My Most Important Lesson for Guitarists

[@andretonelli]

If you enjoyed the video and learned something new, could you please hit the 👍button, it really helps a lot! Thank you so much everyone! Andre

[@ckdesign]

truly a pearl of that rarest sort of guidance which doesn't simply show you how to do one thing or even several things, but rather fundamentally changes how you *_think_* about *_all_* the things you do. thanks so much for this Andre.

[@Phoboss32]

This is REALLY the most important lesson for mastering musical instrument!

[@reanimator9]

Great lesson Andre, it's th hardest thing to do nowadays... to FOCUS

[@denny4471]

This is the lesson every music teacher needs in their lesson book. Excellent psychology.

[@aleeksaha692]

I see many musicians but u are Real, a real Teacher 😊😊 that's all i can say for u

[@beastlybombers]

Excellent video. Thank you. I needed to hear what you said. I actually internalized your words and it was a wakeup call.

[@andretonelli]

You are so welcome and thank you for taking the time to let me know! Andre

[@Fbshgg]

Thank you for this! Really got me thinking about my approach with myself and my playing now.

[@andretonelli]

That's great to hear! Andre

[@ElMeach]

OMG. Most important lesson for any performance in any way in life. I am going to aplly it on different things in my life

[@CGG7V]

Awesome take. If only I had learnt this earlier 🙄🚀

[@joekyleboston]

Thank you so much Andre. This really helps. Grateful.

[@andretonelli]

Hi Joe, you are welcome! Andre

[@lelandgaunt7130]

Excellent advice. That's how I've been practicing for a couple years, for accuracy and equal volume on all notes, especially the ones played with the pinky finger. I have NEVER been in a rut or failed to progress. I've been battling with my pinky for a couple years now (I neglected it for too many years) working 95% on Legato exercises, but even as I struggle using my pinky when going from the Minor Pentatonic 3 finger style to the major scale fingering, I still make good progress. I can rip with the best of them...as long as I only have to use 3 fingers, but I'm going to change that and make my pinky a strength...or die trying.

[@barneyrubble957]

Wow , so grateful i discovered this lesson . Thank You 🙏 😊

[@andretonelli]

Thank you! Andre

[@wildalbalass4867]

Point taken. Many thanks

[@JoJo-iw7zt]

Good lesson. Question: Why I’m good at my job that I don’t like? Answer: My life depends on it. No job, no guitar lessons no guitar gear, life over 😢 I just need to swap this mindset into my practice. This is going to be the top heading on my focus board as a reminder “My Life Depends On It”. Maybe the only heading? 🤔 Thanks Andre 😊

[@willemniehorster9836]

I really dig your mind set, I do enjoy your videos, I'm glad I ran into them!

[@andretonelli]

Welcome to the channel!

[@hazmatizer]

excellent.

[@davidzaharik5408]

Excellent lesson thank you Andre. Hit home.... I play for pleasure but I play lousy (in my opinion) never seeming to get better. I am a retired airline captain who flew all over the world... I humbly would say I was very very good at my job... because my life and hundreds of other lives (passengers) depended on my excellence.... Hmmm

[@andretonelli]

Good thing you were so good, too, David! No matter how many planes I get on, I can never not think it’s going to be the last one!

[@davidzaharik5408]

@@andretonelli Oh no!! Well were are pretty highly trained!

[@sean4586]

Thank you for the lesson. Your talk put my guitar practice into perspective. Time, the most precious commodity I have , I waste freely by "noodleling" on my guitar. Yet, if I was making a woodworking project, I would check and recheck focusing on my measurements and cuts, not to waste the wood or my time on my project. I would want my product to be perfect for myself and for the person receiving it. Yet I'm not giving even a fraction of this focus to my playing. How can I expect similar results? What is the disconnect? Why would I think learning an instrument is any different? Wonderful topic to think deeply on. Again, thank you for the lesson.

[@andretonelli]

Thank you Sean for the great comment! Sometimes we need someone to remind us of the basics. Andre

[@ChrisBrown-oo4bf]

Pressure makes perfect instead of practice? Good concept.

[@andretonelli]

Good practice will let you perform well under pressure.

