Welcome back.

Yesterday we talked about why learning guitar is a life-changing experience.

(Read that email first if you haven’t already).

If you’re like me, the question you’re asking yourself now is “how can I become a better guitar player fast?”

On the surface learning guitar seems easier than ever with the internet and especially the world of YouTube

Find the videos that you’re interested in. Watch them and then practice. Repeat and rinse.

Months (or years) later, sit at the feet of modern masters like Santana, Tomas Morello,  Joe Satriani, and Tommy Emmanuel at MasterClass, BBC Maestro, and other online learning platforms.

Or maybe you want to skip all that and go straight to learning how music works – study music theory.

In that case, pull out the theory books, or sign up at your local College like I did for music theory classes, or try classes online with Berklee School Of Music (did that).  You can even look into private theory lessons (yeah, I tried that too).

Will it work?

Maybe.

And only if you’re willing to spend a lot of time and do a lot of work.

But here’s something I’ve learned the hard way over and over –  learning to really enjoy playing guitar is not about more information or random pieces of the puzzle.

Playing guitar – I mean really playing with ease and confidence, in a way that gets you up in the morning looking forward to making music –  happens when you internalize the fundamentals, collect a toolbox of skills that you can actually pull off, and connect the dots so it makes sense.

Read that last sentence again. It’s important.

Bruce Lee said it best — “I don’t fear the man who has practiced 10,000 kicks one time, but I do fear the man who has practiced one kick 10,000 times.”

Tomorrow I’ll share a few of the things I’ve found make the biggest difference, and I’ll let you in on a little secret no one else will tell you.

‘Till then, take care…

Tomas

P.S.

Just a quick heads up that tomorrow’s email will have a time-sensitive opportunity to raise your hand for something unique I plan for next week.

That’s the only opportunity to raise your hand so keep an eye on your inbox tomorrow.