Subject: Practice Like A Criminal
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, Whew, what a week! I wasn't sure if this email would make it out to you on time - turns out my email provider had to go off-line last Saturday and into the week because of an attack by cyber-criminals. The baddies launched a distributed denial-of-service against the web servers, effectively flooding them with traffic and preventing them from doing their jobs.With them off-line, I couldn't even email you to let you know there was a problem, so I wanted to apologize. There's not a whole lot I could do, but I still felt the pressure of potentially letting you down. I'm just glad things are back in working order! Apparently there have been quite a few similar attacks against many web-based businesses recently, and it looks like this type of problem is here to stay. Criminals are persistent - if one method to steal doesn't work, they'll keep adjusting their approach and trying other ways until they succeed or are caught. You may have experienced some delays with other emails you receive on a regular basis, too. Fortunately, there are services out there that help to prevent these attacks from doing the intended damage, and my provider has hooked up with one of these companies to make sure we don't have this problem again. Moving forward... Practice, Practice! So how much do you practice every day? If you're part of the Daily 5 Guitar Habit, you should be getting at least 5 minutes a day, and the habit should be ingraining itself rather nicely by now (unless of course, you just started - check back in 30 days). Five minutes is enough to begin creating a habit, but truthfully, it's not enough to get you to any significant level of skill. For that you need to work at your new habit for at least 20 minutes a day. Let's break it down a bit. If you only practice for 5 minutes a day every day for a year, you will have only had about 30 hours of guitar time. There are 8760 hours in a year, and 30 hours only amounts to .3 percent of the year. That's three tenths of a percent! You can't really expect to improve much on that little practice time. Imagine walking into your boss' office and saying, "Hey Boss, I'm going to give you 5 minutes a day of my best effort!" Now imagine packing up your desk and looking for a new job! 20 minutes a day adds up to about 122 hours for the year. That's only three workweeks, and less than one full week. Think of it as spreading a week's worth of vacation time over the full year. I don't know about you, but I'd much rather practice scales all day than go into a job. My guess is you are alot like me, according to a Gallup poll done last year that gauged job satisfaction in the U.S. So practice your guitar - it's more fun! Realistically, if you have any aspirations above just playing guitar for fun, you'll need to devote more time to your object of affection. An hour at minimum every day will begin to sharpen your guitar skills, and yet we're still only talking 365 hours per year. Since a standard work week is 40 hours and most salaries are based on 2000 hours per year (not counting, of course, the time it takes to get to said job), that's only 18 percent of the time we would be at a job. A job most of us don't like. If we're considering how much time total it is for the year, it's just over 4 percent of all the hours we have available. To do something we like to do, we're only willing to devote 4 percent or less of our time to it? Sounds a little ridiculous put that way, doesn't it. I know, we all have commitments and responsibilities, and the purpose here isn't to make you feel bad or guilty, but let's just get real here. If you want to play guitar, PLAY GUITAR. Practice. Find the time. At the risk of sounding improper, practice guitar like a criminal. Keep at it until you reach the goal you've set for yourself (or get caught playing "Stairway"). Remember, The Beatles dedicated 8 working hours a day for months straight to become the band that took the world by storm in 1964. They honed their skills for five years prior to becoming a household name. I can hear you screaming - "But I don't have the time!" Believe me, the same thoughts go through my head. It's more about deciding what is important to you. And maybe it's about being honest with yourself when you look at where your time is being spent. I don't remember who said it but there's immense truth in the saying "It's not that you don't have the time, it's that you value doing something else more." Enjoy It And one last thought. If you don't enjoy the practice - if it's a chore - then maybe guitar isn't the instrument for you. I don't mean that in a harsh way. When I was young (about 7 years old), I started taking violin lessons. While I enjoyed the instrument, the practicing was a chore. I'm sure part of it was having the typical attention span of a 7 year old, but I didn't enjoy the act of practicing. I took up guitar when I was 12 and it was a completely different experience. I had no problem sitting for a half-hour working on learning notes and chords, or trying to strum through a song. My point is, if guitar is a chore, find an instrument that you connect with. Maybe you're a bass player, or keyboard player, or even a drummer. Try out a brass or woodwind rental for a month to see if that's more your style. You might even be a vocalist (yes, that's an instrument, too!). If you're drawn to music (or obsessed like some of us), something will grab you. Once you find the instrument for you, the practice time will come easy - you'll make time for it. Then you too can practice like a criminal! 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. 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