A guitarist
is by nature an emotional sort of person. I mean, it's
such an emotional instrument, I think it attracts people
of a highly sensitive nature, who need to learn to play
so they can express that emotion, so it doesn't drive
them crazy, perhaps!
Because
of this, I think we can fall prey to a few psychological
conditions that make our progress as guitarists and
musicians much more difficult than it needs to be. One
of these conditions is the chronic mood of doubt, which
manifests itself as the spoken or unspoken question
of "Do I have any Natural Talent for this? Can
I learn to play guitar? Am I kidding myself here, thinking
I can learn to play like these obviously talented players
I hear, who make me feel so inadequate?" Boy, I
spent a lot of time feeling like that. I remember listening
to a Segovia recording of the Bach Bouree in Em, which
I was working on at the time. He played it so fast,
and I was so struggling to play it at even half
that speed, that it put me in a serious state of self
doubt.
Well, I
have learned a few things about this subject of "natural
talent", and I think they would be good and useful
things to share with the aspiring players out there.
You
Too Can Be A Superhero!
My first
insight into this "question" was when I observed
how I reacted to my first experience in taking lessons.
I had taught myself guitar for three months before I
began formal lessons. I was practicing for 3 hours a
day by myself, working out of a book called something
like "Teach Yourself Guitar the Easy Way".
It was a pretty decent book, and I learned first position
notes, some chords and some songs. When I started lessons,
I started with Mel Bay # 2, and had a lot of misconceptions
cleared up, and started learning a world of things I
had no clue about, with the aid of a very good Jazz
style teacher.
When I started
lessons, I began to practice even more, 5 or 6 hours
a day. As a result of this, and because I did have some
degree of "natural talent" (which I will define
later), I got pretty good pretty fast. My teacher was
amazed, and used to show me off to everybody, as I had
become his "star pupil". He would always say,
"tell them how much you practice."
Now the
funny thing is, I would always lie about it, and tell
them "oh, 2 hours a day". I didn't want them
to know I practiced so much. I thought " I don't
want them to know how much I work at it, I'd rather
let them think I'm some kind of genius". I used
to get really afraid someone would realize how much
I worked at it, then I'd just be like everybody else.
Now, I do
forgive myself for this character flaw, because I understand
why I felt this way. I grew up in a big family, and
there was only so much attention to go around (and being
someone who would spend a lot of time on stage in later
life, I needed a whole lot, by nature). This was the
first time in my life I ever stood out at anything,
and had people pay so much attention to me, and make
me feel special. It was a good gig, and I didn't want
to blow it by having them find out I'm just a common
slob like everybody else. No, I'm special. I just picked
this thing up, and got divinely inspired.
Besides,
my fondest desire as a child was to be a super hero,
like Superman, or Spiderman. I'd even settle for Batman!
This was the closest I had come to fulfilling that career
choice!
Learning
What Being Special Really Means
As
I began teaching, I got the opportunity to see large
numbers of people attempting to learn to play, and I
started to really investigate this idea of natural talent.
Was there such a thing, and what were the reasons some
people got really good, and others did not. I saw many
people grapple with the challenges of learning to play,
and I realized that yes, I do have some natural talent,
because many of these people were having such
a harder time than I did. But I also noticed another
interesting thing. A very good percentage of the people
I was teaching seemed to have at least as much talent
as I did. Some maybe more. But very few had the burning
desire I had. Very few were practicing the number of
hours I did, even from the beginning. Very few seemed
to have the almost desperate need in their life for
this thing we call playing the guitar.
So I saw
that there is literally a whole lot of natural talent
around. But there isn't a whole lot of love, dedication,
and "hard work".
I started
to see how immature, and downright incorrect my old
way of thinking was, when I was trying to be a Superhero.
I began to realize how beautiful a thing it was that
someone would love and need something as beautiful as
playing the guitar, that they would give so much of
themselves to it. I certainly thought it was beautiful
whenever I saw my students do it, and I still do. I
was beginning to see that love, dedication, and hard
work were the really "special" things. (Of
course, it has never felt like "work" to me.
It is called "playing" the guitar, isn't it?)
