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Articles, music tips and advice
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Guitar tips
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Do you sometimes find
it difficult to stay focused and motivated to practice or play
music? Most musicians I know (including myself) have had at least
one significant period in their lives when they have experienced
musical burn out - a general feeling of being uninspired, unmotivated,
bored, or just plain lazy! I'm not necessarily talking about people
who have lost interest in music, I'm referring to those who love
it, but have struggled to maintain focus at some point during
their lives. Let me illustrate 2 examples, an intermediate level
player and a professional musician.
Here is an excerpt of an email I received from an intermediate
level player:
" …..I picked up the guitar when
I was 14 after seeing a friend of mine play, I was very impressed
in that moment, I felt in love with the guitar.
My first goal was to get better than my friend, so I worked
very hard like 6 or more hours per day, I couldn't get away
from the guitar, every morning I woke and picked up the guitar
and played a little bit before school. I saw BIG improvements!
I soon got better than my friend, and I knew it came from 'correct
practicing and hard work'.
I began to realize how big improvements had come in so little
time, and I began to set big goals. I was so happy and excited
because I knew how big I could be if I continued working like
I had been doing before. I began playing gigs around the country,
small and big gigs, everything was going fine for me.
In the last weeks, it seems that I can't pick up the guitar.
There can go 2 days when I don't touch it. It's like I have
lost the 'desire' to play, but not. It's kind of hard to explain,
deep in my heart I want to play the guitar but I just don't
do it. I get frustrated when that happens. It's like it's boring
to play the guitar though I still love it. What can I do?….
"
…Now for the next example (also an email
excerpt sent to me)…
" …..Hi Tom! I have made much
excellent progress since we began corresponding, even my wife,
who knows nothing about music, has noticed a large difference
with what I'm doing. The new record is almost done now. It is
much better than our first, we'll be getting ready for the tour
soon. Even though the new solos are much harder, I'm more confident
today that I will be able to pull them off every night without
such problems as I had on the southern tour last year, you remember
what a mess that was for me.
As you guessed, I'm in a new place now and FINALLY on the skill
level which I should have been performing at last year! So you
are probably thinking, 'mission accomplished, the struggle is
over, I've won' or other such victorious thoughts. All is well
and good for me now right? Well, not really Tom. Yes things
have never been better for my career or my playing, but I have
a challenge now, one that I can't seem to get my head around.
This is the reason for my email to you.
All the things I wanted to happen have happened already or are
happening now, and still I'm not fulfilled. It's not that I
want more success. I don't really know what it is that I want
now. All that I am certain of is I can't push myself any further
anymore. I've reached a plateau, not in my career, nor in my
playing. I've reached a plateau in my mind that isn't allowing
me to find the strength to work on playing. Maybe I've reached
a certain level on guitar and I feel I'm done now as if I don't
need to get any better because I am already as good as I need
to be. I've made it this far and I'm doing bigger things.
To be honest, I'm burned out with guitar. I still like being
a musician and the life I have because of it! I can't get myself
motivated to go further on a musical level. I only need to be
sure the band stays as good as it is now. I don't know if I
am making any sense to you, I make little sense to myself now.
I still love guitar, but I'm burned out. This contradiction
eats me alive! I want to be as great as possible but I don't
need to be any better, so why am I not finding the mental energy
to make it happen… please excuse my rambling, you are only one
of three people I can talk to about this. So what does the doctor
say? Any cures for me in the bag of Hess tricks? Come on man,
write me a prescription! Have you been through this yourself?…..
"
As you read the excerpts from each player,
what did you hear (or what didn't you hear) in their words that
might be the root of their problem? I could save you a few minutes
and just tell you what I think the answer is, but I think we both
(you and me) are far more interested in what YOU think their primary
problem was…. So I invite you to take a few minutes (or as long
as you need) and think about it on your own before reading the
rest of this article…. So please…stop reading now, think about
it and then continue onto the next paragraph…..
…..Both of these players had significant goals and challenges
which they were focused on and have achieved. In both cases the
commitment to achieving these goals was a good motivating force
which had served them well - up to a point. Once the goals were
basically realized, the motivation quickly evaporated. Both of
these players are extraordinary people because they actually had
enough perseverance and a strong enough work ethic to manifest
their goals into a physical reality. Many people with similar
goals may not have had the same drive to get the job done and
would have probably burned out even before reaching their own
goals. So, what is the answer? Why have these people struggled
to move forward even though they know they have the abilities
and the desire to do more? In short, what caused the burn out
after a certain point?
When I replied to both of the guys, I basically told them I believed
their problem was they didn't have powerful enough REASONS to
move forward beyond the burn out point. It's much harder to force
ourselves to do something every day if we don't have powerful
enough reasons to do so. Challenges in life are so much easier
to conquer when the purposes and reasons are: important enough,
vivid enough, and urgent enough within ourselves.
In the first example above that player had a strong enough reason
to reach a certain point, but after that, what happened? He burned
out because he paid attention only to reach a goal which would
not fulfill him after it was achieved. There wasn't a stronger
and bigger reason in his mind to really drive him to go beyond
that.... To play better than someone else was simply not a powerful
enough reason for the long term.
The player in the second example did have bigger and more powerful
goals than the first guy. Because I know quite a lot about this
person, I also understand his personal reasons behind those goals
and they were/are strong enough - this is why he succeeded. But
again, beyond the goals of having a successful professional career
in the music business and becoming an excellent musician, he has
other goals, but they were not backed by powerful enough, vivid
enough, or urgent enough reasons - this is why he simply burned
out. As his friend, we talked a lot about this and am glad to
report to you that he has focused a lot more on his reasons and
has continued on to do even bigger and better things in music
(both artistically and professionally).
One of my favorite quotes on achievement comes from Tony Robbins,
"If you have big enough reasons, you can achieve virtually anything".
This statement has impacted my life greatly from the moment I
first heard it in April of 2005.
The reasons you have behind why you want what you want are probably
different from the guys in the examples, myself, your friends
or anyone else. Your reasons are personal and specific to you.
But whatever they are, focus on them every day and if you still
are not motivated enough to take the actions you need to take,
it doesn't mean that you are lazy - it only means you need to
find a powerful enough goal backed by bigger, more powerful and
more vivid REASONS.
Yes… it's as simple as that...
About
the author
Tom Hess is professional touring virtuoso guitarist, composer
and teacher. You can read more info about Tom at: http://tomhess.net |
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