Is Anyone Really Self Taught?

Here is a topic that is much discussed in the music circles. It is the idea of being a self-taught musician and also the possible pros and cons of it.

There is a certain level of pride that many musicians carry with them for being presumably self-taught and I can understand why. By considering themselves self-taught some take pride that by not taking “lessons” the ins and outs of playing an instrument were found on their own time, by their own skills. On the surface this seems to make sense, but I don’t buy it.

Now, to me, the topic in itself off the bat is fairly silly since I do not think that anyone is ever self-taught. Let me explain.

If you think about it for a second, a self-taught person would have their own way of tuning and holding the instrument, their own scales and a sense of meter. They would not even know what to use to pluck the strings or how to string a guitar so the chord patters or scales fall properly in place. Would they even know strings existed? This is just a beginning. In a nutshell, we all learned it from somewhere. It could be a video, a friend, a fable, a music school or a combination of several outlets. Even if you saw someone strum a few chords and learned a few … initially, you got them from somewhere. Even listening to music can surely be a way of learning about rhythm, melody or song construction. If you really were self-taught your guitar playing would make Jimi Hendrix sound like a Julliard professor.

Think about this. This is great news. By knowing this, you could open up the previously shut doors to the idea of studying your instrument with great teachers. The point is – if you are going to pick it up from somewhere, you might as well go to a great source. Allow the teacher (private or at school) to guide you, bring out your strengths and save you time with their invaluable input and accelerate your playing.

Will studying with a teacher or being formally trained stifle your creativity? Not from my experience. Think of it this way. Imagine you decide to brush up on the English language. You study it from a reputable source and become great at it. You learn many new words, ways to put together sentences that flow and many other amazing things. Can you still forget all about it and talk like a cave-man? You sure can. This is always your choice. No one is going to pull out words from your mouth. Would it make it easier to know several ways you can express a thought with variety of new words you learned? Of course.

You see, by learning more you now have choices and possibilities you did not know existed. And, this is what learning about music theory and how music works is all about. Heck, even if you refuse to learn music theory, just studying with a teacher or jamming with someone better will open up many doors for you. A new riff you picked-up from someone can inspire you to write the greatest song of your life. What you do with it is completely up to you.

Now, don’t get me wrong. I have nothing against a musician who decides to “teach” himself or herself how to play. As a matter of fact, most of my favorite guitarists were not formally schooled. I don’t care if you go to school for music. What I’m saying is that since we all learn from somewhere, sometimes we can accelerate our learning and playing ability by having a coach or a teacher. This is exactly what happens when a top golfer or a football teach needs to win championships. Even if you are a top athlete you still need someone to offer a different perspective and see if you are getting stuck in a rut somewhere, where you make mistakes. This can be applied to music. I just want you to entertain the option.

The idea is to take new information and suck out the juice that is important to the way you want to play the instrument. When you do that, the new information is super valuable. Don’t close your eyes to new info and ways to absorb it – embrace it. The rest is truly up to you.

I want to briefly touch upon a subject that many guitar players (and musicians in general) seem to have a mis-understanding of.

Often I hear people tell me that they want to take a lesson with me because they have reached a certain ‘plateau’ that they can’t seem to get past. It sounds good, but it’s unfortunately wrong.

In guitar playing there are no plateaus. We never arrive and stay at some flat, secure place.

Not for long, and certainly not over 24 hours.

This means that if you are not getting better, you are getting worse.

It’s true. For example if you get pretty good at playing a particular scale and take 2 weeks off … your ability will slide back from where you have left of when you put the guitar down.

Even a task like song-writing is a skill that must be practiced. Sure, there are people who write only one song and it becomes a hit, but this is an exception to the rule, kind of like winning the lottery. If you want to be wealthy, you have to constantly work on it. Becoming better at your instrument is very much like it.

This thought process was always very motivating to me throughout time. I always remembered that if I am not getting better – I’m getting worse. This stuck and kept me practicing through the years.

Today I’m going to talk about something that should hit close to home for us creative people: inspiration — and how we, as humans, relate and perceive it.

As musicians, we often wait for the golden gate to open, rays of inspiration to shine in and — presto — we bang out a great new song, lyric, etc. Those moments do happen, and they are awesome. How often they happen might depend on the state or clarity of your mind — or maybe even your luck.

When we don’t feel the inspiration to do something, we wonder when it will come back, or if there’s something we can do to get inspired.

Here’s where the breakthrough happens.

