I’ve got that excited, nervous feeling tonight as I go through my practice assignments. I’ve gone over them a bunch of times, but keep trying to smooth it out and be mistake free. I want to be ready for the Test tomorrow!
Well, it’s not really a test… but it is lesson day. I get pretty excited the night before a lesson, and always seem to flashback to childhood school days as I try to cram in a last minute study session. I want to get it right.
There’s a lot of reasons why it’s good to work with a teacher on your journey to learn guitar, but to me it’s having someone there to evaluate your progress which is by far the most valuable reason. That’s why I refer to it as Test Day. I know I’m not really being graded… and I don’t need to take nearly as serious as I do… but in a weird, twisted kinda way, I find it to be kind of fun game to “study” for the test.
If nothing else, at least it gives me the motivation to push ahead.
Studying for a test requires discipline. You can’t just go to a lesson, watch as the teacher goes through the material, and expect to absorb everything that you were shown. You’ve got to get your hands dirty and try to play the material yourself. You’ve got to study the material, make sure you have an understanding of how it should sound, break it down to parts (practicing the melody one night, going through the rhythm another, etc.), and practice over and over until you’ve got it smooth. And when you’re ready to perform in front of someone else, that’s when you can say you’re done.
There is no time frame for learning guitar, but by having weekly tests (eg: lesson reviews) you have something to work towards and a way to measure your progress. Three weeks I ago I really sucked, but now I only kinda suck. Yeah! 🙂
If you treat it like a test in which you need to perform your very best, the funny thing is, you probably will. Good luck!
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*So here’s the material I’ve been working on: 1) learning my 16th note rhythm patterns; and 2) learning how to play “Here Comes The Sun” by the Beatles. How did I do? You be the judge…
- Albo’s attempt at “Here Comes the Sun”
- 1-e-and-a, 2-e-and-a, tri-ple-it… Albo working on rhythm exercise.
Grown-Up Guitarist 