Practicing guitar is something that even the most hardcore of professionals still do. If you don?t use it, you lose it. If you?re passionate about learning how to shred, you?ll do well to understand a few things about the process, and what to expect during your lessons before you fully commit.
Don?t Expect a Miracle
Everyone learns at a different speed. Some students whiz by all the introductory stuff, they feel comfortable holding the guitar and so on, but others don?t. Nobody is going to learn at the same pace. Even those who seem to pick up on everything fairly quickly are going to encounter certain plateaus in the learning process. You need to spend time and diligence on this.
Your Hands Will Hurt
One of the rough parts about learning guitar is gaining callouses. Your fingertips are soft, and you?re about to use them to press nylon or nickel against bumps of metal (frets) over and over again, for hours and hours every single week. Your fingertips may start to bleed. If they do, call it quits for the day, but know one thing?you went for as long as you could, and that shows commitment to the learning process.
It?s Not Going To Feel Natural
Movies like to have us believe that we simply slip on a guitar strap, let the thing hang off of us, and magic hits. It may feel magical inside, but you?re going to have to adjust to holding the guitar properly. It?s going to feel weird at first, and after a short amount of time, you?ll realize it?s an extension or yourself, and that?s going to shift your mental gears from being a beginner to being a trainee.
Learning Isn?t Easy
We all have the guitarist dream of playing with the likes of Hendrix and Hammett, and we can definitely achieve those levels of greatness, but it?s going to take practice. The number one reason that people quit their guitar lessons is that they?re not seeing results as quickly as they want to; it takes time, so put the effort in, and you?ll see results.