Throughout the years of teaching guitar I learned how to pick up on various behavioral patterns in my students. Depending on the student’s age, experience and commitment, some of the patterns are pretty typical such as expecting the teacher to magically do all the practicing for them, not bringing in ideas as to what they would love to learn next, being late for a lesson, etc. You get the idea.
However, today I want to talk about one of the biggest self-sabotaging mistakes many guitar students make. And, this silent assassin even applies to some of the most committed students that I teach.
It goes something like this. I show my student a guitar playing example and before I am done with it; my student starts to try to play it immediately. This happens more often than not while I’m in the middle of showing them ‘how to play it’. Get it? I have no idea why students do this. But, sometimes it drives me bonkers. It must be a human thing. But, as you can imagine there is huge disconnect there as obviously how can a student play something correctly when he or she doesn’t know fully how it is supposed to be executed in the first place.
I really do not know why this happens. Maybe they are anxious to see if they can do it, or are simply impatient. I don’t think people are even aware of it. But, ‘why’ is not really the point. So, here is a simple tip. If you are a taking a lesson remember to listen to the end until the teacher is done explaining something to you. It will make it much easier for you to learn it and then you will still have the rest of the day to practice it. And, you will make your teacher much happier to boot.
Hope this help,
Metal Mike.