Many people want to be good guitarists. To be clear, when I say "good guitarist" I mean guitar-hero-good,
not local-bar-playing-good. However, there are few people out there who actually achieve this level of ability. Certainly,
I have not. However, I would still like to comment on what I think makes a good guitarist. It is not the focus of this essay
to comment on lightning fast fingers or a solid rhythmic ability. I do not believe that a good guitarist needs to have perfect
pitch or supersonic sight reading abilities. My goal is to identify qualities of great guitar players that transcend any stylistic
considerations. There are great guitarists in every genre of music and my goal is to identify what they all have in common.
The first and probably most important quality of a good guitarist is desire. Whether you are a finger-pickin'
country hillbilly or a death metal shredder, you have to want to be a guitarist. A lot of people wish they were guitarists
- like when a chick is around that they want to impress, or right after they get their favorite artist's new album - but
I am talking about a real burning desire to only play guitar. You have to eat, sleep, and think guitar. This desire is what
will drive you to continue practicing when all your friends are out on the town or when the newest movie hits the theater
or when the home-team makes the play-offs. Ask any great guitarists out there, guitar is number one.
Secondly,
to be a good guitarist, you have to listen to guitar music, or at least music in general. This may sound obvious but I once
knew this guy who wanted to be a writer. He always talked about it at opportune social moments and he liked to fill a big
chalkboard in his dorm room with all of his "profound" scribblings. The problem was, he never read anything. As
you may have guessed, he was not a very good writer. To be good at anything, you have to be familiar with the body of work
that has been done before you. This goes for anything. Imagine a person trying to be a great chemist without learning what
was in any of the chemistry textbooks. You have to know what has been done before you so you can see where you contribute.
The best guitarists are students of the instrument.
Finally, to be a good guitarist, you have to have
the ability to practice - and no, not everyone has this ability. To illustrate, for the next two weeks I want you to practice
guitar for one hour per day. 80% of readers will not make it past a few days and 99% of readers will not have the perseverance
to make it the entire two weeks. Great guitarists have practiced four or five times this much for years! Practicing is a skill
that good guitarists have mastered. It is much easier for individuals who have the burning desire I was talking about earlier.
I guarantee this, good disciplined practice will trump talent any day of the week.
So there it is. That
is my version of what makes a good guitarist. Sure, you can write me off as someone with too much time on his hands and someone
who needs to get off his soapbox. Let me say that I will be the first to tell you that I do not possess these three qualities
- most of all the desire. Before you write me off though, ask yourself how many people you personally know with all three
of these qualities. Then ask yourself how many guitar heroes you personally know. I rest my case.
Stop wasting your time
and start getting better at guitar! How good could you be if you had the right tools? Come learn to play the guitar by ear with The Guitar Professor. It's free.
I’m sure you have seen musicians play the guitar in a band, at a gathering of family and friends,
at school or maybe yourself play in the privacy of your own home. At some point you may have asked” How can I learn
to play the guitar like that?”
Did you now that the guitar is among the most popular of instruments
and when you learn to play the guitar you actually stimulate the brain? Today’s standard guitar has six single strings
but earlier ones had double and less strings. So the guitar has evolved into quite a remarkable instrument.
The
benefits of guitar playing include helping to relieve stress since while playing you can temporary take your mind off your
own problems. The harmony produced fro playing also as an anti-depressant mechanism as it lightens your mood and lifts your
spirits. When you learn to play the guitar you can impress your friends and other people around you. The guitar can also be
played in one’s spare time helping to mitigate boredom.
If you are a professional guitar player
you will agree that there is always room for improvement. As a result you may constantly seek ways to perfect the art of playing.
If you are an amateur or have experience then you can learn to play the guitar. You could use library books,
take online guitar courses or even hire the services of a private instructor. The method you choose is entirely u to you but
my recommendation would be to choose an option whereby you have interactive learning and a good guitar instructor. The guitar
could just turn out to be your all time favorite musical instrument.
Author is an Internet marketer who specializes in
article marketing. You may contact author via email: royhwhite@hotmail.com