I realized inspiration is usually hiding around the corner, and when it doesn’t appear right in front of you, you must work a little. The work needed simply comes as action. In other words, you need to take action before the shy inspiration can start flowing.

For example, to write this particular column, I had a lose idea of what I wanted to talk about. It was just a skeleton. I took action to sit down, open the Word doc and start typing. As I start writing, a flow of excitement builds and the inspiration to write these words appears. It happens exactly as you are reading this, since I had no idea of the words, nevermind the sentences, I was going to use to complete this piece. I continue to write, trusting that the words will come to me as long as I keep taking action.

This happens everywhere and every time we wait for something to nudge us to do something.

Going to the gym is a perfect example. If we went to the gym only when we felt inspired to do so, trust me — no one would go. But we get into our cars and drive by simply taking action, and by the time we get through the first five minutes in the gym, we’re in. It’s easy to continue from that point on.

One thing that cripples us before taking action is that we often wait to have all the details figured out before we start doing something. When we do that, it is fear running our efforts. I know it’s difficult, but let’s start and figure things out as we go along. Let the world around you pull the pieces together as you work toward a goal. I recently read a great book by Arnold Schwarzenegger called Total Recall. It’s filled with lessons from his life. He talks about the fact that sometimes the more you know about something, the more confined and crippled your mind becomes. Wild, I know.

Now, think about that.

Wouldn’t that explain why someone who doesn’t know a ton about song writing writes a hit, a person who buys the winning lottery ticket because he doesn’t care about the odds and percentages that are stacked against him, or someone who becomes a successful touring musician while others spend their entire life getting the perfect studio to record a perfect demo.

The difference is taking action first. Learn on the job, or whatever you can you about a subject, but don’t wait to know it all before pressing the “Go” button. This is some incredible advice from someone who has been a bodybuilding champion, a Hollywood A-list movie star, a governor and a successful millionaire entrepreneur.

The last example comes from my own experience. A while back, when I was tracking guitars for my latest solo album, The Metalworker, I was waiting around for the inspiration so I could get started. I waited for inspiration, because I knew I had to make the album special. Unfortunately the longer I waited, the bigger the mountain grew and the less inspired I felt to record.

Due to deadlines, I had to take action.

So I just started the process one day. I got a tone, set up my guitar and in no time an incredible thing started to happen. I had a huge flow of inspiration. It’s almost as it had been sitting on my shoulder waiting for it to be unleashed. I then wanted to do nothing but play and record the guitars. It came to the point that I felt completely in love with playing the guitar, the instrument itself, changing strings (which is never my favorite thing to do) and do whatever it took to make the project special.

At that time, I started to put two and two together and realized that inspiration is usually around the corner for us. If it doesn’t show up on its own, it needs a little nudge, which always comes in the process of taking action first.

Everybody goes through periods of when they don’t practice their guitar or instrument. Everybody!!

That means you or a professional guitar player you might admire. Things like travel, family, vacations or plainly lack of inspiration to play all take a role in it. Guess what? It is ok. There is no law that states you can not take a few days or even weeks (or months) off.

There was a period when the only time I picked up the guitar is when I needed to do something with it. Could be a show, could be a recording. I started looking at it as a tool.

Over time, of course, the initial passion for the instrument returned and I also play it just for fun like anyone else. Just remember, as Steve Vai once said, it is ok to get frustrated, but it is not ok to quit. And, your goals wait for no one.

I always knew that if I was not working towards something, then someone else was. This thought was very motivating to me. Playing the guitar sometimes is like putting pennies in the bank. You put em in everytime you practice and when you skip, loose inspiration or can not get to your guitar for whatever reason … you take some pennies out. You see what I mean?

This is why I always tell young kids to play as much as you can, because one day you will have to rely on the arsenal they have built over the time. This also applies to professionals. Travel, which is a huge part of playing live, takes serious time away from your instrument. You might take an 8 hour flight, go to your hotel, do some press in the am, check out at 2 for a sound check and pick up your guitar at 4pm. This often means that you have not picked up or seen your instrument in way over 24 hours. It’s just reality. If you are a musician (and, most people who play an instrument are) remember that having a creative output also means experiencing things in life that you later will express through your instrument. Sure, it is not technical in nature, but this can be some of the best practicing you’ll ever do.

I look at it from far away – as a big picture. In a span of 10 years, you taking 3 weeks off won’t really matter, so I suggest you don’t beat yourself over it. Just pick it up and play. No huge, grand plan needed for this. Just play. Over time you’ll see that you’ve been playing for an hour and had a good time. The momentum and a feeling of accomplishment will build if you repeat tomorrow and a day after. You’ll often find yourself that you love playing again. Horns!

