I was 14 when I told my father that I wanted to learn to play guitar. He was thrilled. He had always wanted to learn to play an instrument but somehow life just got in the way. There are many resources available to anybody keen to learn to play guitar. Still, you can have every tool in the world at your fingertips and they will be worthless if you are not willing to put in the work and practice.
Why Mind Guitar?
I named this site “Mind Guitar”. There is a reason for this. Zig Zigler was a world renowned motivational speaker and he once said “..virtually everything we learn, we first learn consciously, but it’s only when we can do it subconsciously that we do it well.”
The Conscious and Subconscious Mind
In this day and age, everyone seems to possess a mobile phone. I see teenagers tapping out messages on their mobile device without even looking at the keypad. Both their conscious and subconscious minds cooperate to achieve, what is to them, a very simple task with very little effort. When I send a message, I have to think about every letter and where it is on the keypad. I have to use my conscious mind to learn the art. After many repetitions, I hope to become more familiar with the keypad. Hopefully, the subconscious will take over and I will be able to send a message more quickly without making as many mistakes.
The Sun Will Shine One Day
There are so many good guitar players around. I hesitate to judge how one guitarist compares to another but I must say that guitarist Tommy Emmanuel would have to be the best ‘overall’ guitar player I have ever listened to. He is incredible! His music is inspirational. There is a Tommy Emmanuel YouTube Channel dedicated to his work.
In one lesson, Tommy Emmanuel plays his rendition of Martin Taylor’s
“One Day”. Tommy points out a difficult part of the song. He emphasizes that he had to train his hand to play two notes with the one finger. “I practiced that move over and over and over because it was difficult at the start and you have to go through those difficult times. You will fumble around and think that this is so hard but, believe me, the sun will shine one day and you will get that in a smooth move.”
Becoming A Better Guitar Player
Right now you are learning to play guitar. Every guitarist must go through the slow and tedious process of learning to consciously play their instrument. You have to think about how to hold the guitar, learn the notes, learn to read tablature, how to hold the pick or plectrum, how to strum the guitar etc. With time and practice, you learn to do something consciously. Once you learn to do something consciously, you are qualified to transfer those skills into your subconscious mind. In time, playing the guitar becomes less a conscious and more a subconscious effort. You are then on your way to becoming a better guitar player.