How to Play Guitar Better by Setting Goals

Learning to play the guitar is about a lot of things like chords, note runs, scales, songs, performances, but even more it's about goals. Of course goals can relate to almost anything in your life, but it's this ability of humans to focus on the presently unreachable that allows us to accomplish even the most daunting of tasks.By approaching the process of learning the guitar with your focus on meeting reasonable goals, you can greatly improve the details of your playing ability. Let's take a look at what sorts of guitar goals you should be setting to progress with more enthusiasm.

1. Make your goals small.

If you think about a broad suggestion like, "I want to learn the guitar," it sounds massive and a bit scary. Of course you want to learn how to play the guitar, but segmenting your progress into much smaller and manageable pieces will bring you better results in the end.

* Guitar goals should be reasonable.

If you're thinking about learning a very complicated solo by one of your electric guitar idols as your guitar goal, that's probably unreasonable for a beginner. Something more suitable is completing at least one song that involves a few chords without playing any mistakes.

* Don't make long-term commitments.

Setting the bar too high is the easiest way to get overwhelmed with the guitar learning process. Try to think of goals where you could possibly see results maybe in the next week or next couple weeks based on what you already know. With these short bursts of gratification, you'll be driven to do even more on the instrument.

2. Locking yourself in to finish will only increase your chances of giving up.

Yes, you want to create goals with the intentions of finishing them, but don't let them take over your life! You have a family and friends and work and maybe a hundred other things to do so make sure that guitar stays a hobby at the moment.

* Just relax.

Really, if things become too much for the time and effort you've allotted, just back off for awhile and relax. Remember that playing the guitar is about having another outlet for relaxation so just goof off, read a guitar book, or take a break for a couple days and come back.

* Forget about the deadline.

If all else fails and you just feel completely swamped, throw the deadline out the window. Your guitar goals will still be there, but you'll feel as if the ball really is in your court now that you don't have to pin down a date or time to finish.

Some of the biggest issues with learning to play the guitar are really about our consistency to work hard. Think about some reasonable goals that you can set for yourself on the guitar and start progressing in the right direction.

About the Author

Kyle Hoffman is an experienced guitarist that loves to play just as a hobby, and to perform live on stage. To learn Kyle's valuable tips for beginning the guitar the RIGHT way, visit How To Guitar Play as part of his popular guitar blog, How To Guitar Tune

November 20, 2009 | Filed Under acoustic guitar, electric guitar, learning, miscellaneous, mobius megatar, music

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