By René Kerkdyk

You are
searching for the fastest and easiest way to play the guitar?

You
have a problem in playing the guitar that just wont go away?

You
have the feeling that you don’t make any progress at all?

If you
answered yes to any of the above questions read on because this will
set you up for success.

I know
how grueling it is to invest time into a plan without being sure that
this plan is the most efficient one. I’ve encountered the
frustration to feel stuck at a plateau of my skill level and the
feeling of not making progress at all. Most guitar felt that way.
Unfortunately most stay there and don’t push through that imagined
barrier. I’ve found three steps that pave the way to your musical
success. If you want to solve your guitar playing problems once and
for all I will tell you how – with an analogy.

Part
1 – The right way

Imagine
you want to visit a friend, but you were not at his house before. Do
you leave your house, start to walk in one direction, take random
turns at intersections and expect to reach his house in this manner?
Of course not. You either look at a map and devise a plan to get
there or you ask someone who knows how to get there.

It is
the same thing for your guitar playing goals. If you start to
practice something today and another thing tomorrow you will arrive
somewhere but most likely not where you wanted to go. You need to
make sure that the plan of action leads you toward you goals. You can
try to do that on your own or you go to an expert for that. This
expert should have gone the same way or brought other people there.
This is one of the reasons to go to a guitar teacher.

Part
2 – The method is important

Back to
our analogy. If you know the way you have to go, think about your
vehicle. If you go by foot you will take a long time. If you go by
car this will be much faster and convenient.

This is
again similar to guitar practice. If the plan is right and you
practice with any exercise you find you will probably get to your
goals. If you have a plan and practice the right part with the right
exercises you will get there much faster and with way less effort.
Some practicing techniques divide the time you need to spend on the
exercise by six. To make that clear: If you would have to practice
with on exercise for half a year to get it right and consistent it
would only take one month to get it right with the right training.

Part
3 – Make sure you are on the right track from time to time.

On the
way to your friends house you would naturally look for landmarks and
street names to check that you are not lost.

This
again is similar with your guitar learning path. From time to time
you need to make sure you are still getting better. This can
sometimes be tricky and hard to measure but there are ways. Ask your
teacher what you can do.

With
these three part in place you will make great progress.

This
article was prepare by René Kerkdyk the lead guitar instructor in
Hildesheim’s only guitar school Rock
Gitarre Hildesheim.