The Dilema of Collecting, Wanting and Adding More Guitars.

Almost every guitar player that I know enjoys adding instruments to their stable. We have an emotional connection to guitars and let’s face it – we love the damn things. Reasons to look for new instruments vary from something that we truly need, such as capability to have a go to guitar for an extra tuning or a back-up guitar when we play a live show, all the way to finding an axe just because it would look good on our wall.

Are any of the reasons good enough? Sure. I won’t judge.

But, there is a deeper mental dilemma and torment at play when some guitarists obsess over which instrument to get next. It is the feeling of getting something new that is exciting for the sake of the chase that often results in nothing less than a one two punch to the brain.

When a need arises to truly have a new guitar, then let’s leave it at that. Go for it. But, what if we just go crazy while fueled with the greedy need of getting something new just because. Let’s talk about that. I will additionally throw a few tips on how to approach finding the right guitar you need.

I would like to share some tips that might help you when you are driving yourself crazy over what to get next. Yes, this loony cycle includes sleepless nights and spending hours upon hours looking on the internet.

Wanting Something Is Way More Powerful Than Having It

The anticipation and excitement of getting a potential new guitar are often more powerful than the satisfaction of having it in your hands. I think of it when a child orders something from the internet and he checks every hour if the mailman dropped it off for him. Once the package is opened and a couple days are spent with the new toy, a new prize appears on the horizon. Yep, even guitars are like that. The truth is that people are emotional animals and many lack the self-discipline to avoid traps that are set up by their mind.

If you are thinking about the next guitar you will get “after” the one you are looking at “currently”, you might be beginning to spin a little crazy. These days it is extremely hard to get away from having something you are interested in not find you. How about when you look at something online one day and a banner ad pops-up with this exact item when you least expect it a day after while you Google cat food. Yeah, it’s like dropping beer cans at the doorstep of a guy who likes to hit the brews a little too hard and tries to stop. Remember, my main point to get away from this spin cycle. Remember that the anticipation and excitement are very often more powerful than the product. If this point does not hit hard enough, follow below.

Do Not Accept Cheaper Substitutes

You know what is a real let down? When you buy something that is kind of what you wanted and then you realize it was a mistake. You end up selling it for the less than you bought it for and you go back to the guitar that you really wanted that is now more expensive. Double loss. Double frustration. Don’t do that. Yes, sometimes it is important to bleed for what you want. Get what you want. These days guitar manufacturers make instruments that are all over the price range with many of them looking very similar. Once you get the cheaper alternative you realize that the neck binding sucks, the guitar is not balanced right or that the hardware is cheap. This is a total waste of time. I would rather have 2 great quality guitars than 12 low budget beaters. No contest. Don’t accept substitutes. Remember, that your mind will play tricks on you and will try to give you a million reason why the substitute is better. You’ll hear things like it’s cheaper, you can get it now, it’s local. It’s all BS. Don’t do it. Get what you want.

True Progress Happens With Work and Practice

You are thinking WTF, I just want a guitar. That is my point. A new guitar will not make you sound great overnight – it still takes practice to play it well. Make sure that getting new gear is not your substitute for practicing. It is very easy to use guitar buying as a distraction to what the guitar was meant for, and that is to being played. So, if you are spending more time on the internet looking for new guitars versus practicing on them, then the priorities might be out of whack.

What If You Are Over The Mountain

Ok, so what happens when you are spinning, just want anything, want something new and you don’t know why the heck you are looking for a new guitar anyways. My tip is to get busy with something else. You are not in a productive space because your emotions and lack of reason keeps you spinning. Focus on something else, a new project or something else that you can get your hand or mind on. One of main reasons for failing at anything is a broken focus. You can use this to guitar buying as well. If you want to fail at buying a new guitar, break the focus of thinking about it. Eventually the urge will get smaller and smaller. You can use this usually negative principle of losing focus to actually gain potentially positive outcome.

These are the main points that I wanted to share. I am sure that there are several others, but I hope that above does help you in your decisions while chasing that holy-grail. And, remember guitar shopping is still cheaper than fast horses and big boats, so take your time, enjoy a nice axe every so often, don’t spend every penny you have, breathe a little and try to enjoy the process as it should be a fun one. Once guitar buying or collecting is stressful and not fun, the point is completely lost and is a dead ringer that you should probably rethink your approach. Horns Up!