You Expect
Me To Practice Only 5 Hours a Week!!??
It took
me a while to understand why all people who said they
wanted to play the guitar didn't spend most of their
day doing it. I remember being in high school, and filling
out the form for getting extra credit for taking music
lessons. Mine said you had to practice at least 5 hours
a week to qualify. I raised my hand and said, "excuse
me, I think there's a mistake on mine. It says you only
have to practice 5 hours a week, shouldn't that be 5
hours a day." I couldn't understand the concept
of only practicing 5 hours a week! Boy, did I learn
different when I started teaching full time!
Now as the
years have gone by, I have become much more tolerant.
I can accept the fact that there are people in this
world who want to play the guitar, and yet only want
to practice maybe a half an hour a day, or whatever.
I also realized that these are the people who are probably
not planning on becoming professionals, and that's okay.
There is a place in the world for people like this,
although the world would probably be a better place
if more people spent most of their day playing the guitar.
But of course, professionals do need some people
who just like to listen, and admire how special we "full-timers"
are.
In all seriousness
though, I am always moved when I see so many people,
school teachers, landscapers, office workers, mothers
and fathers, make such a commitment to keep up their
efforts to learn to play this instrument, in the midst
of otherwise very full and demanding lives. Maybe they
only get to practice 20 minutes a day, but it is very
important to them, and they make sacrifices to keep
it in their lives and have it grow. That's one reason
I have made a specialty of showing these people how
to get the most out of the time they put in.
Okay,
So What Is "Natural Talent"?
Natural
Talent is a pre-disposition in the mind and the body,
to do the right thing. When a person who has natural
talent for singing hears someone sing, their body and
mind "know" what that person is doing to get
that sound. And their body/mind knows how to do it too,
or how to begin moving in that direction. (They don't
have to know this consciously, that is "know what
they know, and how they know it, they just "know").
Some people come in for lessons, and they "tend"
to do everything right, from sitting comfortably with
the instrument, to positioning and using the fingers.
Some people do everything wrong, and must be shown,
painstakingly and minutely, exactly what to do. These
people are the ones I have learned most from, about
teaching and about playing.
Understand
that everyone falls somewhere in between the two extremes
of total cluelessness, and being a genius. Yes, I have
some talent, as do many people. If I didn't work really
hard, it would have got me nowhere. I needed a whole
lot of education to go with that talent. So did Beethoven,
who studied with Haydn, and so did Bach, who spent his
life copying out the music of composers he admired,
in order to study their work. So did Eric Clapton, who
spent years copying every blues record he could find.
Don't
Worry If You Think You Don't Have Any.
I have,
as I said, some natural talent for guitar, but I sure
don't have it for singing. When it comes to singing,
my head is on backwards. Whatever the right thing to
do is, I'll do the opposite. I don't need "Singing
For Dummies", I need "Singing for Retards!"
But guess
what? I get paid every week now for singing, and people
compliment me all the time on my voice. That is because
I tried my hardest with many teachers over the years,
and slowly began to "get it". Not as fast
as someone with natural talent, but I discovered how
to express myself with my voice, make a sound that was
pleasing and not ugly or strained, and fulfill my desire
and need to sing. I also found that I could move people
with my singing, and transfer my emotion to them, which
is what music is all about.
And that
is the good news. With the right approach, any one can
learn anything. I have proven this as far as playing
the guitar goes, for myself and for my students, many
of whom have had their "heads on backwards."
In fact, the more you really try, the more "Natural
Talent" you will discover in yourself. It is like
having a little voice in your head guiding you in the
right direction if you will listen. I have found the
more I listen, the louder that voice gets, and I hear
it more often.
Summing
Up
Having "talent"
is not the primary factor in whether or not you will
become a good or great player. Your burning desire and
desperate need to play, coupled with the correct understanding
and approach, are the most important things you must
have.
There
are lots of people with talent, but not a lot who allow
their desire to grow, and become powerful. If you can
allow yourself to feel this need and desire, and use
the power of that to overcome all the obstacles you
might encounter along the way, you will find all the
talent you need to be the player you are meant to be.
