When you first pick up a guitar, you think: I want t play! I want to make sounds! I want those sounds to sound good! But it turns out that it takes a while to make sounds that sound really good and a lot of guitar players (including me) end up quitting before they do.
In one sense, progress as a guitar player comes at a pace that’s practically geologic. It takes forever to get “good,” and no matter how much effort or will or practice you put in, it can feel like you’re always stuck. But you’re also getting better all the time. There’s always some new, exciting pieces to play, some new, exciting ways to sound.
Ironically, that’s one reason I believe so heavily in repetitive exercises using the chromatic scale. The sheer repetition develops strength and muscle memory that’s crucial to simply feeling better about playing guitar.
It’s like a martial artist practicing hundreds of round kicks. 100 on the left leg, switch, 100 on the right. Make sure your form’s perfect. Do the kicks with tension, then do them with speed. Visualize your target, the knife edge of the kicking foot, the impact. Afterward, stretch and cool down. This builds your strength, speed, flexibility and mobility, even though it doesn’t build an encyclopedic knowledge of tae kwon do. Not complicated, but hugely useful.
Check out the video linked above (and this one, too, if you want to work on your palm muting) and run through a few minutes of the good ol’ chromatic every day. Practice practice and as always, stay musical!
Love,
Mark