It happens to all of us at some point:
Getting too wrapped up with not sounding that great sometimes when we practice.
The reason:
It’s the curse of…
Being an adult.
The Curse of Being An Adult
Compare this to the following:
Notice what a child does when they first learn to do things.
Kids make so many mistakes. When speaking, at first they can barely put a word together.
And even after they can eventually say a few basic words, they often make mistakes on the order of the words.
But here’s the reason they improve so quickly:
They don’t care.
Mistakes are an excellent learning opportunity. Don’t be afraid of them as they are a great opportunity for growth.
Kids just keep experimenting, making mistakes, falling over, and trying again.
Ironically though, this is the reason kids learn so fast.
The faster you make many mistakes, the more quickly you can learn from them.
Here’s the thing:
Adults are too often afraid of making mistakes when it comes to playing music.
Why is that?
The reason:
Adults are painfully aware of what good music sounds like, having listened to perfectly produced recordings their whole life (with all the mistakes conveniently edited out!)
But:
Young kids don’t have a high awareness of what ‘correct’ sounds like.
This allows children the freedom and lack of inhibition to make a lot of mistakes, to be corrected by their parents and teachers, and thus learn at a rapid pace.
So:
Adopt the child’s mindset in your guitar practice.
The Child’s Mindset
Don’t worry too much if something isn’t sounding good (yet). Often daily practice will iron things out if you don’t tie yourself up in knots about it.
If you work on something over the course of a week or two and despite daily practice you’re seeing no improvement, adopt a curious mind – and treat it as
‘a puzzle to be solved’.
When you notice something isn’t improving, make a hypothesis as to what could be the causing the problem.
Then:
Devise an experiment, consisting of exercises or practice approaches that you think could solve the issue. Run the experiment for a couple of weeks and record your observations.
Remember:
Mistakes are an excellent learning opportunity. Don’t be afraid of them as they are a great opportunity for growth.
In fact:
Learning from your mistakes is the key to success on the guitar – or anything else you apply yourself to.
Over to you – What did YOU think of this practice tip? Leave a comment below with your thoughts or tips of your own…
Greg O’Rourke
Founder, FretDojo
World Leader in Online Guitar Education
Thank you Gregg, it’ time for me to start all over my guitar practice which is abandoned for many reasoms, great tip, don’t care about mistake or slow getting in shape
This is just great, bringing relief and inspriration at the same time!
Exactly, Greg!
That’s why kids learn to ski, windsurf, waterski, bike ride etc because they are not afraid of falling off!
Same with languages, music, reading!
Mistakes are fun and funny ????
Adults are too afraid of image and self doubt!
Could not agree more that making mistakes are our excellent learning opportunities. Certainly, will work on remembering this for my guitar practice.
That’s right Greg. Your article reminds me very much of the approach to Dr Milton Erickson when consulting his clients. The trouble with me is that I am like the child who is reluctant to practice. I know it is just something in my brain that seems to lock up and make me want to quit the instrument.
Very true – being kind to yourself, objective about what needs fixing next and enjoying the journey is the key to a long term pursuit loke guitar
Hi Greg,
Your post resonated with me that I have to comment. What a great way to explain the “growth” mindset. I don’t aim for 100% perfection in my work (as it’s impossible). If it’s 70 to 80% its good to go, because I know I will get better and it’s a team effort, and the focus is not on me. Practising in chunks so progress is visible is something that I find useful too. On the guitar front, having the guitar next to me helps. Cheers, Nick
Very true and helpful thoughts Greg. Reminds me of a Pablo Picasso quote: “Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up”.
Never stop playing :-)
This is a really pertinent post Greg. The ideas in it are not entirely new to me as I had come these conclusions years ago as a teacher and as a parent of a young family. The only trouble is, I forgot about applying the concept to myself in the context of studying guitar.
You’ve articulated the ideas extremely well, relevant to our learning situation. So much so that I will go right back to those seemingly impossible Pat Martino lines, with renewed enthusiasm and vigour early tomorrow morning. Onwards and upwards!
Well said. The way of children is full of wisdom. The whole world needs it, a rebirth, another chance of integrity. Jazz is inclusive, rather than intimidating.
OK my Mistake. Being the inner child is what I needed.
Thanks Greg! Great article. Few people talk about this issue of mistakes in improvisation and the learning that we can acquire from them. Hug!
Ok, I get it, no problem when practicing in the basement, but, next question–for the collected wisdom. What about when that big performance is coming up, “mistake prone” passages are still lingering, and time is running out? (I’m there, at the moment) Focusing practice on the problem areas can sometimes increase the apprehension when they are coming up, and make the situation worse. I know there’s no “magic bullet” answer, but curious what has worked for other players in this situation. Thanks all!
What I’ve done in the past is accept that my performance doesn’t have to be/won’t be perfect, but I will get through it with the least amount of stress possible. That and continuing to cram practice the rough parts – slow with a metronome a lot of the time.
Mary Karr (author of the Liars Club) collaborated with Rodney Crowell on the album Kin. Karr is not a musician or vocalist, but ended up performing on the album – which involved top tier Nashville musicians.
I asked her about what that was like and how she dealt with that pressure. Her reply was:
I’ve failed at a lot of things. I just try to fail better the next time.
I only wish I was better at embracing that attitude.
Love this! It’s the Growth Mindset a la Carol Dweck. I love also that it’s a series of experiments – like an Agile methodology – fast feedback loops and improvements.