You can lead a horse to water...

I was driving around the other night, and I was grumbling to myself.

(This is not a rare occurrence, but I'm working on changing that!)

Since I'm a writer and a teacher, I get some interesting comments left about my writings.
Some folks like what they read, and some don't. But some people out there are just lazy when it comes to learning stuff. (By the way, in person students, I'm not referring to you.)

You can lead a horse to water, instruct him on the proper footings, and tell him how to figure out if the water is too cold before he drinks, but...He opts for Pepsi.

And so my grumbling went.

One of the tougher lessons I've learned is that when something really irks me, there's usually a personal reason. And sure enough, there was. I saw how I was a stubborn steed, and how I had priceless opportunities all around me, but...I was ordering a Coke.

So what holds us back? Why do our chops suffer?

Picking on myself for a minute, let's see:

1. It's not because I don't have access to information, 90% of it is free. (The other stuff,
that teachers teach you, is actually available, it's just the presentation you're paying for.)

2. It's not because I don't have the "right" guitars. Gear nowadays is really good, even if
you've got the cheapest rig around.

3. It's not because I'm not "coordinated enough" or "talented enough." Steve Vai says
if he was truly talented, he'd be a lot better. Now, we all know he's an alien with super human whammy bar force fields, but he says it's just work and discipline.

Hmm...No wonder I was irked. Yet another reminder for me to stop wasting resources, and start drinking!

Err...the educational water, that is.

What are some of the resources available to you? Here's a few ideas:

1. The internet! If you're reading this, I would guess that has occurred to you. There's
some fantastic sites, from tab sites like ultimate-guitar.com, instructional sites like chopsfromhell.com, and then inspiration found on youtube.

2. Music teachers. If you've never taken lessons, give 'em a shot! Make SURE you feel you have a good teacher. You don't have to like 'em, but you'll be able to tell if you're learning something, or not. There's a lot of good, and bad, teachers running around out there. But you'll be able to tell. But don't limit yourself to guitar teachers! I've learned a ton from bass teachers, drum teachers, and vocal teachers. Music is not instrument specific. Remember that.

3. Old guys. They may look funny, and have even stranger ideas about how the world should be run but...They've been around longer (even if it's just ten years! Ha ha!) If you can find an old guy guitar player, they just might be able to show you a lot. Even if it's just watching them play.

4. What you've got. I once asked one of my guitar teachers for some more material. He countered by asking me if I had learned everything he had given me so far. "You'd be the man if you could play everything in that folder." And he was right. Now, it might be hard to play every lick in every book you own...But it might be worth at least getting the point of each book in your collection. I'm always very guilty of blazing ahead, and not learning along the way. Comparing music to eating (a parallel I'm always drawing), we might want to consider "chewing our food" (information) 100 times before we put it on the shelf, never to look at it again.

Wow, now I'm all fired up. I think I'll go dig up my old lesson notes, and check 'em out.

I hope you'll ask yourself what's holding you back. I'm sure you won't find a good answer, because there is no excuse....

not to rock!

Now, go practice, and get super duper good. (And have fun.)