Practicing the guitar- words to banish

I tell my students that there are two words that I must banish from my studio. They are NOT ALLOWED. Those two words are "I can't." You can make mistakes, you can have difficulty, you may find it almost impossible, but you may not say "I can't." There is a simple reason- those two words mean that I will not try. Any other words may say that everything is not coming easily, that work is required, that concentration and analysis is required, that slow practice, and deliberate thought may be necessary to work something out. You will learn something- how hard it is to start something new, how to train your fingers and your brain to do something, how to work up speed so it becomes almost a reflex, rather than a deliberate process, how long or slow it is to learn something new, how hard something at a higher level is when it is attempted at first, but then- the thrill of accomplishment, the unbelieving "well last week that was impossible, but now I'm doing it." "I can't" will not allow any of the positive things to happen, so I urge you to banish those words from your thoughts and speech. Go ahead, wrestle with it if you have to, but do go ahead. Best wishes.

New Years Greeting

I would like to wish everyone a Happy New Year, filled with pleasure, friendship, and success.
May this year be better than the last, may some of your fondest dreams be fulfilled, and may you accomplish the things that you have wanted to.
Don't talk about your resolutions, but have the strength to set them in action.
Best wishes to all
David Larson

Practice in a hurry

Practice is most important for improving your guitar playing, but what about the time that you have only a few minutes to do something? I feel that even a few minutes are important, if you can use them correctly. First, don't try to do too much. It is better to do a little, and do it well, than to try to do to much, and end up learning mistakes that you will have to relearn. Try something that is hard, but only a small part of it. Ask yourself, what is the problem here. If I get this right, will it improve my playing? If I get this chord easily, or if I can go through this passage better, that is a good way of using your time. Try to make an improvement that you can see. This way you will know that you have used your time wisely, while improving your overall guitar playing.

Practice

Practice is the thing that people hate to do. We love to play, but don't want to do the work to get there. Practice should be a good thing. Practice is all about improvement. You look for the things that are unfamiliar, can go wrong, or which you want to do better. Then go over them. But, do it in a thinking form. Go over the part that you want to practice, very slowly. Discover what is hard. Going over it slowly will allow you to get your fingers in place. After a while, it will start to become easier. You will make less mistakes. Keep patient- don't go fast yet. Go over it a few more times, trying to keep the sequences in your mind. After this, I move my fingers here. Which fingers move first? Which are always last? Should I move some others first? Once you are satisfied, speed up a little. Try a few more times, then speed up again. Starting very slowly will reduce your mistakes drastically, and you will actually play better quicker if you follow the patient method I have outlined.

Guitar Lessons

Welcome to my blog about guitar lessons and learning to play the guitar. Here you will be able to learn about the guitar, care of the guitar, and get tips on how to play the guitar. I will tell some of my ideas for practicing the guitar, getting lessons for the guitar, and other supplies for the guitar. I will also tell about different methods of getting guitar lessons.