I have to acknowledge that there’s some competitive spirit in all of us. So with that in mind, here are my tips for “winning” at guitar:
tip 1: have fun!
You’ve arrived at the recurring theme for all my teaching and playing. For goodness sake, playing music is supposed to be fun. If you’re not having fun you’re doing it wrong. Sure, sometimes it’s hard work learning something new or executing difficult moves on the instrument — but it should be fun at the same time. We call it “playing” guitar for a reason.
tip 2: “play,” don’t “practice.”
This might be controversial to some, but words sometimes carry negative connotations. When I was a young violinist in the elementary school orchestra, I had to practice. It was a requirement. It was homework. Although I liked that I could play, the violin was inextricably linked to schoolwork for me. So after a bit of practicing on the violin I would ditch the fiddle in favor of my guitar and begin playing. To others it might have appeared that I was practicing guitar because I was learning new things and improving my skills, but nope, I was playing and it was fun.
So if the thought of practicing doesn’t sound all that enticing to you, then try playing instead.
tip 3: jam with friends
This may not be for everyone, and that is of course very okay. Still, I recommend finding some friends to jam with. Playing in front of others even in a jam setting can be extremely intimidating for new players. Find musicians who are welcoming and encouraging and love to play. You may find some players who would prefer to be competitive and not so welcoming. In my experience, those musicians tend to not be that much fun to play with, and I daresay they don’t have as much fun playing as they could. I’ve come to enjoy playing with others so much that I don’t really like playing gigs on my own if I can avoid it. I much prefer to be part of a group, a team of musicians having fun together. But, if your goal is to play at home, that is of course okay too. Here are some tips for navigating your first jam session.
