I need a filter (silencer?)
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That is certainly a big problem 
if I want to explain in detail what you both see differently than I do (compared to looking back at an earlier recording) the very good things about yourself recording yourself as Justin strongly recommends here and NOT putting your guitar in the corner in disappointment. To look back now and see how much you have improved again should give you renewed energyā¦ we are talking about beginners and at my level so Lieven if you look back now and notice that you are experiencing some stagnation, you know that you have much more in you then many first 2nd or 5th year students 
Aha ,It didnāt come across that way for me 
Of course (an open door) but I already said that 
This is where things go wrong again in my head, is this a translation thing or are 3 people sitting here chatting missing each other in important lines? ( No sarcasm or funny intended, I honestly donāt follow it 
)
I give up ,it is to hard thinking for me and the home situation doesnāt give me any peace to properly understand all this - I think becaused I feel making excuse to run away from this 
ā¦ if I even succeedā¦ a lot of coughing and coughing and give up my laptop to my sick wife prevents me from thinking more deeply ā¦
Greetings and have fun
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In the way I understood it , Brian was saying to be satisfied with who you are at the moment as long as you re doing your best
[quote="brianlarsen, post:11, topic:403901ā]
Simply doing things to the best of your ability is all you need for āsuccessā. If you do, there is no need to compare (with others or yourself),
[/quote]
to not dwell on the past or on what others are doing , and to just give your all
But I agree with Roger that for many people this is not enough
they need to realize how much better they ve got by looking at their past self and some people grow with a little competition
we re all different , we all have our different ways of learning
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I think above all, you are trying to give an exact meaning and scope to something we leave, deliberately, open for interpretation.
We are talking philosophy here, on:
- what is the meaning of ābetterā?
- better in relation with what exactly? others? ourselves? closer towards a goal?
- what is a goal? is it a real goal or just a tactic to get closer to an underlying goal?
Iām puzzled why you try to āfigure this outā while this is a lighthearted conversation where people offer perspectives to think and ponder about 
We all carry our burden my friend and I feel for you.
Itās part of my escapism. Iām going through a stressful situation that I could keep out of my mind for a while but seemed to have a physical impact on me (cortisol, cholesterol, trigger of an auto-immune disease that cause some hair to fall out etcā¦) Iām looking towards other, better times but at least my mind still bends in many directions
the answer is 42
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Okeee ,one attempt in very short sentences. Probably hopeless because Iām
absolutely not kidding hereā¦there are many here who can confirm this 
ā¦ I was under the impression that it is very important for your development to listen back to yourself. Every gigging guitarist who makes money from that has done that or still does that
Justin and every other teacher I know hammers home on thatā¦and thatās all I talk about all the time and want to explain āthe importance of looking back and/or listening to yourselfā as said countless times here on the forum and by Justin togetherā¦
The rest is all an "open door to me " that I didnāt want ( sayed in the most positive way ) to talk about it here at all ā¦ Just saying
ārecord yourselfā
and ofcourse without those very negative thoughts that were mentioned earlierā¦
According to our teacher Justin, recording yourself is not really open to interpretation (or are we talking about something else?)
Iām flying in circles and I donāt even know how to explain it in Dutch anymore otherwise I would have done that by now 
ā¦ somewhere I apparently drifted away from the simple sentence "record yourself and be happy what you see "
Heyyy ,did you read this
so that applies to more things 
Ooo dear Lieven ,yes, and I mean it in this spirit ofcourse
O No ā¦crapperdecrapcrap 
It saddens me to read the lastest you write
The times they diagnosed me with an auto- immune it was more because they couldnāt find anything else ( and fortunately that went away āby itselfā after ā¦well that took some time ) ā¦I hope things get better for you soon and keep us posted please 
Greetings and all the best
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Donāt worry dude, the disease only causes some bald patches on my head and beard and it seems to boost my cholesterol but all/most of it will pass
Iām quite close to landing a new job and some time off before that. All will bebetter soon but thanks for your concern!
and oh yeah, listening back (and evaluation your progress) sure IS important. My Live Club in December will be about āyour guitar journeyā as it is a sensible moment to look back and forward. Lukily most of us here are sensible humans, not comparing themselves too much with others but seeing our own growth can be very motivating. Sometimes āgrowthā is hard to find, with other challenges around or a focus thatās different. We get so much challenges in life that a period of ānot giving upā and āfinding some small nuggetsā is more than enough 
Speaking of nuggets; keep posting your music @roger_holland your clips always bring me joy!
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OP, I started a learning log after three years of JG courses for the very reason that I do need to stop comparing myself to others, only myself. It does help.
Having said that, it was incredibly helpful to compare myself to other beginners during Gr 1. One of the best parts of Gr1 for me was Nitsuj. To realize that even Justin would struggle to play the instrument heās played for decades and it would be hard for him if he started over, even with the advantage of retaining his decades of conceptual knowledge, and that his fingers were the problem (not his comprehension), was so incredibly comforting. I clung to that as an adult learner through the entirety of Gr 1.
And of course this forum helps a lot to compare ourselves to other beginners during those times when we are so hard on ourselves. It helps to know weāre not alone.
But over the course of the journey that tendency to compare needs to fall away. And for any parent who does what the parent did in that story- shame on them. My dad made some influences on me as a very young musician starting out in grade school that I really struggle to rewire now.
