How to feel better about your playing

stuartryanmusic

Hi guys, I made this video for my online students recently but thought I'd share it with you all in case it can help get you out of any ruts you may be in! 

BahHumbug

Nice one Stuart.  Some really useful thoughts there.

Just to comment on your first point about the influence of the Internet......I feel that there is a theme of online courses and tuition videos, which tends to promote the idea that playing guitar is easy, when it simply isn’t.  Anyone with reasonable experience knows that it requires diligence, hard work and an ability to solve physical and mental difficulties.  The ‘It’s easy’ message is another one that threatens our ability to feel good about our playing.

stuartryanmusic

I totally agree - it's not easy, it gets 'easier' but it's never actually simple. I think the problem with so many internet tutorials is that they are presented by people that have been doing something so long they forget how hard it is. I took up Ju Jitsu this year, I'm a total beginner and it's not easy at all - everything in life is like that and I think it's crucial to remember so you don't give yourself a hard time and get demoralised! Thanks for watching! 

roberty

stuartryanmusic said:

I totally agree - it's not easy, it gets 'easier' but it's never actually simple. I think the problem with so many internet tutorials is that they are presented by people that have been doing something so long they forget how hard it is. I took up Ju Jitsu this year, I'm a total beginner and it's not easy at all - everything in life is like that and I think it's crucial to remember so you don't give yourself a hard time and get demoralised! Thanks for watching! 

Good point, it only takes doing something completely new to  make you realise how much you really know about the stuff you're good at

Thanks for the vid, good perspective. There's definitely a difference between "being a guitarist" and "making music", which is easily forgotten

To get an idea of how weird and difficult it is to hold and play a guitar, you can turn it upside down and try playing it left/right handed.  It's a horrible experience lol

VimFuego

a few years back I saw a post (that I now can't find) by a chap who is a neurologist and was learning to play the banjo (bear with me, this does also have value to learning proper instruments) and the methods he saw on the market made no sense from a neuroscience point of view. So he devised his own system (using proper tutors) called brainjo. I can't find the link to his original article, but I printed it out and stuck it on my practice room wall, cos it all made sense and was a useful reminder for when things get tough.
One of the main issues I have is I can't do something, yet I see others who can. Because we see such a gap between what we can do and what we want to do, we get overwhelmed and give up. He makes the point that we shouldn't look forwards too far (though clearly it's good to have ambition) but we should look back and see how far we've come (a point you also made in the vid). I know this is something I am guilty of, looking too far forward. I have to keep reminding myself that I am making progress.

mrkb

VimFuego said:

a few years back I saw a post (that I now can't find) by a chap who is a neurologist and was learning to play the banjo (bear with me, this does also have value to learning proper instruments) and the methods he saw on the market made no sense from a neuroscience point of view. So he devised his own system (using proper tutors) called brainjo. I can't find the link to his original article, but I printed it out and stuck it on my practice room wall, cos it all made sense and was a useful reminder for when things get tough.
One of the main issues I have is I can't do something, yet I see others who can. Because we see such a gap between what we can do and what we want to do, we get overwhelmed and give up. He makes the point that we shouldn't look forwards too far (though clearly it's good to have ambition) but we should look back and see how far we've come (a point you also made in the vid). I know this is something I am guilty of, looking too far forward. I have to keep reminding myself that I am making progress.

This one?

https://clawhammerbanjo.net/brainjo/

https://clawhammerbanjo.net/the-immutable-laws-of-brainjo-the-art-and-science-of-effective-practice/

VimFuego

that's the fella, couldn't find it when I looked earlier. 

LastMantra

VimFuego said:

a few years back I saw a post (that I now can't find) by a chap who is a neurologist and was learning to play the banjo (bear with me, this does also have value to learning proper instruments) and the methods he saw on the market made no sense from a neuroscience point of view. So he devised his own system (using proper tutors) called brainjo. I can't find the link to his original article, but I printed it out and stuck it on my practice room wall, cos it all made sense and was a useful reminder for when things get tough.
One of the main issues I have is I can't do something, yet I see others who can. Because we see such a gap between what we can do and what we want to do, we get overwhelmed and give up. He makes the point that we shouldn't look forwards too far (though clearly it's good to have ambition) but we should look back and see how far we've come (a point you also made in the vid). I know this is something I am guilty of, looking too far forward. I have to keep reminding myself that I am making progress.

Good advice for life in general. 
I've got a a habit of starting off with something fairly small, simple then thinking.....but to do that I'd need to....and while I'm at it I should really....etc. Snowballing until it seems like a massive overwhelming nightmare! Then feel rubbish cause I've done nothing at all! 

roberty

Read through that Brainjo pdf and there's some good tips/reminders there, thanks

I started leaning music on wind instruments with notation nearly 30 years ago and that approach is still pretty much seared in my brain. For folk/pop/informal styles it totally makes sense to learn from the ground up in a different way

Kilgore

stuartryanmusic said:

I totally agree - it's not easy, it gets 'easier' but it's never actually simple. I think the problem with so many internet tutorials is that they are presented by people that have been doing something so long they forget how hard it is. 

