I went to a book store, looked over some magazine covers and man, just reading the covers made me tired. Secret this, secret that, must haves …

I’m not going to take on the world here – let’s just talk about the guitar.

Are there secrets that would make you a better guitar player or a musician? I don’t know. As a matter of fact, upon thinking about it – I don’t think so. Sorry to burst the secret finding bubble. I know, how unromantic. And, a month before Valentine’s Day, too!

I know posts like these aren’t often the most popular ones. Someone said if you want folks to dislike you – you tell ’em the truth. This is for the brave few and since you are on my page, I believe it might be you, too.

The good news is – you are now burden free from finding a secret and you can get to what you know needs to be done – picking up the damn instrument and spending some time with it. Harsh truth, but please read on. You see, there is no magic box where the secretive professional players trade advice. If your neighbor plays better than you, chances are he practices more or has played guitar much longer than you. With some exceptions, talent is not that much misplaced. If you like the guitar a lot – that IS your talent telling you to pursue it further. Develop it more. The more time you spend with it, the more and more you’ll enjoy it, too.

There are some good laws though that I like to follow.

Want to know a good one? The idea of delayed gratification is a good one. I know, sooo unlike 2017! Metal Mike what’s up with this blog, anyway!
Well, here’s one important thing that I picked up. That is that many successful people were able to delay the gratification for a bigger prize. What are you willing to give up right now for a better return on your guitar playing later? As a young player are you willing to miss some Friday and Saturday nights in favor of diminishing the gap between you and the players who are better than you?

Less Instagram = More Metalgram! (Yes, I just made that up.)

As an older player, are you willing to invest a couple hundred bucks a month in guitar lessons versus buying rounds for your pals at the bar?
In this aspect, I was almost cruel to myself in my younger days. Every single dollar and I mean every single dollar was spend on lessons and new gear when I felt I needed it. I missed many Summers, parties and friends while locked in my room studying music, theory or Randy Rhoads. While many of the kids I knew in school were at the beach partying, I was home … playing. I saved my lunch money and bought guitar pedals with it. I woke up before school and run home after school so I could practice. This is not to impress anyone, but rather to impress upon you an image of delayed gratification might look like in perhaps strong cases.

This type of task is tougher these days because information is screaming at you everywhere including dinner trays at the airplane, WTF. You put down the dinner tray to eat and you see an ad for something. Seriously? lol. But, I digress. We want things FAST today. And, just for the record, when you are young you want everything fast, no matter which decade you live in. That is no secret anymore. But, you must remember about the kid right now in his room without an iphone in his hand who is shredding the hell of his guitar. These guys or gals will always be there no matter what is happening. I can spot them a mile away. Some people are naturally wired that way, some have to figure it out and hone down forcefully on what’s important.

As a side note, please don’t always think that playing in front of 5000 people is the only success. This is where you turn off the internet and take a breather. If you are living an adult life and you have a guitar is your hand 4-5 evenings a week while enjoying the heck out of it – this sounds pretty successful to me, too.

Think about it. Now, go knock 2017 out of the park.