L Plates For Guitar

Change Your Expectations, Change Your Outcomes

I’d like to take a moment to talk about practice expectations.

When it comes to playing guitar we have grandiose ideas about how fast we’ll progress and how quickly we’ll become guitar gods. This often leads to disappointment when we don’t meet our own expectations and progress as fast as we would like to.

While we do everything we can to accelerate the progress through efficient learning techniques and optimised practice, you still need to put in the work, and it’s still going to take a few years before you really start to feel comfortable.

…Just like learning how to drive.

When you first learn how to drive, you’re set up with the expectation that you can get your learners permit at age 16 and that you need to do two to three years of practice before you’re even allowed to take the test.

In my home state of Victoria, you have to do a mandatory 120 hours of supervised driving before you’re even allowed to take the test.

Then once you get your license, you have to be on a probationary period for 4 years before you’re deemed ready to be a fully licensed driver.

So the expectation is you need approximatly 6 years of driving experience before you’re a fully qualified driver.

Would it be worth changing your mindset towards guitar playing and allowing yourself 6 years of development to learn and develop your skills, and experience playing gigs, jamming with other people before you got angry at your lack of progress, or decided to give up? I definitely think so.

Learning To Play Guitar Takes
A While... And That's Okay

Imagine how much better you’ll feel just accepting that learning to play guitar takes a long time.

Imagine how good you can actually become in 6 years time.

Imagine all the skills, techniques and confidence you can develop if you stick with it and don’t give up.

All you have to do is keep playing regularly, continue coming to your lessons, and allow time to do the rest.

And yes, if you practice more, you’ll develop quicker, just like some people are ready to get their license at the age of 18 while others need a few more years to develop their confidence.

There is no time limit on your development, just go at your own pace, and never give up!

*A Quick Side Note On Calculating How Long It Takes To Get Good At Guitar

If you wanted to achieve 120 hours of guitar lessons instead of supervised driving practice the average person would need 240x 30m guitar lessons which would take you 4 years and 6 months assuming you had a weekly lesson without missing any weeks.

Coming to 60 minute lessons or two lessons per week, as well as practicing regularly at home will accelerate this for you, but it’s still going to take time and effort to develop.

About The Author

Michael Gumley is a guitar teacher from Melbourne, Australia and is the founder of Melbourne Guitar Academy, Guitar Dojo Online and Guitar Ninjas.

He is partnered with Ormsby Guitars, Line 6 Effects & Ernie Ball Strings and makes it his personal mission to raise the standard of guitar eduction worldwide through his Guitar Ninjas Curriculum and Guitar Teacher Training Programs.

While he can’t help you learn how to drive, he is The Best Guitar Teacher in Australia (with the Google Reviews to prove it) and would lovey to help you improve your guitar playing. Get in touch today to book a FREE Guitar Lesson with Michael or a member of the Melbourne Guitar Academy Team.