#1 improvement method: motivation through self-criticism

[Glennwillow]

Originally Posted by JoeCharter

... Nothing good comes easy. ... If you really love the guitar, keep practicing.

Hi Joe,

Very interesting comments and in my own experience, also, very true. I have found that the deep desire to accomplish things on the guitar is the biggest difference between moving forward and stagnating.

I also recently read something interesting that both the US Special Forces and Teach For America have in common when they look for people who they have found will be successful. And that quality is resilience. The ability of some people to meet frustration and failure and yet pick themselves up, learn from the experience, and keep trying.

I'd say resilience works for the guitar, too.

Originally Posted by JoeCharter

... I feel like I won't live long enough to be as good as I'd want to be -- but that challenge keeps me alive....

Yep -- no way am I going to live long enough...

- Glenn

[sweiss]

I think honest ongoing self appraisal is a good thing, but self criticism is probably counter productive. You have to be patient with yourself and remember that whatever your skill level is, you've already accomplished something that most people give up on. Craigs list is full of guitars for sale that once represented someone's dream of being a guitar player. It's not easy, but it's worth it.

[JoeCharter]

Originally Posted by harmonics101

Who says criticism has to be negative.

What's so negative about saying to yourself, my barre chords need to ring truer, or I need to be able to change keys with less thought doing my pentatonic scales, or how many different ways can I play the major C chord.

The list goes on, its your own outlook if you want to look at self criticism in a positive or negative light.

Whether you call it self awareness or self criticism, its the same thing.

Its all in your mind if you perceive that as being negative or positive.

Darn, my barre chords sound like crap, darn, i'm slow on my pentatonics, crud, i can only play the major C in open position.

You get the picture

Harmonics101

Thanks for posting.

I guess I should've called it "music analysis" and leave it at that...

There's a number of situations in life where I'm really hard on myself. Whether it becomes counter productive is a personal matter I would think. What I view as motivation can be perceived as "undue pressure" by others.

[JoeCharter]

Originally Posted by rmyAddison

I'm 62 and play more than I ever did, even when I was touring in the 70's (what I can remember).

Recording is a wonderful tool to me for self critique, the playback doesn't lie. Another method for me is finding something I cannot technically play, and play it until I can play it cleanly, over and over. Then play it cleanly with emotion, then improvise off of it, or play somewhere else on the neck with different fingering on different strings to get differernt tones.

There's a lot of notes on a guitar..................

Thanks for posting, Rich.

I do have the same approach in learning stuff that I can't readily play.

I've spent months if not years on certain pieces. So far, I've only quit on jazz and shred metal -- can't do sweep arpeggios too well...

[JoeCharter]

Originally Posted by Cue Zephyr

Thank you for that post, like a lot of thanks.

I love the instrument and I've recently decided that I was going to get back to my old style that I loved - fingerstyle and keep practicing flatpicking as well so I can do both.

I know I'm only 20 but I've decided that I really have to take action - either practice a lot, always learning new things and see where it takes me, or just keep playing 'just to keep it up'. I choose the former, otherwise I'd only be annoyed with myself forever.

I found myself to be very sloppy on the technique side of things and I never can play anything so well I can play it with the right feeling. So I'm taking some songs that I still remember and playing them everyday, and trying to play it exactly as I intend it to.

Before I was playing a lot of electric, but came back to the acoustic as of this holiday and I've decided to save up for a really nice acoustic and go from there.

I will always love the guitar, and I hope to share that love for this instrument with others too (hope to start giving lessons at some point).

Thanks for posting.

People who hang in there will discover more interesting challenges as they venture through the journey of learning an instrument. It's great that you've decided to save up for a new guitar!

[JoeCharter]

Originally Posted by Glennwillow

Hi Joe,

Very interesting comments and in my own experience, also, very true. I have found that the deep desire to accomplish things on the guitar is the biggest difference between moving forward and stagnating.

I also recently read something interesting that both the US Special Forces and Teach For America have in common when they look for people who they have found will be successful. And that quality is resilience. The ability of some people to meet frustration and failure and yet pick themselves up, learn from the experience, and keep trying.

