Guitar Psychology that Nobody Wants but Everybody Needs

#guitarlessons #psychology #mindset
For the Greatest Guitar Courses on the Planet go here
courses.benhig...

[@BenHigginsOfficial]

For the Greatest Guitar Courses on the Planet go here courses.benhigginsofficial.com/

[@TheArgus1000]

Few years ago I got an audiobook where a guy said that the most important thing in guitar development is the mindset. How important is guitar playing to you? Is it just a hobby or is it life or death matter? That really put me into more focused practising and I progressed more even with less time spent with the guitar. Eye opening moment.

[@BenHigginsOfficial]

Focus really is the difference between just spending time doing something... or really progressing at something

[@40somethingblues68]

This vid has made me realise some harsh truths about my own playing!! Very eye opening stuff. Thanks immensely for this!

[@danielgrohl6971]

i used to create a new song idea every week worth recording, and now years have gone by and it's not happening. From Jazz to Heavy Metal try explaining how to play your part, and mute everything else.. Timing takes a lot of practice, practice, practice and you better get in the groove to feel what you play, and play what you feel or you can't make it in a band to play with others.

[@chrisgmurray3622]

I'm way ahead of you in coming up with possible explanations why I can't progress in the way I want on guitar, but so far I've not been able to narrow it down to anything I can use.When I first began playing, it seems to me now that everything came easily, but it wasn't that simple.Sure, things came suddenly to me out of no-where, but obviously I had to work on them to get proficient enough to be happy in my own ears with what I was doing. But when the eighties came around and shred started to happen, although I had no interest in playing Van Halen rock or Yngvie classic shred, I wanted to master some of their skills to add sparkle to my own eclectic sort of approach. At first burnt out by over-training on four finger/four fret left hand work against a metronome( which I hated so much I wanted to smash my guitar after about ten minutes, I reasoned that if I wanted to learn these things, I'd have to get over my dreamy noodly way of exploring the neck, and bite the bullet to do the boring work which you mention as being needed- obviously you're correct, but when I found myself rebelling against the discipline of the routines, I wondered if that indulgent attitude was holding me back so I forced myself to do the work( to remove that as a reason for failure-result? I hatee every minute of the 2 hours I spent for 2 years on these dead exercises, and at the end of it all when nithing happened to improve my picking and fretting, I wondered had I outsmartsd myself by wanting to prove I was right all along that dead repitition could'nt work to my benefit, but at least I had removed that kack of boring work from my list of possible reasons I wasn't getting anywhere. So I forgot about all that and concerntrated for a few years on strumming rhythmic playing accompanying my vocal, and found a minute improvement in my timing but still couldn't smoothly pick alternately and accurately at anything but a really slow speed.I have no desire to be Paul Gilbert, but can't figure why I can't incorporate some of that precise picking into my more musical approach.I currently love the playing of Stefen Schackinger, who has the technique to do what he hears in hus head, which is sort of what I want to do, I don't want to be a slave to my soeed-greed, chained in a dungeon to a metronome, but wonder why after another two years spent working on acoustic Travis style picking, then revisiting my earlier shred attempts I still find no progress...I've always been an emotional and intuitive learner, and with some work on techniques that has always worked for me, and I like to think I'm imaginative and at least a little bit practical( I know what skills I fail at, and at a pinch I can screw up enough discipline to do shat is needed) but why then though I fall into the more intuitive tgan practicle side, I'm still unable to do the stuff that I clearly want to do? Though I know better, I'm tempted to believe that maybe it just isn't possible for me! That sounds like your pet niggle about self doubt belief, but if the shie fits? How can I believe your confident claims that "anyone can do it"? I want to believe this, and I'm quite sincere in my desire for( just a little) more speed to round out my playing. Everything else has eventually come to me if I stuck it out long enough, and I want to think it can happen, but even though it made me depressed, I didn't shy away from a modicum of hard work when necessary, so where do I fit in your rougues gallery of poor excuses for lack of achievement?

[@jkf3169]

Always a pleasure listening to the best fucking guitarist on the internet, cheers Ben!

[@BenHigginsOfficial]

Thanks Jeff!

[@cheatlewilsonyoutube]

Terrific video.This kind of advice is pure gold.

[@Guitarman01]

Always enjoy the tips and wisdom you provide. It helps with the journey to mastery....

