Stop comparing yourself to other musicians (how to achieve this)

[@PlayInTheZone]

Plan your music practice for real results: kzbin.info/www/bejne/pqu2Yp2MnJ6Umrs

[@camillegold279]

my music guru /hero is matt redman..but I think im more of a writer than a musician .. where I need to get is playing blues chords ( of which I know 4)with the lyrics that ive written a lot of but have to learn how to join with the chords im wondering whether to send my son who is 19 and plays the bass guitar a matt redman cd, im sending one mixed cd with a picture of a lion on the cover because i saw him saying thankyu for it. but after listening to your teaching I don't want to put my mess on him.

[@JoelAWeiss]

'Where am I today, and can I make that a little bit better by tomorrow.' That part hit home with me.

[@PlayInTheZone]

Yes. Once you get into that space, you block out the distractions (and potential discouragement) of comparing yourself to others. You still need to look up occasionally to check you're headed towards the correct goal. But you make massive progress when you concentrate on just taking one small step at a time.

[@brendanjoyce8185]

"working on improving yourself, whatever the outcome" -- I like that.

[@paulmeehan60]

Sound advice Compare and despair 🤘

[@MyJ2B]

Good message for a 2023 New Year goal settings exercise ! Thank you and have a great year ahead.

[@koontzman123]

For me it's getting my rhythm and timing down in my playing. On the practice end, consistently practicing same time everyday, and having a few moments of centering before practice, so as to not rush in.

[@harveyquinn3535]

I’m just terrible. Been working for like 10 years and I haven’t even got a song ready cus I hate them so much I can’t even finish them..

[@migi3976]

I’ve been playing guitar for over 10 years, since I was a pre-teen basically, but my skill has stagnated for the past 5 years or so (for various reasons), and this has made me very depressed and has caused me to fall into a never ending cycle of self-comparison, I tell myself that “I am a failure because I should be much, much better given how long I have been playing” In general I am a very pessmistic person and realizing that I’m only an intermediate player after so many years is nothing short of discouraging, but I want to change this, and I think that this video is a good start

[@PlayInTheZone]

Glad you found the video useful. One important thing to note is that it's possible to deliberately become more optimistic. And I'd definitely recommend working on this. A great way to start is to force yourself to write down 3 positive things at the end of every practice session. They can b really small if needed (e.g. "I did the practice session"!). But getting into the habit of noticing the positives really starts to turn things around...

[@emmanuelwolf6568]

I do this all the time.

[@soundtrack1991]

Man I really needed this

[@PlayInTheZone]

You're welcome. So glad it was helpful.

[@waxblue]

Drives you crazy wishing you could be as good as the greats…I practice a lot and still I am not where i want to be when I see the top bassists always busting out impressive fast slaps and such meanwhile I make mistakes and some people point them out sometimes and I beat myself up about them then question myself if I should even keep going….I struggle finding a lot of time to practice cause 2 hrs a day clearly isn’t enough. Then you open KZbin and see awesome people playing bass like a god and your making it no where then I beat myself up again drives me mad sometimes

[@latter-daysaintpud1432]

Progressing from playing chords to integrating melody and playing a piece of music of my own making.

[@user-ch4ex3yy4l]

good stuff

[@MyJ2B]

SMART Goals - Specific, Measureable, Achievable, Realistic, Timely !

[@yvonnedoherty7666]

I found this very useful and will try and listen more actively hoping to play by ear it be able to identify notes

[@PlayInTheZone]

So glad it helped, Yvonne

[@most_sane_piano_enthusiast]

"You are an individual, you are looking to play music in your own way." Piano professors: *NUH UH*

[@billpritchard2254]

A useful and very (for me) timely reminder!

[@PlayInTheZone]

Glad you think so!

[@lisetteelbers365]

Well spoken!

[@FloatingSoundsonly]

I’m going to watch this video every day

[@PlayInTheZone]

So glad you found it helpful!

[@aidanbennett7002]

I’m going to improve piano sight reading at the margin of my ability each day.

[@PlayInTheZone]

Great goal to set for yourself, Aidan.

[@sheen0212]

Thanks this really helped me

[@PlayInTheZone]

Glad to hear it!

[@wraithradio]

I started piano, and music in general, almost 3 years ago, and I’ve reached where I am without a teacher. Every time I compare myself to others I always forget how they may have had other resources that they learned from. On a different note, does anyone have any advice for someone still relatively new to piano? I know that people say, “practice your scales”, but what do you do when practicing them? Do you just play them over and over?

[@dianajonen2225]

My goal for definite progress is more precise and clean fingering. Thanks for these videos!

[@PlayInTheZone]

You're welcome!

[@sopranox5167]

I found your video really helpful but maybe less applicable to classical singers. Sometimes singers have spent many many more hours than their young colleagues, but the opera business favors youth always. Potentially instrumental opportunities do as well, I’m not sure. I think you should maybe take that part of the video out though.. haha.. it’s more discouraging. :/

[@migi3976]

I continue to have issues with motivation and harmful self-comparison, what advice can you offer me so that I can stop thinking about my age being such a huge hinderance? (I’m almost in my mid-20’s) Also, I hate the fact that I’ve wasted so much time comparing myself to others and thus not improving for years , lastly, I struggle with motivating myself to practice

[@PlayInTheZone]

It's not easy, but try to forget the past and just focus on where you are right now. And what one small thing you can do to improve. It's really hard to try and STOP thinking about something. Generally much more effective to find something positive to focus on instead.

[@morbidcorpse5954]

I need help. I write black metal. Sometimes I can write a whole song with drums and everything and then hear one of my favorite band's songs and get discouraged. I end up deleting the song and become depressed.

[@PlayInTheZone]

This sort of thing is a normal stage on the learning journey, unfortunately. You're comparing what you're doing now to songs written by people who are much further along. (And you don't get to hear what they wrote when they were in your current position...) One thing that might help is to see if you can identify small SPECIFIC THINGS that seem better in your favourite band's songs than in what you've just written. Then see what you could do to improve just that one small thing. It gives you something positive you can do rather than the overall feeling that everything is useless.

[@cfdemarco2]

Now, with KZbin, you can see "everyone" who is better than you. LOL! I'm just having fun. You're right, we shouldn't compare ourselves. But it's human nature.

[@MastanehNazarian]

Diatonic triads! A bit better everyday.

[@PlayInTheZone]

Yup. Triads are one of my favourite things to work on and I don't think I'll ever stop! It's amazing how much you can do with triads and almost nothing else. All the great musicians I've met have these down cold.

[@normapadro420]

Comparing is not something that I did. I just went ahead, and became a music producer. My success is my achievement. It's personal.

[@cfdemarco2]

Are you kidding. If I see one more 7-year-old girl on KZbin who plays bass better than me, I'm jumping off a bridge. lol! KIdding...mostly. We didn't have KZbin in the 70's...

[@jeremystinky9315]

i just say their all washed and get on with my practice