Playing guitar can be frustrating sometimes, but do not give up! Every great guitarist goes through challenges in their playing. You will overcome your challenges too. Here are a few ways to make the process a little easier.
Make Sure You’ve Set Clear Musical Goals
Without clear goals for your guitar playing, it’s easy to become frustrated. Having specific goals gives you direction, telling you what to practice and how long to practice it. When you don’t have this, becoming a better player always feels a little confusing or uncertain. This is also why setting vague goals (like “becoming good”) lead to frustration.
Take the time to sit down and think of 3-5 specific goals you want to achieve as a guitarist. Be as specific as possible, writing down as much details as you can think of to make the goal tangible. Then, work together with a guitar teacher to learn how to track and measure your progress effectively each week so you can watch yourself improve.
Experts agree that setting goals is crucial for guitar players. Jacob Melling, guitar teacher and owner of the American Academy Of Guitar Mastery says, “Determining clear musical goals is something every guitarist needs to do from the very beginning. It is the most effective way to make progress, and it reduces the amount of frustration that comes from years and years of wasted time. Many of my students tell me how much they regret not setting goals when they were younger guitarists, because they could’ve been so much better than they are now had they done so.”
Focus On Practicing Guitar More Effectively
A lot of guitar players do not practice effectively. This generally comes down to practicing the wrong things, practicing in the wrong order, not knowing how to practice, not focusing or having totally disorganized practice routines. To get started fixing this, make sure you have all your main goals in mind. Then work with your guitar teacher to begin designing a guitar practice schedule based on these goals.
Your guitar teacher will help you determine exactly how to practice correctly so you get the most results possible. Additionally, he will show you the correct order in which to practice certain items. This is something that is very hard to know without the guidance of an experienced teacher. Depending on your specific musical goals, it may make sense to practice one item more at a certain time in your development than another. If you do not do this correctly, you may not achieve the results you want, leading to frustration... so always practice as your teacher instructs you to.
Use A Self-Empowering Mindset
Many guitar players become frustrated and give up when they are very close to making a breakthrough. The mindset of allowing yourself to become frustrated is crucial in these situations. It holds you back. Instead of allowing frustration to take control, use it as a motivating force to get you to take positive action and improve your playing.
Experienced guitar teacher, Tom Hess says, “All of my best guitar students use frustration as a source of motivation. Use it like this, and it becomes fuel that rockets you to your musical goals FAST.”
For example, whenever you make mistakes in something you’ve been practicing over and over, focus your thoughts on this: in order to become a great guitar player, you must not only overcome challenges, but enjoy the process of being challenged. So whenever you face something difficult in your guitar playing, see it as a test and visualize yourself becoming better for accepting the challenge you face. This makes you stronger, helps you improve faster and reduces the effect your frustration has on you.