How To Become A Great Guitarist, Part 2 – Three Reasons Why You Haven’t Become A Great Musician Yet

by Tom Hess

What is keeping your from taking your guitar playing skills to the highest level? Is it terrible playing technique? No musical creativity? Little to no natural talent? Beyond your prime? Ineffective practice sessions? Fact is, it is none of these things. These are all just the symptoms of much deeper issues.

In part one of this column I explained the key factor that determines if you will reach your musical goals. Now you are going to learn the three main things that prevent most guitar players from ever truly becoming great.

Reason #1: You Fill Your Head With Excuses For Why You Can’t Become Great

Let’s examine what excuses actually are. Contrary to what you might think at first - Excuses are not simply reasons to not do something. At a deeper level, excuses are thoughts that help you avoid the things you are afraid of most. You can quickly see this by asking yourself "What am I avoiding here" whenever you make an excuse not to do something. Think about how your life would be different if you never used an excuse ever again. So rather than saying, "Today I won’t have the time to work on practicing guitar", you simply make practicing guitar a top priority or learn how you can practice without a guitar in hand. Instead of letting yourself believe that you just "don’t have musical talent", change your mindset and focus on believing that you have infinite potential to improve and become great.

The only one holding you back is yourself. Here’s is how to combat your urge to make excuses:

1. Think about all the excuses you’ve been making for yourself. You might be creating excuses that hold you back without even knowing it. It’s not always easy to see, but you can quickly pinpoint them by putting together a file with all the thoughts that seem to be stopping you from taking action to become a better guitarist. Are these things truly good reasons or just excuses? – Truth is, in most cases, they will be excuses.

2. Avoid excuses at all cost by using these tactics:

-Surround yourself with people who have empowering mindsets and can help hold you accountable when you make excuses

-Keep in mind that every time you make excuses, you move further away from your goal of becoming an amazing guitar player

-Think of your excuses like a bad habit to quit. The less you give into them, the better you’ll be at it

To make this process much easier, begin working with a great guitar teacher who knows how to spot excuses and will help you overcome them.

Reason #2: Your Mindset Is All Wrong

You can only be as successful as your mindset lets you be. If you want to become truly great at guitar, you must demand greatness from yourself! The world’s best guitarists all have a mindset for greatness. You might think: "Of course. They’ve already achieved great things, it’s easy for them to think with a mindset for greatness."

NO!

You’ve got it all wrong. Their mindset was the fundamental building block of the success that they achieved! For these incredible musicians to reach the high level of guitar playing virtuosity that they did, they started by avoiding excuses, making success-oriented decisions and implementing a strong mindset that gave them the ability to accomplish great things. To achieve the same greatness as them, you must only accept the highest level of greatness for yourself. Know deep down inside that you CAN and WILL reach this level of success. This is how all champions think before they become champions in their field. So begin changing your mindset by:

-Replacing all your negative thoughts will powerful ones that will lead you where you want to go

-Changing your belief from "I don’t know if I can become a great guitar player" to "I MAKE THE CHOICE to become a master guitar player".

My Personal Mission: It is my mission to turn every student of mine into a true CHAMPION!

I expect and demand massive success for each and every guitar student I train, teach and mentor. Every student of mine and YOU have the potential to:

-Become an amazing guitar player

-Become a massive successful professional musician

-Earn a great living teaching guitar

An amazing guitar teacher will simply not waste time with you if you frequently make excuses or have a negative mindset. He may work with you just one time. However, when they notice that you have a negative mindset, they will stop working with you altogether. In other words, your mindset with have kept you from obtaining opportunities that could greatly improve your musical skills.

Reason #3: You’re Not Making The Right Decisions

Every choice you make decides what your future will be like. Many people become slaves to circumstance and do not take action to get what they want. Understand that your circumstances are not a good reason for not taking action to do something. Your life is built through decisions, not circumstances. I frequently hear guitar players saying things like this:

"I got a late start"

"No one got me a guitar when I was young"

"I didn’t have a guitar teacher"

"I can only practice a little every day"

"I can’t afford to pay for guitar lessons"

"I’m not sure how to best practice guitar"

"I can’t find the right guitar teacher for me"

"My work leaves me without energy to practice guitar"

"I have a family to spend time with, leaving me no time to practice guitar"

Guess what? These people will never become great guitarists because they have succumb to their circumstances. You can do better. Know that YOU have total control over your circumstances, not them over you. From now on, make choices that move you closer to reaching your guitar playing goals, rather than excusing your failure to do so. Make the choice to begin studying with whoever you need to study, learn whatever things you need to learn, practice whatever you need to practice, and train your mindset and your hands to do what needs to be done to become an amazing guitar player.

Excuses are your limitations (they are not descriptions of them)! Don’t pay attention to the thoughts in your mind that say you can’t do, have or achieve something you truly desire. Only accept thoughts that say you WILL become an incredible guitarist…and you will be on the right path to playing guitar like you’ve always wanted.

To quickly achieve your guitar playing goals, learn how to find the right guitar instructor who will help you become the guitarist you’ve always wanted to be.