Hey Friend,

Today we’re going to talk mechanics.

The simple understanding you need to succeed at learning - and mastering - guitar.

Actually, learning anything that requires some physical involvement. Which is everything you do, right? I mean, you have a body, so you’re physically involved whether you like it or not.

This might seem like a generalized statement, but everything you physically do is accomplished through muscle memory (and learned patterns).

It doesn’t matter if it’s a brand new activity or something you’ve been doing your entire life. Your ability to do it is the result of your muscles learning the patterns necessary to complete the action.

If you are new to the activity, you will need to learn new patterns, but your muscles already have a base to work from. They have learned patterns over the years that are close enough to the new activity to get you started.

Sure, adjustments will be made. You’ll have to expand and stretch your existing abilities (which you’ve developed over your entire life), but the fundamental muscle movements are there.

Patterns

Whatever you want to learn on guitar comes down to a very simple, very UN-sexy concept, and here it is:

If you can accept that EVERYTHING you do to play guitar is the result of learning patterns, and you can keep yourself motivated to really learn these patterns, you can reach any level of guitar playing you set your mind to.

Simple.

Not easy, but simple.

The more you physically do something, the easier it becomes because the muscles “learn” what they have to do to perform that action and maintain it successfully.

It doesn’t matter if your fingers are short or you have small hands. Or if your hands are too large... Or if you’re missing a finger... Or if you have no arms...

The body is resilient and very smart. If it is determined to achieve something, it will find a way. 

Gaining control over your muscular function is the human machine learning.

The longer we’re at it, the better we become. Our muscles become better controlled, more responsive, more reliable, more automatic.

This starts with conscious application. You force your hands and fingers to do what your mind directs, which is training your muscles to remember the pattern - whatever muscles you have.

We're going to come back to this because...

Dorian

I intended this article to run quite a bit longer, but Hurricane Dorian has other plans for us here in Orlando (the irony isn’t lost on me that Dorian mode is a minor mode).

So there’s a very good chance I’ll be offline for awhile.

Peace~

Dave

P.S. The simplest guitar chord pattern is the Power Chord. Even beginners can easily play this pattern.

I put together an ebook with hundreds of easy power chords here.