How To Learn Guitar Much Faster And Avoid Frustration
Is This Common Guitar Learning Mistake Holding You Back?
Have you ever felt like the more you try to learn, the harder it gets? One video leads to another, one course contradicts the next, and before you know it, you're spinning your wheels instead of making real progress.
In my latest conversation with Tommaso Zillio, we explore a hidden challenge that many guitarists face---one that could be the very thing slowing you down. If you've ever wondered why some players seem to improve effortlessly while others struggle despite putting in the hours, this discussion will give you some eye-opening insights.
[video transcript]
Tommaso
When I'm faced with this situation, my idea is always that it's like going on top of a mountain. You have the mountain and you want to go to the top. You can go with me on the east side and go up the mountain. Or we can go with you on the west side and go up the mountain. And anybody who does either of those will climb the mountain. But if the person tries to go with me and with you, it will tear them apart.
This is the same thing that happens when you go on the internet and look at a lot of different videos. Let's assume that everyone you see on YouTube is perfectly competent and knows exactly what they're talking about. They even give you stuff in the correct order and there are no mistakes. None of this is true. But let's say it is. They are still different people and they're following different roads. And if every one of those roads leads you where you want to go, you can't get there by following more than one person. That's a complete disaster.
Every time you want to search around and find a source you like, then shut off all the other ones. Follow that source to the top of the mountain. And if after that, you want to go down again and go another way again because you want to see the other side, great. But you will not get where you want following two paths simultaneously.
So, incidentally, Brian has a course called Ultimate Reading Mastery. You can find it on musictheoryforguitar.com. In the course, he explains how to use Konnakol and how to apply it to western music. It's one very good explanation. It's coherent and works great if you go through the whole thing without contradiction. Is it the only explanation out there? No. But it is a coherent explanation, and it works.
Brian
Yes, the system I use is a good one that works. It works well for me and all of the people I have taught over the years. Are there other approaches? Absolutely. But don't do both simultaneously because that's where people get lost. The materials will seem to contradict one another until you have mastered one approach. That's the way with everything. You've got the Master The Modes course and your approach is fantastic. If people choose that path, they should complete the course before looking for other ways of thinking about the same information. The other information will sound contradictory until you have mastered one approach. Then you have enough information and experience to see how the two approaches relate or if they are contradictory. Some resources are just plain wrong.
Tommaso
There are a number of subtle things going on here. Sometimes people use the same word for slightly different or not so slightly different concepts. So if you take a verbatim sentence, as I say, and this isn't by somebody else, you say verbatim, we could both be correct and we often are, but the contexts are different.
My go-to example here, is the word dominant in music. Depending on the context, it means at least three different things, actually four. The dominant chord is the fifth chord of the key. That's the original meaning. However, the dominant chord is also a chord with major third and flat 7, which does not have to be the fifth of the key, or it could be something else. Dominant function is a specific thing, meaning that you can substitute the dominant chord with a chord that has a dominant function. It's also the dominant side of the cycle of fifth, which is clockwise, which means adding sharps to the key.
The meanings are related, but they are all different. The way they are related is not as obvious, okay? So if you take a sentence where I use the word dominant and compare it to somebody else, we could be saying the same thing or we could be talking about entirely different things using the same word. You won't know the difference unless you already know the whole thing, okay?
This also happens in harmony, which is the field of music theory that is the most sophisticated, with the most people working on it, in which we are still trying to clarify the jargon. And that's only one word. Let's not get started with all the other words, okay?
What is the exact definition of key? Try to find an exact definition of musical key. Open up any music theory book and try to find the sentence where they say a musical key is . . . you will not find it. People talk about keys. Everybody thinks they know the concept, but nobody explains it. It's maddening. We don't clearly define our terms.
So that's the idea. Imagine in rhythm where we don't clearly define the jargon. There are a lot fewer people trying to clarify that side of music. Imagine the kind of situation if you try to learn from different people.
Don't. Okay. Just don't.
Brian
Let me interrupt really quick.
I saw in the comments that someone is recommending a certain DVD. I am familiar with that resource. However, there is another problem with many instructional materials. Many performers have been using what they are teaching for years but have never had to try to break it down to a level that a person just getting started can understand. There's a reason the end of your sentence says this resource is good, but it's difficult.
The performer did not take the time or know how to break it down to a basic level to start teaching it. They've played it for so long that their basic level is very advanced, and that's where they're teaching at.
Unfortunately, many really good players have a hard time teaching because they haven't had to think at that basic level for a long time. People who are teachers first are used to breaking things down to the level where you need to start, you want to go with that type of source more than the big name a lot of times. Good teachers have had years of experience breaking things down to the most basic level, so different types of people understand what they are learning.
Tommaso
When you start with the best teaching sources, the first few lessons, you wonder if they're teaching you anything. They spend so much time finding the steps and making the start curve easy that you think they are just making me play something obvious.
If you have this feeling, that's a great teaching resource. And when you go, it gets difficult in later chapters, which is another comment I hear. If they thought about the thing, the slight increase in difficulty is constant, meaning you feel you're getting better but don't feel any walls. You don't feel a moment where it's like, oh, there is too much to learn. It gets more difficult, but smoothly.
The perfect teaching resource is something that you wonder if they're teaching you something throughout the entire course. And in the end, you can say you are a much better player and can play everything. That first course doesn't exist yet, but we do our best to make our courses as close to that as possible.
Every time you start thinking, okay, but this is difficult, it means the teacher did not do the work, which is normal, okay? Occasionally you have to do it that way because there are no other resources and you just have to suck it up and learn. But don't think that's the only way, okay?
I see so many people pointing out DVDs and other instructional materials, and I'm looking at them, and I know you cannot learn from them because there are too many missing parts.
People then justify the missing part by thinking I'm not good enough or have no talent. No, it's not your fault, there are missing parts in the instructions. Okay.
You guys, you don't have to do anything. You don't have to buy my course. You don't have to buy Brian's course. You don't have to do anything. But think about it. Think about how you're talking about those things because it's revealing. I'm not saying you don't want to do any work. You have to do your legwork. You have to do the exercises. Okay, think about how you're talking about those resources. It's important. Don't settle for it's good but difficult. Search the source that makes it easy. You can always make it difficult later.
Find a source that gives you things you could not play before, makes it look easy, and allows you to see your progress. That's what you want to search for.
Final Thoughts
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Six Easy Steps to Learn and Play Any Rhythm with Perfect Timing