I wonder how many of these you agree with?
Itās not so much that I necessarily disagree with them but we donāt all play guitar with the aim of standing out, becoming a great guitarist or a legend!
The list is flawed because nowhere on it is a word such as enjoyment. If you donāt enjoy playing and practicing then thereās a fair chance youāll never even reach average. I play in my free time that I have after doing a full time job - if I followed those 7 points Iād likely quit playing as it sounds too much like hard work
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100% agree 
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Great list 
Oh yes, hard, but true and helpful 
I donāt agree with the last one completely, because I love and enjoy playing covers a lot and I donāt want to stand out.
My favourite is number 6. I really agree with this one 100%.
Music theory really can be fun (at least the way Justin teaches it 
) and offers great shortcuts.
I guess this connects with number 3. Understanding a song is important and helpful, too.
solid advice!
What @mattswain said!
I would add that talent (also a hard truth) plays into it, to a lesser or greater degree, as well.
Pretty sure that 1, 4 and 5 are very true!!!
Iām spending a lot of time training to drum beats these weeks as I was a bit shocked at the difference between what I thought was fairly good timing and actually being in time.
However, I agree with @mattswain about the enjoyment factor being very important.
I agree that enjoyment is an important part of playing the guitar, but the list is about hard truths, so how is the enjoyment factor a āhard truthā?
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@Richard_close2u
We have a blasphemer in our midst! 
Stoning on the eve of the Sabbath-
Flats Ā£ 0.75
Sharps Ā£1
Bag of pebbles Ā£0.50
Beards Ā£1.50
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Fair comment, itās a truth rather than a hard truth. I just find the list to be a bit pompous and my guess is that not all great guitarists will have obeyed all 7 items.
This would be the hardest truth of all. The things on the list above you can do something about.
Agreed. But anyone aove a certain age, who grew up and started learning in the time before budget guitars were made to a reasonable quality standard, may still be of the mindset (and rightly so in many cases) that a cheap piece of plywood can be the most limiting factor in terms of being able to play anything and make any music. I held some dreadful guitars in my youth that were virtually impossible to play. A $300 guitar these days should be a decent guitar in terms of playability and learning for anyone.
Agreed. Speed may excite some and has done for centuries. For example:
You couldnāt say that any of those particular notes or short motifs are particularly expressive. Though the overall movement does convey something, it communicates.
As does this, by way of complete contrast in business and flurries of fast notes.
Aaaggghh.
I take issue with the narrowness of the use of ālearningā.
My mantra - learn songs, learn songs, learn songs - is deep, wide, multi-faceted and can take the learner in many directions, to many places and beyond. That includes learning what, how, why and when the songs āworkā. I never advocate blindly learning from TAB.
I take issue with this one for sure.
I shall leave it there. It was Brian who notified me and his pokey stick has done its job.
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Hard truths eh!
I reckon it was compiled by a guitar teacher or advanced student rather than a top guitarist! 
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I love this! But every time that I find myself eyeing a new piece of gear, I just know itāll take my playing to the next level. Somehow the magic improvement wears off as soon as I get it home though.
Suitable for framing, thanks for sharing!
To ālearnā is to gain knowledge of something. Someone might take your mantra and think that it equates to memorizing a song by rote so that it can be regurgitated on demand. The end game for the player is to then build a repertoire that can be strung together in a set suitable for camp fire, open mic, etc. If that brings someone a sense of joy and accomplishment, then ālive your best life.ā
I know what ālearningā a song means to me, but I am never totally sure what it means to you or what other players think that it means.
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Definitely all 7ā¦
Itās actually the easiest, as it comes naturally (or it doesnāt). You either have some level of talent or musicality or you donāt. The choice is whether or not to soldier on stubbornly without a lick of engrained rhythm, timing or musicality, or look for another avenue of artistic expression.
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not a song! 
(and definitetly not that one)
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