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Thatās why itās good to record yourself playing on video, and referring back to it over time to measure your own progress. You can hear and see what you did back when, and how much you improved. Emulating another personās ability in anything can and should be inspiring, not a whip to berate ourselves with.
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I have read through most of the posts here and I think some have got confused or missed the point.
For what itās worth here are my thoughts
Comparing yourself to another guitarist whether a mate from down the road or Jimi Hendrix(for example) is not necessarily good or bad, but it very much depends on how and what you want to take from the comparison. If you are trying to emulate them and not achieving that, then it may be quite negative, on The other hand if it is to look at areas you can improve and learn from your errors it could be very good.
One thing to consider is if comparing your playing to others is worthwhile or good at all, as it may lead you into sounding like others and not yourself and stifle crrativity.
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I think a lot of people compare themselves to others with everything and interpret it in all sorts of ways. A lot of people, including my wife, see people on a trip or traveling or something on social media and somehow it makes them feel bad about themselves when they compare their daily lives to the highlight reel of moments selected to be shared on social media by someone else. I can say Iāve never felt bad from anyone elseās success or pleasure as Iām quite busy with my own life and it doesnāt impact me.
As for music and guitar, I think thereās a lot of value in comparing yourself to yourself in the past and Iām sure most people can understand why. When it comes to others though, I donāt think comparison is necessarily the best word depending on your arbitrary definition of it. If I see someone doing something exceptionally well I get inspired and wonder how they did it, as if itās an avenue Iād like to explore Iād like the opportunity to try it out. Even if I canāt do something as well as someone else itās always a learning experience and serves to satisfy my own progression desires in some way. I actually made a post on these community forums a few months back asking about the lead lines this guy was playing in a random video demoing a guitar just to figure out what the technique was called so I could try exploring it. Iāve never gone back and watched the video and thought āman Iām not doing it as good as him, this sucksā because at the end of the day I learned a lot about music theory, keys, rhythm and helped develop my own style just by trying something new and sticking with it for a bit. Comparison is useful when youāre looking for areas to improve or explore but not when you use it to find reasons to put yourself down.
I see in bodybuilding too, thereās a certain demographic of people that compare themselves to others in a very negative way and let it bring them down too much. They either get depressed or start lashing out and trying to bash the individual for accomplishing something they canāt. Thatās a whole 'nother story, though.
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This is a very interesting thread and itās very interesting to read how different people feel about their progress/journey. There are things I really loved readingā¦
You have both my thumbs up for this Rogier, and you always deliver your thought with kindness and respectā¦discussing and compare different points of view is what we are here for!
Me too and along the way I learnt to do itconstructevely. To the best of Pros I compare, or ālook up toā. And to the students here I compare to. And I compare both to my earlier andā¦future self!
I think itās not up to me to decide if I will improve or not, I often expect to improve and I see that when I try my best improvement is often a natural consequence.
This is so important! Signed *A fool who wasnāt much kind to herself in the beginning * ooops!
This is a very honourable goal, and itās one of my goalsā¦ but I get your point Brian and to me well being and enjoying the process comes before improvement.
Sometimes standing still in yourself might be an effective surviving strategy, not necessarly bad feeling related, on the contrary one can feel at his/her easy to be in his/herself.
Ohā¦really? I guess soā¦it applies to life in general; the secret is to be happy with what life can give us along the way. I see my old dad, he never complains about what he canāt do anymore and enjoys life nevertheless, going to the bar to play cards, cooking with me when I go visitingā¦
Isnāt it the best of feelings? Being able to express ourselves!
And all ways are legit 
So true! I often read here about ālife getting in the wayā, to me life IS the way!
Thatās one of the best aspects of this wonderful Community!
But a point that I want to make is: thereās absolutely nothing wrong with how the mother handled with her daughter! She was objective andā¦well I guess you donāt want me to get deeper in this!
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Hereās a thoughtā¦
If I donāt compare myself to others, how will I know when my playing is good enough?
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@BurnsRhythm I guess itās all about feeling it.
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ā¦.and hearing it!
Hang on a minuteā¦.whatās thisā¦?
Silvia80JustinGuitar Community Moderator
Have I not been paying attention?
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If you compare yourself to others youāll never be good enough.
What is good enough to someone who loves to strum and sing wouldnāt be good enough for a shredder.
To me good enough is what makes you happy. If it makes others happy thatās just a bonus.
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Silvia80JustinGuitar Community Moderator
Hey ,What happened here
How wonderful for you , I wish you a lot of fun and that all the frogs keep in the bath and continue to behave as best as possibleā¦
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My advice is simple: āPlay your heart out every day ā like itās your last.ā I am a very, very lucky cancer survivor. I compare myself to the person that I COULD have become if not for grace. So to commenter Mr. JokuMuu, I say-- I am ALWAYS happy with what I see!! As a war veteran, and a true hero, once said to me, āEvery day is a good day above ground.ā
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Says who!
I take your point, Rick, but itās only true if you look at comparison in a negative way.
I compare in a positive way. I listen to players who are better than me, but it doesnāt get me down. Their playing shows me that itās possible to be that good. If they can do it then thereās no reason why I canātā¦.eventually. It spurs me on to keep practicing and, hopefully, keep improving. Iām okay with knowing that I may never get there. Trying to get there is the driver.
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@BurnsRhythm @roger_holland 
no one is noticing yet!