Motivation is a difficult thing for many musicians. Wanting to play the guitar better is not motivation. It’s the opposite – many people want to play guitar but the only reason they fail to do so is lack of motivation. I know exactly how it feels as I faced a hard time playing the guitar sometimes.
Anyways, I figured there is no motivation better than self-motivation. That is why I have come up with a few tips that will help you motivate yourself. These tips did work for me which made me confident it will work on you too. Once you are done with motivating yourself, there is nothing you can’t accomplish with the guitar.
Create A Positive Vibe
In order to become a professional guitar player, you need a positive mindset. You must draw your attention to the instrument other than anything else. With a negative mentality, you won’t be able to go very far.
How to do that? Well, first of all, make yourself believe the guitar is a hard instrument to learn. You cannot become a guitarist overnight, and that will set you free from a lot of false promises. Self-defeating is the worst way to develop your skills as you must understand that it takes a lot of time and practice to become proficient in fingerpicking.
By creating a positive mindset you will master a little bit of the guitar each day. It will help you throughout the entire learning process and help you reach the goals that you have set for yourself. If you are having trouble, figure it out yourself. Seek for answers. Don’t worry if you can’t pick up someone’s style as you must have your own style at some point. Create the music that is inside you, no matter how it looks initially.
Remove All Distractions
In order to learn well you must remove all the distractions from your room. You need a place where you can dedicate your whole conscience to practice. So, remove all noises and other distractions that are around you. Make yourself comfortable in that place. See if the chair that you are sitting on is comfortable enough.
Other than using the metronome, don’t touch your phone for any other purposes. This is why I used to get distracted as my guitar practices involved minutes of practice and hours of social media. Don’t do that. A soundproof place will make you concentrate more. So, get all the materials and enter your favorite place.
Select Effective Songs To Cover
Beginners start covering songs that they often do not like. Most likely these songs are recommended by other professionals. What they overlook is – the songs may not be liked by the noob he is recommending them to. You will be motivated when you have songs that are really exciting for you to play. See what songs inspire you. Add those to your least. If they are moderately easy for you, go ahead and try covering them.
Don’t try songs from the same genre. Keep your list mixed up! You must have a wide range of songs that are from different difficulty levels. For beginners, my recommendation is to select simple songs. In that case, you will be motivated more if you can play them well. I can’t explain enough how much it helps in the whole self-motivation process!
No Excuses For Skipping Practice
If you don’t practice, the only person that affects is you. Yes, I understand you are busy, you have a job, but these are not real excuses if you think about it. It only takes about half an hour to complete your daily practice schedule.
Unfortunately, the path to learning the guitar properly doesn’t come cheap. You must give it a lot of time. But, are you maintaining it daily? The longer you don’t practice, the harder it will be to get better in it. Lack of practice makes you forget all the things that you had learned earlier. You want to achieve something with your guitar, right? Excuses will not get you anywhere, so avoid them at any cost!
Set Goals For Your Practice
You should make proper goals for each practice session. It is up to you whether to make these goals simple of complex. For instance, learning a song that you like can be a short-term goal. A long-term goal can be learning to cover Tornado Of Souls if you are into metal. Trust me, it’s a really tough song.
Unless you have a set of goals, you cannot focus on your sessions properly. Try to accomplish something every time you take the guitar in your hands. Whether it is a small riff portion or an entire song, it must be covered completely. When you find yourself unfocused, create some goals that are really simple so that you don’t go completely nuts.
Try To Attend Live Shows
The best way to motivate yourself is to see those who are already there. You will find live concerts amazing and inspiring. Try attending them whenever a band is in the city.
There are lots of shows that are happening nowadays like Wacken, NAMM, The Download Festival, etc. However, these shows won’t teach you how to play guitar as there are advanced stuff going on, but they will definitely make you want to play the guitar more. When you see them, you will feel a craving inside, and that is what you need!
Practice With Others
You can improve your motivation level by competing with others. Play the same song with your friend or a colleague who also knows how to play it. Ask if you can jam on the stage. With professionals, both your skills and motivations will be skyrocketing.
Competition is always good for motivation. You may find it by jamming with your friends once in a while.
Summing Up
When you are feeling low, these steps will help you get out of your mystery. You will get out of what’s been bothering you and have a good practice session. Just remember, the guitar is not something you are going to master quickly. It takes time, so prepare yourself for the journey. The most important thing is your music taste and will to play your gear.
So, get your gear now and become the player you are destined for!
