Playing the guitar is a tonne of fun. But there are going to be times when your progress is slower or challenges you have with your playing gets you demotivated.
Here are a few ways to find you find renewed motivation and will power to practice the guitar. So that you can progress and enjoy playing the guitar in the long term.
Finding a strong reason why
Knowing why you are playing the guitar really helps to get you through the initial tough stages and even later on when things get tough.
Playing guitar isn’t always rainbow and sunshine, and that’s because playing guitar isn’t natural to us. This wasn’t what we were evolved to do.
You need a certain amount of drive, motivation and willpower to practice to get it to feel more natural. So that you can enjoy playing the guitar.
Your reason might be wanting to play with a relative close to you who inspired you. Or bring back happy memories of your childhood when your friends played. Or to use it to bond socially with friends or be like your favourite idol. Whatever it is, it does need to be good reason, and preferably one that you’ve had for a while. Or you know it’s not just a fleeting passing phase.
Motivation only goes so far to carry through will power. Even with a reason why, it can be hard to carry yourself through unlimited hours of practice it takes to get to where you want to be with your guitar playing. Which brings me to the next point.
Focus on one thing
Focus on doing one good thing towards your guitar playing every day. That could be 5 minutes of finding the notes on the neck practice. Or chord practice.
And set it at an exact time or moment in your day. Just before breakfast. Just before dinner. Just when you get home from work.
Everyone has the ability to make 5 minutes of their time in one day.
By focusing on only one thing, it makes it easier to build it into a habit and not a chore. And as you see progress with that one thing, it makes you feel good about it so it makes it easier to add in new things into your practice routine. Like scales or technique.
Be constantly re-inspired
Have things that happen to inspire you. Guitar lessons that you go every week. Friends to play guitar with. Gigs and performances to watch. Famous guitarists posters.
Use these things to motivate and inspire you to do more practice and want to get better.
I would recommend not spending lots of time on Youtube just watching other guitar players, because you can end up being a “watcher” and not actually practicing.
Get excited about the practice and learning journey rather than only focus on the result
There are times on the guitar where you feel like you aren’t getting much better. This happens with a lot of things such like developing speed or ear training.
To get really great at something, it will require you to have patience. Practicing even when you aren’t getting immediate results.
The best thing to focus on is enjoying the actual journey. Not looking at guitar as purely a destination. This avoids what happens with a lot of musicians where they reach a goal and then crash and stop for life. It’s much healthier and better for your long term success for your guitar playing to enjoy each step of learning.
Plan for distractions
Discipline is a muscle that improves over time. And while you are developing that discipline to practice the guitar daily. You want to plan for distractions. Like what happens if you go away with work or on holiday? How will you practice then? What if you get home from work late? What will you mentally say to yourself to motivate yourself to still do some practice?
All these things are going to help you get more discipline with your guitar practice and achieve more. Even if they seem small in the beginner. Small daily actions is what leads to big changes in the long run.
About Author:
Guitar Tuition East London is a guitar school in East Village in London that focuses on a holistic approach to teaching their students. Focusing on not just providing guitar lessons but also a support network for the guitar players to succeed, build confidence and have a lot of fun learning the guitar.