I think it's often more cynical than that. Many of these sites are after your money or ad revenue. (Especially on YouTube)

It"s a lot more tempting to click on "10 easy blues licks" rather than "these blues licks are actually quite challenging, but rewarding in the end"

hollywoodrox

I am not a great banjo or uke fan , but that guy with the brainjo page has done us a great service 
I love books like outliers,bounce, talent code,peak,practice perfect etc. And this guy has some great learning tips on his page etc. I put a link to it on my iPad home page. This stuff is inspiring and helpful. Good post

roberty

In a similar vein, I read this a little while ago about brain plasticity and learning music. It's a light read, despite some heavy subject matter. The focus is more on the brain than Brainjo. It says there are no areas of the brain dedicated to music. Music sort of borrows bits from other brain functions and then gets them working together in novel ways. It's a completely man made construct designed to mess with us

Guitar Zero: The New Musician and the Science of Learning https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B006ZN0LJ6/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_kVHqDb5NNN1Y6

Lewy

Great video @stuartryanmusic ;;

I think another impact that internet has had on the learning experience is the way it puts people under pressure to become polymaths rather than just focusing on what they like. So much material is available on so many techniques, genres, sub genres that people question whether they have consumed and synthesized "enough" before being allowed to just play what they like playing. And then when you read interviews with great players one consistent theme is they just latched onto things they liked the sound of and very soon started doing their own thing with them...all the while just being driven by doing what they liked. 

Roland

Good video Stuart. It’s an example of what I’d expect from someone who is teaching guitar playing, as opposed to someone who is selling guitar tuition.

I like the setting too. A nice change from the visual clutter of a room that’s been arranged to look impressive as a video background. Room reverberation is the unnoticed sonic clutter in a lot of videos. Recording outside clears up the soundscape. The whole video says “calm down and focus on the important things”.

hollywoodrox

roberty said:

In a similar vein, I read this a little while ago about brain plasticity and learning music. It's a light read, despite some heavy subject matter. The focus is more on the brain than Brainjo. It says there are no areas of the brain dedicated to music. Music sort of borrows bits from other brain functions and then gets them working together in novel ways. It's a completely man made construct designed to mess with us

Guitar Zero: The New Musician and the Science of Learning https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B006ZN0LJ6/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_kVHqDb5NNN1Y6

Good post, I had been tempted on this but didn’t buy it

Fuengi

Excellent, some really useful advice there. 

stuartryanmusic

Thanks for watching everyone and I'm going to check out the Brainjo thing myself - one of my greatest fears in life is that one day I'll actually buy a banjo! I've done a few of these videos recently so I'll post a few more if they help. @Roland - really pleased you like the setting (it's my garden), I totally agree that many of these types of videos are in a sterile setting and don't draw you in. I confess I have to film a lot from my studio but I much prefer the out and about scenario - it's amazing how different the thought processes and presentation are in a natural environment. 

DavidRees

thanks for this Stuart ...

Paul31

Yes some very good advise their!!  and was a very nice video also, i started to just to see if i could play a certain solo when i was a carer at home here and really to pass sometime but i always liked music but did not think i could play any  maybe.

You are very right i use to watch all the many guitar players on utube, and thought wow some are much better than the solo i set out to learn, so in away it inspired me to see what was possible and not give up. Of course i started from scratch with chords and all sore fingers etc, and many times i felt like packing it in but in the end i got to the easy solo stage and then as you say looked back at my progress and this helped me to keep going. Also with a few licks i got stuck with when i finally started on the solo i wished to play and i nearly gave up, but a friend urged me to keep trying and relax more, it seemed to do the trick and I got the licks down in the end, so maybe not to quit is the trick which worked for me.

Also i just picked out small goals each week and visualised achieving them just before going to sleep at night, but used small steps as not to be put off or disheartened and then plotted my progress, and also i stayed i single minded and focused on those goals along the way and have come a fair way after my first goals i set myself i hope.

MichaelAT

mrkb said:

VimFuego said:

a few years back I saw a post (that I now can't find) by a chap who is a neurologist and was learning to play the banjo (bear with me, this does also have value to learning proper instruments) and the methods he saw on the market made no sense from a neuroscience point of view. So he devised his own system (using proper tutors) called brainjo. I can't find the link to his original article, but I printed it out and stuck it on my practice room wall, cos it all made sense and was a useful reminder for when things get tough.
One of the main issues I have is I can't do something, yet I see others who can. Because we see such a gap between what we can do and what we want to do, we get overwhelmed and give up. He makes the point that we shouldn't look forwards too far (though clearly it's good to have ambition) but we should look back and see how far we've come (a point you also made in the vid). I know this is something I am guilty of, looking too far forward. I have to keep reminding myself that I am making progress.

This one?

https://clawhammerbanjo.net/brainjo/

https://clawhammerbanjo.net/the-immutable-laws-of-brainjo-the-art-and-science-of-effective-practice/

Thanks @mrkb and @VimFuego for sharing this info! Great learnings! Thanks as well @stuartryanmusic for the initial video - very encouraging and motivating!

MichaelAT

mrkb said:

VimFuego said:

a few years back I saw a post (that I now can't find) by a chap who is a neurologist and was learning to play the banjo (bear with me, this does also have value to learning proper instruments) and the methods he saw on the market made no sense from a neuroscience point of view. So he devised his own system (using proper tutors) called brainjo. I can't find the link to his original article, but I printed it out and stuck it on my practice room wall, cos it all made sense and was a useful reminder for when things get tough.
One of the main issues I have is I can't do something, yet I see others who can. Because we see such a gap between what we can do and what we want to do, we get overwhelmed and give up. He makes the point that we shouldn't look forwards too far (though clearly it's good to have ambition) but we should look back and see how far we've come (a point you also made in the vid). I know this is something I am guilty of, looking too far forward. I have to keep reminding myself that I am making progress.

This one?

https://clawhammerbanjo.net/brainjo/

https://clawhammerbanjo.net/the-immutable-laws-of-brainjo-the-art-and-science-of-effective-practice/

Thanks @mrkb and @VimFuego for sharing this info! Great learnings! Thanks as well @stuartryanmusic for the initial video - very encouraging and motivating!