Subject: Again, and Again, and Again...
You are getting this e-mail because you subscribed to it on www.learn-to-play-rock-guitar.com. If you don't want to receive these e-mails any longer, go to the bottom of this message and click on "unsubscribe." Hey there Friend, At the risk of rehashing a potentially overused analogy, I want you to think of the importance of repetition in your practice. Now before I get into the meat of today's message, let me just say I'm totally ripping off the idea from a blog post by Jeff Goins I recently read. What he had to say struck a chord (LOL, that attempt at comedy again) with me because it is so relevant to guitar (or any musical instrument).Let's go back 30 years to the release of the movie "The Karate Kid." If you don't know the story, here's a quick rundown. Our hero "Daniel" is the new kid in town, just trying to make new friends when he witnesses someone getting bullied by a group of thugs. He steps in to try and help out and gets beat up for his troubles. The rest of the movie focuses on Daniel wanting to learn karate so he can both defend himself and teach the thugs a lesson. He enlists the help of the strange handyman "Mr. Miyagi" that works at his apartment, who also happens to be a karate master. Miyagi agrees to help Daniel and then proceeds to give Daniel chores to do around the house. Things like waxing Miyagi's cars (wax on in one direction, wax off in the opposite direction), or painting Miyagi's fence surrounding the entire yard (brush stroke down, brush stroke up). Every time Daniel tries to change how he was applying wax or paint (because it would be faster or more efficient), he'd get yelled at to do it the way he was told to do it. Arguing got him nowhere. Naturally, hot-headed Daniel (he's a little feisty) is beginning to think Mr. Miyagi is just using him as free labor to get some work done around the property. Of course, Daniel throws a fit and gets into Miyagi's face - so Miyagi throws a punch at Daniel. Without thinking, Daniel blocks the punch using the same motions he used to wax the cars. Then Miyagi kicks at Daniel, which he blocks using the same motions it took to paint the fence. Daniel finally gets what's been going on. While Mr. Miyagi's approach is a bit unorthodox, it really points out a significant lesson we guitar players should take to heart - that repetition is magic. Repeating a motion over and over again trains our fingers and minds to work automatically. It feels like work the entire time we're sludging through the same exercises day-in and day-out. But in reality we're building critical connections between our brain and the muscles we use for each skill. The more we do each skill, the stronger that connection. It's funny, for many of the different things I've done, too much repetition for an extended amount of time always made me restless. Truthfully, that applies to guitar as well. I've always loved the instrument, but practicing a single lick for an hour is not something I can stick to. However, if I practice it until I can at least play it reasonably well, then I'll move to another riff or exercise. That way I don't become bored and I can come back to the original lick later and practice it some more. Discipline is not usually a fun discussion. We as humans are pretty independent beings, and anything that feels like we're being forced to do it tends to make us a bit crazy. But if we are doing something we love, discipline comes easy, and even the monotonous exercises have an element of joy associated with them. So I keep at it - and you will, too. Here are some areas that require repetition to master. The beauty of these basic elements of music is that you can start off with very simple exercises and never run out of ways to increase the difficulty of each one. So no matter how advanced you become on the instrument, you will never run out of ways to practice to maintain your skill level.
This isn't to say that once you've mastered a skill that you can't get rusty or lose it. Even after you become the guitar player you've always wanted to be, you still need to practice your techniques to maintain that level. Just like unused muscles atrophy (go soft and weak) in a short period of time, so will your guitar chops. I recently read a story about the horror writer Stephen King. He had an accident once that laid him up for about three weeks. During that time he could not write (this is a guy that disciplines himself to write every day - that's why I created the Daily 5 Guitar Habit email series). What he found was that after that short a time, he was out of the flow. He had a hard time putting his thoughts down and needed to work consistently to restore his chops back to the pre-accident time. So don't get discouraged by the repetitive aspect of skill building when you practice guitar. Just like Daniel, it might seem like you're being told to do the same thing over and over again and not really getting anything out of it. But what you're doing is building those mind/body connections that will show up when you least expect them. Once that happens you'll know all the work you did was worth it. Now go practice! Peace~ Dave Dave "Eddie" Vance is a rock guitar enthusiast and gear nut. He has been playing guitar for over 30 years and enjoys tormenting the neighbors every chance he gets. When he's not slaving for the man, you can find him rocking out with his B.C. Rich Bich guitar, a cold beer and some sweet tunes. He also runs Learn-To-Play-Rock-Guitar.com, but you knew that already! Follow Learn To Play Rock Guitar:I welcome your feedback! Did you like today's message? What other topics would you like to see covered in my e-mails? Please let me know at: dave@learn-to-play-rock-guitar.com As always, please feel free to forward this email to a friend! I review products before recommending them. If you buy a product based on my recommendation, I will receive a commission. However, my emails also contain links that don’t require any investment on your part and are jam-packed with "juicy, guitar learnin' tastiness". We don't rent or share your name with anybody. Feel free to forward this issue to any friends you think would enjoy its contents. They will thank you. So will I.
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