Why to NOT take your favorite players’ advice that learning guitar is better for you?

By Janus Buch

In my day to day work as a full time guitar instructor I meet a lot of struggling guitar players. One of the biggest challenges I encounter when I meet a new student for the first time is to get the throw some of their old “way of thinking” about the guitar overboard. Guitar players have a tendency to copy their favourite players in the philosophy of guitar and in their way of thinking about their practicing and their playing. This is naturally the case because we admire the great players and we want to play like them. Therefor we draw the conclusion that what works for “insert the name of your favourite player here” will also work for me, but in most cases this is not the case. In fact most of the time this way of thinking can be detrimental to your guitar playing progress. This article means to explain why this is the case and what you can do to avoid it.

I am not Lionel Messi and you are not Steve Vai

Wait a minute you might be thinking, you’re not? as much as I would like to be, the fact remains that I am no where near that Messi’s level when it comes to the sport of soccer. But it’s not only his ability to strike a ball that I’m missing, it’s also his mindset, the lifelong training and the overall ability to understand the game in a way that only he can. That is the main reason that I will not copy i his training regiment if I one day decide to wanna improve my skills on the soccer field. Yet this is exactly what most of us are doing, when we are copying the practice schedules or the scale system of our favourite players. When we compare ourselves to Satriani, Steve Vai or Guthrie Govan we are actually comparing ourselves to the Messi’s of the guitar playing world. And this is why copying them won’t give you the same results as them. Simply because you are not them and the way you should approach the guitar will most likely be very different from what they should do.

Get at good guitar instructor with a proven record

If you want to realise your guitar playing potential you need the expert advice of somebody who can analyse exactly what you know, what you don’t know and what you need to know on the guitar and lay out path for you to follow, that will get you where you need to go on your instrument. Copying your idols will only get you they take on what they needed or need to practise. It can never provide you with what you need. Acknowledging this will make a huge difference in your guitar playing and in the leaning curve you enjoy.

About the author: As head in instructor and founder of Bredballe Guitarskole Janus Buch has been helping people of various skillsets on guitar reach their guitar playing dreams. If you are a serious student of the instrument and want to take your skills to the next level, consider Guitar undervisning i Vejle at Bredballe Guitarskole.