Index Of All Articles

Play Your Guitar An Hour A Day

By Tim Gillespie

A few years ago I was doing a radio interview at a Denver radio station. The host of the program came out with the program director. They were fun guys and the bug to play a guitar had hit them both. They asked for extra copies of Uncle Tim's First Year and both told me they were going to learn to play. I think they expected me to play this up since I write guitar books and that was the focus on the interview.

But instead, I said this. Let me ask the one question I cannot answer for you. I have all the other answers you will need as you start this incredible journey except this one. It's the hardest question of them all, and if you can answer it correctly you are almost guaranteed to be able to actually become a guitar player. They both stared at me and each other. Then I asked the question.

My question was "where are you going to get the hour a day?

I told them all the other questions they could generate, I could help them answer, except this one. If either of you can show me how you will clear off your schedule long enough to put in one hour each and every day, I will show you the rest.

I could see the air leaving their proverbial balloons. A strong and sudden sense of reality hit them both. One guy said forget about the extra copy, the other guy persisted. It turned out to be a fun interview.

This illustrates the biggest obstacle present to anyone who either wants to become a guitar player or wants to get better. Time. Once a person decides to commit the time and actually sit down with the instrument, usually they jump on the typical learning path. They start to make mistakes. This is a good thing! They begin to become acquainted with the instrument. If they are learning a scale, they start to try to play the scale. Sometimes they already know how and where to place their fingers. Other people are better served by concentrating on only one string at first. We all start from a different starting point and almost all of us learn the exact same way. The standard path of learning is the one most of us passed through as we became guitarists.

The truth is there are secrets to becoming a guitarist, but with a commitment and some good resources an average person can grasp this and become a musician if they put in the time. The level of ability a person develops is entirely up to them. I have seen people develop just the bare essentials and be quite happy with that. Other people choose to apply themselves and work relentlessly until they become a smooth, fluid performer. All of us have different motivations. And when we approach our real reasons why we came to the instrument, we begin to achieve some long term goals with the instrument. Maybe we only play the guitar when there is a member of the opposite sex we are trying to impress. Maybe we want to be able to participate with a neighborhood group that allows us to sit in. Maybe we are after professional level grade performance abilities.

Whatever motivates us to play in the first place, determines initially, how hard we play and where we aim. One thing I have seen over and over is this. The higher you aim, the happier you will be. Because no matter what you are trying to do with the guitar, you will like it more if you can play better.

However I have seen people approach the instrument with the notion they would play for one half hour a day, only to get sucked in and play over two hours every day. Usually they are swept away with the fun of learning and the sense of accomplishment and find new motivation. Mentally everything speeds up.

It is my personal experience that the quick, thin books that delivers little content do not help people become a guitar player. More often than not, they don't deliver enough information to allow the person to engage. So they end up offering false hope and hinder the effort rather than help it. People that use these resources often times have a guilt complex that develops because their abilities do not, and then they blame themselves. There are many mental road blocks and some of them will stop you.

There are no short cuts to becoming a guitar player. There is no secret or quick and easy way to have this talent show up. It has to be put in place by the person in the body. No short cuts, no secret ways to shave off the learning and understanding that must take place. You still have to learn.

The good news is when a person undertakes meaningful practice and apply themselves they usually find the process quite enjoyable and the experience of playing builds on itself and fuels the personal growth.

A neighbor of mine that is becoming a guitarist right now is experiencing this as I write. He is totally hooked on scales because he got good instruction, he sees where it is leading him and he can feel the difference in his hands. Although he has not put a priority on learning songs yet, his tactile response is coming along nicely. I noticed last week a noticeable difference in his tone. He interfaces with the instrument better already and it has been only three months. The guy is hooked.

If you are in a rut or just trying to get better, there are multiple ways to break out. Some of the principles can be applied to everyone, some will be unique to reflect exactly what you need.

Evaluate Your Skills

The first step is to evaluate where you are now, and what you have already learned. Take a look at what skills you have. Do they provide the firepower to make the sound you are after or do you need some additional training? Have you learned what you need and now you only have to refine it or do you need to put new skills in place?

Are there definite areas you want to improve on, or do you just want to entertain yourself better? Are you stuck writing songs because you don't know what sounds good or where to move? Are you stuck trying to make sense of everything?

Can you tell why you feel like you are in a rut or is it just no fun anymore?

Each of these questions suggest some discreet development may be needed as well as some general issues that everybody is affected by.

All of the answers will involve more time and some new ways of going about working. I believe I have experienced all of these questions and problems as I went along.

Determine What You Are Trying To Accomplish

Once you understand what you are trying to accomplish, you can start to figure out how you get there. What songs do you want to play, and what skills do they require. If you are trying to become a better lead guitarist, you will need to focus on different training than if you strictly want to play better rhythm guitar. If you are looking for a specific style, you will need to drill down to the basic techniques used in that style and try to duplicate the sounds and music you like.

All different musical styles sit on and rely on a distinct set of skills. If you want to be able to effectively play that style, you will need to get familiar with the necessary skill set. Once you have the skill set, you will start to hear snippets of the musical style emerge. Your job then is to nurture your new skills and develop and chisel them as you learn songs.

Almost anyone can do this, the trick is in your analysis and program for improvement as well as in you practice.