Learning Guitar

Learning guitar is a difficult thing to do. That may seem like an obvious thing to say but I genuinely think some people underestimate how difficult it is. I know some of my students certainly do! Clive James once said about writing, and it certainly holds true about learning a musical instrument, that the trouble with making something look effortless is that people will think that no effort goes into it. Making something look effortless takes a lot of effort!

This difficulty and effort is, I think, what makes the guitar worth learning; mastering that new, tricky chord and incorporating it seamlessly into a song, learning that solo and getting all the string bends bang on, perfecting that expressive finger vibrato, improvising your first blues solo, playing your favourite song at an acoustic open mic night, writing a song using what you've learned about chord voicings and progressions, getting into a band because of your ability. All these things and more make the effort worthwhile and, frankly, enjoyable. The more you know, the more you want to know, and the more you begin exploring the instrument just for the hell of it. It's a journey that has no end and, in many ways, that's the point.

Besides, if it were easy, everyone would do it and then it wouldn't be so special, would it?