- Feb 19, 2012
- 8,144
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- Thread starter
- #21
Wolfy, thank you for your kind words, my friend. I wish I was a natural. It took me a long time to get to where I am now. One huge mistake I made was that I never took lessons. On one hand, it was cool to learn on my own, but looking back now, it really slowed down my rate of progression and I’m still learning things I should’ve known years ago...so the best advice I can give anyone is to find a good teacher and soak in a much as you can. There’s no reason to try to reinvent the wheel on your own, but don’t ever get discouraged no matter what. I’ve read that even guys like Clapton would practice the same riff for hours on end, much to the chagrin of his mates. He almost quit completely after the first year because he felt like he wasn’t getting anywhere. I also read that B.B. King as a young man would stay home and practice scales endlessly instead of going out with his friends to parties. So even the guitar gods that we perceive as naturals had to practice and work really hard, which is very encouraging for us mere mortals.