I'd say resilience works for the guitar, too.

Hi Glenn,

I've always said that resilience is a more important quality than intelligence --although I'm sure that if we look deeper we'd find some correlation between the two.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts.

Joe

[JoeCharter]

Originally Posted by sweiss

I think honest ongoing self appraisal is a good thing, but self criticism is probably counter productive. You have to be patient with yourself and remember that whatever your skill level is, you've already accomplished something that most people give up on. Craigs list is full of guitars for sale that once represented someone's dream of being a guitar player. It's not easy, but it's worth it.

You raise an interesting angle.

My perspective is that some people are more "fragile" and others need to be pushed a bit harder for "optimal results".

A good balance between criticism and appraisal is best in my opinion. The balancing part is different for each individual of course.

[Berf]

I bought a Martin and started playing fingerstyle 4 years ago.

Only 4 years ago? Yikes... I've heard plenty of your soundclips and that's amazing progress.... I can hardly wait for four years to pass for me... then again, maybe I' shouldn't skip this part of your post...

I would practice for hours each day.

That's pretty inspiring...

[Toby Walker]

A very thoughtful and inspiring thread... thanks Joe.

One of the things that motivates me are my own mistakes. After determining what I'm doing wrong I work extremely hard at correcting it.

The next form of motivation comes when that mistake is no longer evident.

Another form of motivation is gauging my progress as I make advancements in the new things that I'm learning.

Originally Posted by Larry Pattis

Bring an open mind to your work.

Learn enough to understand where *you* can improve.

Be kind to yourself.

I agree Larry. I'm sure you've heard of the book called 'Zen Guitar.' If not I'd recommend it to everyone who not only plays this wonderful instrument but to all of those that strive to improve themselves in all ways. I've found this book to be absolutely inspiring.

Zen Guitar by Philip Toshio Sudo
http://www.maui.net/~zen_gtr/

[JoeCharter]

Originally Posted by Berf

Only 4 years ago? Yikes... I've heard plenty of your soundclips and that's amazing progress.... I can hardly wait for four years to pass for me... then again, maybe I' shouldn't skip this part of your post... That's pretty inspiring...

Thank you... To be fair, I've been playing the guitar for much longer -- and have studied classical piano since I was in grade school. My fingers are used to being strong and independent...

In the last few years I feel like I've accumulated enough new techniques to bring my playing to the next level. I've worked on my rhythm and chord voicing -- and now it's time to integrate it with some chops.

By the end of the year, I think I will reach a new plateau.

[JoeCharter]

Originally Posted by Toby Walker

A very thoughtful and inspiring thread... thanks Joe.

One of the things that motivates me are my own mistakes. After determining what I'm doing wrong I work extremely hard at correcting it.

The next form of motivation comes when that mistake is no longer evident.

Another form of motivation is gauging my progress as I make advancements in the new things that I'm learning.



I agree Larry. I'm sure you've heard of the book called 'Zen Guitar.' If not I'd recommend it to everyone who not only plays this wonderful instrument but to all of those that strive to improve themselves in all ways. I've found this book to be absolutely inspiring.

Zen Guitar by Philip Toshio Sudo
http://www.maui.net/~zen_gtr/

Thanks for posting, Toby.

And thanks for the link as well -- I won't be zen anytime soon but I'm curious to check it out nonetheless...

Cheers,

Joe

[Toby Walker]

Originally Posted by JoeCharter

Thanks for posting, Toby.

And thanks for the link as well -- I won't be zen anytime soon but I'm curious to check it out nonetheless...

Cheers,

Joe

Oh... the stories in there about musicians are priceless. Here's one of them:

Mike Stern was playing with Miles Davis at the time and waiting backstage for him to show up before they were scheduled to play that night. Miles walks in and Mike says to him 'Miles man... check out all this food they catered for us.' Miles glances over and replies 'I didn't come here to eat.'

That's the story that precedes the chapter on 'Focus.'