A Tip On Guilt
What does “guilt” have to do with playing guitar? It has to do with practicing. Guilt over how often you think you ought to practice, versus how much time you’re actually spending on the frets. But more to the point, guilt related to the guitarist you are compared to the guitarist you think you want or have to be.
There’s some real simple advice on handling this uncomfortable emotion: let it go. However much you practice has got to be enough. It is enough. Unless you’re a pro musician, your practicing isn’t putting any bread on your table, as good as it may feel. So let practicing take a back seat to working, paying bills, watching your kids grow up.
There’s always more to learn on the guitar. And no matter what skill level you have, no matter how much skill you’ve lost, the point of playing is really to feel engaged in something timeless and wondrous, isn’t it? And you can get that feeling even if you can’t tell the difference between a tuning peg and a truss rod, or an eighth note and a perfect fourth.
There will always be players who are “better” than you — in other words, more skilled. And there are always going to be players more dedicated than you. So what? No other player can give you what you can give yourself when you play: again, that sense of timelessness, of wonder and timelessness. So let the guilt go; let the good flow.
Thanks for reading.
Copyright © 2007 Darrin Koltow
This first appeared in the Guitar Noise News – February 1, 2006 newsletter. Reprinted with permission.
Sammy
December 18th, 2007 @ 3:54 pm
I try often to remind myself that while I’m not Zakk Wylde or Mark Tremonti (or even those guitar studs I see down at every guitar store), I’m better and more dedicated than most of the first-five-fret strummers I hear around campfires. So it’s all a balance. And really, it’s not a competition.
Keith
December 17th, 2007 @ 4:03 am
I find sometimes I can’t be bothered. I am just not in the mood. And you are right, this is not a job for me, but a hobby. I have reached a point where I can proudly play half a dozen songs (chords) and 1.5 melodies. I am gradually building on this when I am inspired, but if I force myself to play I start to resent the whole thing.
Sometimes I pick up my guitar and by the time I have warmed up I do not want to put it down. That is what makes it all worth while. Actually producing music with my own two hands is such an amazing thing.
Slow and steady for me, with a little bit of pressure just to keep momentum – like learning a Xmas carol.
A gentle deadline is a lot better than going on a guilt trip.
Jeff Foley
December 15th, 2007 @ 5:13 pm
I really needed to hear that. Thanks. :)