How This Hit TV Show Fast-Tracks Development & Turns People Into Pro Dancers In 12 Weeks
(and what that means for your guitar playing)
If you’ve ever watched the hit TV show Dancing With The Stars you can easily tell the difference between the celebrity contestants and the stars in the very first episode.
In fact for most of the first half of the season it’s pretty obvious who is who.
But then something happens…
Something clicks and the celebrities start getting it.
They push through The Dip and start looking a lot like the pros.
In fact by the end of the season you can barely tell the difference between the pros and the celebrities.
This amazing feat just goes to show you the importance of sticking with things, and of having a system to follow in order to achieve or arrive at your desired outcome.
In the case of Dancing With The Stars you have a system that takes people who can’t dance, pairs them with a professional pattern, provides them access to expert coaches, and then has them training under supervision for several hours a day in an environment conducive to learning.
People with no talent go in, receive daily supervised training and 12 weeks later come out on the same level as the pros.
Even if you don’t like dancing, it really is an amazing feat.
And the best thing is, your guitar playing could be like this too.
Now not to say that if you don’t turn into a pro after 12 weeks of playing guitar that you should give up, that’s not the case at all, but after 12 weeks of daily practice you’re going to be a lot more accomplished than the average Joe.
What compounds this for the Dancing With The Stars Celebrities is the fact that time gets condensed and they do a lot of dancing practice in their 12 weeks. Especially when they get to learn directly from experts who have already put in the decades of effort which quickly helps them accelerate their progress
The average amount of training undertaken is at least 4 hours per day of dancing practice. This includes learning routines with their partners, practicing specific moves, and getting coaching from professional dance instructors who can correct their form and give them inside tips and tricks that make a big difference.
This happens 5 days a week for 12 weeks!
Let’s do some maths…
4 hours per day for 5 days a week equals 20 hours per week!
Multiply this by 12 and you get a whopping 240 hours of dancing practice within a 12 week period.
This of course doesn’t account for the additional dancing they will be doing during film shoots, their performances and any additional practice they may be putting in outside of scheduled hours towards the end of the season when they go into finals.
Can you imagine how good your guitar playing would be if you put 240 hours into it within a 12 week period?
Can you imagine how good your guitar playing would be if you put 240 hours into it full stop?
Being realistic, if you practiced for only an hour a day, it would take you 240 days to get to the same level, and over a year if you did 30 minutes a day or an hour every second day.
So before you lose heart at an apparent lack of progress you’ve made in the short amount of time you have been learning, give some thought to the fact that it does take a long time to develop the skills you need to play guitar well.
The big takeaway here is that with a system for learning, expert guidance and consistent effort on your behalf, you can do amazing things in a short period of time.
With The Right Guidance Becoming A Great Guitar Player Is Only A Matter Of Time
What you need to become a great guitar player is:
- Guidance from a professional guitar teacher
- To surround yourself with other great players
- To follow a system aimed at developing you into a great guitar player
- To put in the time consistently over a long enough period of time for your skills to develop
- To put yourself in an environment conducive to learning.
While it’s highly unlikely that you’re going to be able to put in 4 hours a day and reach 240 hours of playing in a 3 month window of time, it’s very likely that if you stick with your guitar playing and accumulate 240 hours of practice (or even just 100) that you’ll notice substantial improvement in your playing and will be well beyond the realm of a beginner guitar player and ready to tackle the intermediate phase of playing.
To quote one of my favourite animated movies Chicken Run.
“Chickens go in, Pies come out”
At Melbourne Guitar Academy “Average Joe’s go in, Guitar Pro’s come out”
You just need to stick with it long enough for the process to work.
About The Author
Michael Gumley is a guitar teacher residing in Melbourne Australia. While he isn’t much of a dancer he has all the knowledge you need to become a great guitar player and has helped countless guitar students improve their playing beyond levels they ever thought possible.
If you’re struggling with your guitar playing and need help pushing through to the next level, don’t give up. Reach out to Michael and his team at Melbourne Guitar Academy for the Best Guitar Lessons In Wantirna South for a free guitar lesson so that we can identify what is holding you back and give you exactly what you need to overcome the problems you are facing.
Remember, “chickens go in, pie’s come out“. You’re the chicken, and epic guitar skills is the pie.