in a few minutes.

The main thing is to get started doing something!

After reading this post, I'm hoping you're ready to get started. Another negative from too much information is not knowing where to start, and putting off learning the guitar completely. Once you're on your way to playing you can make educated decisions about what to learn and in what order.

Any questions or comments? Post them below this article and I'll be happy to reply to them.