Learning guitar and the point of no return - Will you make it?

"Don't be afraid your life will end; be afraid that it will never begin." - Grace Hansen

It's almost guaranteed that all guitar beginners no matter what their initial level of enthusiasm about practicing and learning guitar will want to quit at some point and if statistics play a roll its likely sooner rather than later. Gyms understand this concept very well and its the reason they ask members to sign up for a 12 month minimum. You may very well turn out to be the lucky 1% who never even considers the idea of throwing in the towel but for the rest of us nothing beats a B plan. For the 99% the B plan will increase your chances of reaching what I call the point of no return. This is the where giving guitar is no longer an option for you and it generally occurs between 6 months and 2 years for most people. You see we you will reach a point where you feel you have invested too much time and energy to give up. For myself this happen around the 1 year mark.

The importance of a B plan

When you begin learning guitar you are in a positive motivated state so having a B plan seems unnecessary but then that day will come when you just say to yourself "It's not worth it. Life's too short to waste it plucking strings on a stupid guitar. Besides I don't have any special talent".  In some cases giving up is a gradual one. Day by day, week by week you spend less and less time on the guitar skipping your lessons until your guitar finds its way to storage or for the serious quitter sold to the highest bidder. Either way you are unlikely to escape the black hole of ex-guitar players. In fact if there was a website for ex-guitar players with out B plans it would probably be more popular than Facebook.

A point about passion

I think its worth noting that It could be easy enough to conclude that the above scenarios are justified because you didn't have the the passion in the first place but you would wrong. The passion that drove you to go out and buy a guitar and perhaps start lessons is usually very deep rooted often coming from your childhood. Research has shown that our musical tastes tend to peak at around age 14 years. It is highly likely your interest and passion for guitar started during this time whether you are consciously aware of it or not. When we are in the phase of giving up we have just lose sight of our passion for music but it will return often with a large dose of regret for not continuing with your lessons and practice a year or so earlier. Think how much closer you could have been to your goal of playing guitar had you just stuck it out. If only you had a B plan.

Creating your B plan

For most the A plan is usually a promise to yourself to practice at least once a day for the foreseeable future. The best B plan therefore I have found is to make a commitment now to persist for one year no matter what with rewards and consequences if you don't. The goal should be to practice 5 to 7 days a week for a year rather then worrying too much about how good you will be at any point. Each practice session should be about making small improvements. It will be tough at times but writing up a schedule of the days and times you plan to practice is the first step. You should also write out a sheet with 365 days and cross off one number each day you do a full practice session. This type of strategy helps you to remain patient knowing that at the end of the year you will have fulfilled your commitment and reached your goal. Remember its not about how good you are. It's about staying committed for a full year. What's the point in making amazing progress in the first 3 months if you give up in the 4th month? The name of the game in the first year is to stay in the game and establish the habit of picking up the guitar daily.

TAKE ACTION - The G4 GUITAR 365 Day Challenge

The absolute worst thing you can do now is not take action so here is your challenge. Print out a 365 day sheet from the G4 GUITAR Student Website Downloads page and cross off one number each time you do a full practice session. To work out how much to practice 13 years and over should do 30 minutes per day. Subtract 2 minutes per day for each year less than 13. E.g. A 10 year old would subtract 6 minutes doing 24 minutes per day and a 5 year old would subtract 16 minutes doing 14 minutes per day.

If you like this blog please tell your friends. Thank you.

G4 GUITAR METHOD -Inquire Now!

 G4 GUITAR METHOD Lesson Inquiry

Join us at G4 GUITAR FACEBOOK.
http://bit.ly/g4facebook

Visit the G4 GUITAR METHOD Website
www.g4guitar.com.au