Mastering your craft

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This has probably been discussed here many times so please forgive me if this has been said before or nothing new has been added. . I do think it would be a good reminder :wink:

When I am at a library I search through the music books trying to find hints of how the guitar greats learned and mastered their craft. I have yet to find a book with an entire chapter devoted to this subject or references in the back of the book on the same.

I found this article online at the Lick Library which is a nice summary on what the greats have done to learn their craft:

I don’t have any illusions of fame or fortune however, I enjoy learning, practicing and playing guitar and want to become good, maybe really good at it someday. Who knows, maybe even an open mic night.

I found this article very interesting and informative. Ironically, much of what is highlighted as essential to the greats becoming great are habits and strategies espoused by Justin in his beginner lessons. If anything the article is a good reminder of what I have should have known anyways from my JG lessons.

If you have not read the article I think it is worth a read.

Attila
CB, Canada

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Interesting article Attilla, thanks!

‘…learn the part of the song you like as a mini project and then work outwards to the rest of the song’ seems like a useful rutbuster!

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I find learning the hardest parts of songs first as a better approach better because it does 2 things.

  1. lets you know right away if your ready to tackle the song or what skills you need to brush up on.
  2. Once the hard parts are mastered the rest is easy and takes no time at all.

Learning the fun or easy part first sets you up for failure. The fun part is usually the easy part and sometime you get frustrated trying to learn the rest.

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That was an interesting read thank you Atilla, cheers Hec

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True. However, sometimes, if you’re a little creative, you can simplify the hard parts and it sounds just as good.

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Thanks Attila. That gave some great examples of why following Justin’s basic principles is a great path to better guitar. It has taken me years to finally admit that all of these tips for learning are important, especially the idea of mastering the basic techniques and recording yourself if you have no teacher to give feedback.

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