[@absta100]

This is extremely poignant. I played classical piano up to grade 6 and my teacher always wrote at the front of my lesson notebook “Always remember practice makes perfect”. Indeed focussed practice 🙏🏻🎵🪄💣 we always started the lesson with scales and arpeggios which sounds boring but actually great to warm up the fingers and the brain with the actual theory of music.

[@andretonelli]

“Practice Makes Constant” is how I put it. Thanks!

[@absta100]

@@andretonelli Perfectly constant. Constantly perfect 🙌🏼 I subbed btw like your style.

[@wildalbalass4867]

@@andretonelli I usually say ‘Practice makes better’ but my mind is open. Many thanks.

[@mrmaison4924]

I'm a visual artist who happens to love music too. This lesson reminds me of the time someone bought an expensive T-shirt and asked me to paint their name and do some art work on it. It was that first moment right before I touched the shirt with my paintbrush I knew once that paint hit's the shirt, there's no turning back because it's permanent paint. There was no room for screwing up. Not only would I not get paid, I would probably have to pay for that shirt. Finishing that shirt with no screw ups gave me confidence to this day in a specific way. Some say it's all about the journey but the journey should always lead to a successful destination whatever that is or what's the point of traveling?

[@yzimsx]

TL;DW: the lesson is: whatever you intend to perform as a professional, starting from the simplest possible things, practice it until it's absolutely perfect, because a professional cannot mess up on a paid gig. But why is this important for the 99%, the non-professional hobby players who want to have fun? Does something or someone demand perfection from them, in what situation? Friends and relatives? What benefit is there from practicing to play a scale perfectly, for the 99% of players, if they know right from the start that they're not trying to earn their living from playing? This step of reasoning was not explained in the video. Why, what's the motivation. When a student says, I don't need to play a scale SO cleanly, because this level is enough for me, what do you answer? Do you say OK, let's move on and keep sounding like cr*p, or how do you try to motivate the hobby guitarist?

[@andretonelli]

As far this video is concerned, the student did want to become a professional and for that I think he does need that proficiency. For others, yours is a very interesting question. I still try to instill in them the idea of playing mindfully because first of all, they won’t be practicing 12 hours a day and that’s enough reason to squeeze as much as possible out of each session. Also, while they are just playing for pleasure, they still take it seriously enough to take time out of their day to practice, spend their money on a teacher, etc. more than enough reason to honor their passion by demanding the best from themselves. And finally, playing. Like this is just more rewarding and fun. No matter your level, playing with your full attention just feels good and deep, so to speak. Thanks for the great question! Andre

[@yzimsx]

@@andretonelli I see it as a question of personal coaching, maybe even _personality_ coaching. Some people would benefit from demanding a bit more from themselves, but others demand too much and they may reflect that to others as well in a negative way. What comes to professional music-making, I could argue that it's more important to be able to create emotions than to play cleanly and perfectly. Then again, it's difficult to use, say, a guitar track in a production, if the notes have uneven and random dynamics and timbre. If I could have a talk with my teenage self from decades ago, I'd explain this production perspective and advice on spending some time on technique as well. For me it was all about improvisation and feeling, playing by ear and living in the moment. But if I had to estimate, what I actually spent my time on, has made much more people happy than if I had played only clean notes, reservedly, professionally, in a stiff upper lip respectable manner. ;)

[@andretonelli]

Agreed. 99% of my time on the instrument is playing, writing, improvising, recording or performing live. But I had to attain a level that would allow me to get my ideas out there. You only need as much skill as you need. For some people it's more, for others it's less. Their output is equally valid. the problem is when people want to get somewhere without understanding what they need to do to get there. Then they get frustrated as the years go by without any real improvement. But even if you only want to strum some chords with friends, you might as well do so to the best of your abilities. If your aim is to play just a few soulful notes, there is a depth to that as well that needs to be explored (maybe even more so), and you will do well to give it your all instead of playing absentmindedly. Not that I think you do, it's just an example!

[@yzimsx]

@@andretonelli I guess one of my dreams in life is to be able to find a way to make people see that they _could get somewhere_. Most ordinary people don't believe that they could do anything musically meaningful at all, and this thought prevents them from even wanting to get anywhere. The bars are set too high with social norms and expectations. Thanks for answering and all the best to your teaching.