20yrs of Playing Guitar — What I’ve Learned (So Far)
My mom saves things I would never think to save and I’m grateful for that fact. The other day, while cleaning out her closet, she found all of my original guitar receipts including one for my first guitar, which was a rented Alvarez acoustic.
That receipt had the date I first picked up a guitar, which was June 3rd, 1996. Twenty years ago to this day. I was in junior high and needed a hobby. My dad liked the Blues so I figured I would try the guitar.
After the first week of trying to play an F chord, I wasn’t sure if I wanted to keep going. Some would say they had an immediate love for their instrument, which pushed them through those first frustrating years. I’m pretty sure I just wanted girls to like me so I kept at it.
After a year, the need to be liked by girls was replaced with the desire to get as good as I could, because I fell in love with playing guitar. I was practicing three hours a day to Van Halen, Collective Soul and Bush records. Those early years truly changed the course of my life and music has been at the forefront of my passions for the past twenty years.
Music is just as exciting to me as it was twenty years ago. I may not practice like I used to and my focus is less on guitar, but I’m learning something new every week. I hesitate sharing things I’ve learned over 20 years because I don’t feel like my lessons are over, but in the spirit of sharing, growing, and living an UNFINISHED life, here are 20 things I’ve learned over the last 20 years about practicing, performing and writing music:
There will always be a better musician than you. Invite them into your world. Collaboration over competition will make you light years better.
Breakthroughs usually happen after walking away for a few days. If you aren’t getting a certain technique, take a pause and come back to it.
This is for guitar players especially: your gear will never compensate for your lack of practice. My good friend Jeff Harris has always said 80% of your tone is in your fingers. Spend less money on gear and more time practicing.
Music is subjective. Talks about which band is better is idle chit chat. Walk away from those conversations.
Schedule your practice times. Keep them sacred.
Join a band with people way better than yourself. Their skills will rub off on you.
Never sell your first instrument. Ever. You’ll regret it.
Watch every episode of Sonic Highways.
Songwriters, watch Nick Cave’s 20,000 Days on Earth.
Read Austin Kleon’s Steal Like an Artist.
You WILL fall out of love with playing music. That’s ok. Put it down for a while. Try something else. When you come back to it, you’ll have more appreciation and a new perspective.
Music will change; don’t feel pressure to change with it. Be genuine. Play what you love.
After a few years of playing, begin teaching. Your students will teach you so much more than you can teach them.
Avoid the F chord. Seriously, it’s just too hard.
Stop calling yourself the “lead” guitarist. People are rolling their eyes behind your back.
Learn as much as you can about music history. It’s a powerful tool to know exactly why music shifts so frequently. When you start to see the patterns, you can start to predict where music is going.
Quit treating your instrument like it’s a museum piece on display. Let anyone who wants to play it come up and play. They were meant to be played and that may be a defining moment for that person.
You will be embarrassed more times on stage than you can count. Treat each of those moments as a lesson in humility. Don’t take yourself so seriously.
Listen to new music every week.
And finally, don’t ever think you’ve arrived. Once you have that mindset, you plateau. Keep learning from all the generations, young and old, that surround you.
I hope this is helpful.