Keeping at it is the only way to really learn to play guitar. You have to play consistently, even if it's just 1/2 hour per day or four times a week. Playing with others can help you learn new things and sharpen your timing, strumming. It can put things in perspective. Sometimes, when we practice alone and don't play with others we don't really see/hear our progress. Here's a great story.
One of my adult students, I'll call him Bub, in fact he's my second oldest student, wanted to learn to play the guitar. One of the big reasons was his two grandsons. They are 12 and 14, live in another state, and have been taking guitar lessons for six months. He wanted to play guitar with them when they visited. So Bub has been learning for about four months now and, in my opinion, doing very well. He has learned about eight chords and can use them in songs. He can strum and keep time rather well. One of the songs I thought he should learn to play with his grandsons was Green Day's Good Riddance. He worked on it from the first month he was taking lessons, it sounded pretty good.
His grandsons visited and he told me they played some guitar together, including Good Riddance. I asked him how it went and he said " You know what, I'm BETTER than they are!" He hadn't realized how good he was until he played with someone else. He just kept his head down and kept working on it. His cool factor with his grandsons just bumped up a notch or two!
That's one or two of the reasons I hold Adult Jams. It's a lot of fun. It gives adults a chance to play with others and share what they've learned. My next Adult Jam is Saturday, September 3rd . The 2nd Annual John C. North Memorial Outdoor Jam. Bring your own food, drink and guitar. Or just come and listen. It was great fun last year!
No comments:
Post a Comment