There’s a great moment in the Simpsons where Homer tells Bart and Lisa “Kids, you tried your best and you failed miserably. The lesson is, never try.” We can all see that’s the wrong lesson, yet we all recognise that feeling.
Practice is about getting things right, isn’t it? About playing perfectly, eliminating mistakes. Any error is a sign of failure.
Wrong!
The students who learn fastest tend to be the ones who come to me and say they want to learn particular songs, styles, techniques, theory or any other aspect of music. They have thought about what they want and then told me what they want. They are taking responsibility for their own learning.
Some people seem to pick some things up quicker than others. With music some students seem to pick up concepts and techniques quickly while others take weeks or months. It’s easy to feel that there is some kind of natural talent that some people have and others don’t.
Almost everyone would love to be a great guitarist, pianist, drummer, etc. Unfortunately that dream alone is unlikely to sustain you through the thousands of hours of practice necessary to reach that level. If you’re going to achieve greatness you’re going to have to find a way to enjoy the thousands of hours of practice themselves.