[@BenHigginsOfficial]

Thanks Carlos, glad you enjoy it

[@jeffrininger4075]

Interesting discussion -- enjoyed it. Thank you.

[@BenHigginsOfficial]

Cheers Jeff

[@blakegilliam8223]

This is fantastic!

[@anthonyjohnson4734]

Great video bro. You have helped me tremendously. God bless ya always

[@PatrickHelyer]

Nice to hear you talk about the burnout and taking days off - I used to have that neurotic idea that if I didn't play for one day I'd lose all my ability :'). Actually find sometimes after a break I end up playing better than when I'm frustrated and over it.

[@edradu7964]

Always inspired by your videos, never realized you had a youtube channel, so many things mentioned here struck home, found myself stuck, overloaded with information and more or less spent most of my time just watching videos like you said I want to do that and that and that etc, then I stopped the video watching threw on a jam track and found the fun, don't get me wrong the info was great as some was learning the technical part of my instrument but I found my self saying I want to do that and that then actually doing that and that, I still watch videos but targeted videos if I'm not sure of something, but I found playing over practice routine has brought the passion I had when I first wanted to learn, I do a lot of trial and error of course but when it comes together it's absolutely beautiful and beyond what I expected at an early stage, I still got tons to learn but that's ok cause what I'm learning now is fun and I'm proud of it, I let me mind say who cares if I hit a wrong note once in a while it happens in the learning stage but you eventually hit less and less and that's the joy seeing the progress anyway I could go on and on, a lot of what's to offer here is spot on and to many times you've mentioned things I've either gone through or going through and it'll help through my guitar journey thanks

[@JDODify]

Has your Mrs got a background in journalism or something? She seems to know quite well when to jump in and what to ask.

[@BenHigginsOfficial]

No, just many years of knowing how to manage and operate a Higgy!

[@JDODify]

@@BenHigginsOfficial Cool - I produce a Podcast (surf related, not guitars) and I've noticed that its quite a skill to interview someone well.

[@BenHigginsOfficial]

@@JDODify Mrs Higgy will be happy to hear that 👍

[@charleyb769]

Great stuff Ben! I saw myself in a few of the problem areas you mentioned. I have a couple of questions regarding timing. Is it related to hand synch? How do you know if you have a problem with hand synch,, timing or both? Thanks! And keep the videos coming!

[@BenHigginsOfficial]

Hi Charles, go through this playlist top to bottom. If you do the legato stuff I mention, you'll know if you have a timing issue kzbin.info/aero/PL9t1h0FnbQAvlekadQQlWb6ZbcNLhQ2U3

[@charleyb769]

@@BenHigginsOfficial Thanks Ben! I appreciate the information!

[@Omega-Phil]

Does Mrs Higgy play guitar?

[@davidatyson]

So if you don't do a practice routine...what should..or...how should I go about it?

[@patrickolson8558]

I'm not an expert teacher (although I have taught), but the first step is just doing it. There is a lot of information overload and noise online. But, basically dedicate 30-60min a day to start. Pick something to hone in on, depending on your skill level, such as scales, chords, etc. Dedicate about half the time on one thing, half on the other. After a few weeks, or as you get comfortable, start implementing new things into your routine, and then keep cycling from there. For example, I'm working on jazz lessons: 15-20 mins on reviewing old material out of a book I'm working on 15-20 mins on working on a new lesson I'm at in the book 15-20 mins on working on speed picking lessons 10-15 mins jamming on a backing track and implementing the ideas I've worked on maybe some time learning a song I like from tabs. you can mix and match and change it up every day so it's not the same thing each day (keep it dry at first and reward yourself at the end jamming/learning songs). Know yourself and your skills and be honest with what you need to work on. There are a ton of great resources out there to get started. Justin Guitar is a very popular site/youtube channel for beginners which will fast track you into the basics, and then you can branch out from there based on your interests.

[@BenHigginsOfficial]

You can still do a routine. Just because I personally don't get on with them doesn't mean they're not effective for some people. It's just about knowing what works well with you. But I will say not to overload yourself with tons of stuff because that's what leads to burnout and frustration

[@markbaum9615]

The good old looper is a great practice tool.....set some rythm tracks and lead over it.....try to not play the same riff twice ....intermodal work helps to diversify compositios...its a building process indeed.