Zen and the Art of Mastering Guitar

Be Truly Honest with Yourself - There’s a tried-and-true reason why the saying, “Honesty is the best policy” is a famous saying. It’s true. It is one of the most legitimate truths in the universe. This is how it works with guitar playing: being honest about your own strengths, weaknesses and limitations will result in focusing on what you need to work on. For example, if you’re working on a song and part of it is easy but a certain section is difficult and not played correctly, you know that you’ll need to hunker down and seriously practice on that section to work out the kinks. If you don’t the song will always be faulty.


Love Yourself

As a  person as well as a guitar player, you will not be able to advance in life and music, respectively, if you do not love yourself. This is arguably the most important characteristic to grasp. Self-love allows overall well-being and self-acceptance, which is necessary to be more comfortable in your skin and will give you the confidence to advance in life and in your guitar playing. Accepting yourself and loving yourself for who you are will only bring about positivity, so when you honor this sentiment, as a guitar player, your love and confidence will be reflected in your music. 



Let Go of That Which is Unproductive

Although incredibly difficult to do, letting go, whether you’re letting go of bad experiences, painful emotions, or memories - can be one of the biggest hurdles to overcome in your life. When you hang on to these feelings, it will weigh heavily on your shoulders, so to speak, and with a burden so limiting like that, how will you progress with your playing, let alone your life? Easier said than done but making an effort to let go, and succeeding will be extraordinarily liberating in so many ways. Be sure to learn from these hurtful and unpleasant experiences, thank them for their many lessons, accept that they happened, then release them…forever. See how amazingly fast your guitar playing improves.



Be Mindful of Everything You Do

When you pay close attention to what you are doing, you are practicing “meditation in motion.” This way of thinking teaches you clear focus and appreciating what is happening at the moment. You might be singing a song while playing the guitar and while being 100% concentrated on what you’re doing, you can make the appropriate changes and small adjustments to perfect your music, from your posture to finger positioning and picking or strumming.