Accept No Substitutes for Good Guitar Teaching

June 14, 2023

It could be argued that we live in an age of impatience. 

We want our Amazon Prime delivery to arrive the day before we click the mouse.  We want our restaurant food hot and ready as soon as we pay order it.  We want “instant results” with less effort.

Sure, some of those things are possible (maybe not Amazon a day early; I was of course being hyperbolic.)  But it’s my conviction that good things come to those who wait…and that better things come to those who invest with patience and persistence.

But these are not universal virtues; we’re often looking for hacks that can sometimes come in the form of shortcuts or substitutes.  These impatient steps can lead to a certain amount of results, but at what cost?

Cramming in College

When I was in college, many of my professors gave me a heads-up about when our major exams would be.  And I knew that studying for these exams would be essential.

But sometimes I was guilty of “cramming” the night before, having done little or no studying thus far. 

Occasionally, I pulled off a B+ on the exam, but the downside was that shortly after the test was finished, I had forgotten most of the material.

I had used my short-term memory as my cache for the information on the test, because I had crammed it. 

But here’s the thing – I was earning a music degree.  Do you think some of those early concepts (especially music theory) came back later and needed to be recalled for “next-level” courses and exams? 

Yep.  So, I learned quickly not to cram, at least not in my music major.

Speaking transparently, I still did some cramming of concepts for some of my General University Requirements, but looking back, that wasn’t wise either.

I had substituted cramming for actual diligent study, and I reaped what I had sown.
 

Fire and Water

Twice, recently, I’ve seen signs that have cautioned me against substitutes for the sake of safety.

I was walking in the local Wal-Mart and spotted a multi-pack of fire clickers.  You know, the lighters with the trigger and gooseneck end that you can use to light a fire on a grill or in a wood stove.

On the packaging, I saw these words:

“No lighter is child-proof.  There is no substitute for proper adult supervision.”

I agree.  Giving little 3-year-old Johnny access to one of these lighters and letting him run through the house or the yard with his “torch” could lead to serious problems. 

And that’s probably why this warning was issued.  Some parent somewhere abdicated their responsibility to keep the lighters out of reach, and either by action or omission, let a young one access the lighter unsupervised, and then…there was a fire of some kind.

The same day, I took my daughter to swim practice, where I observed this sign on the wall at our local pool:

“Watch your children for pool safety; there is no substitute for supervision.”

This warning sign spoke volumes, even in a venue where three lifeguards were standing ready.

Now, these two warnings about fire and water imply the potential for extreme scenarios, but each of the warnings was likely the result of a parent choosing in the moment not to be as attentive and present, perhaps because they were trying to do too much at once. 

Now, kids can be hard to chase down.  Some of them abuse trust or think they can do more than they can.

I can’t speak intelligently to potential circumstances where fire or water got out of control, and they’re likely a lot more complicated circumstances than I might realize, but one thing is true: if those children had received undivided adult supervision, their safety would have been improved significantly.

“Cakedrastic” Circumstances 

On a lighter note, I’ve tried my hand at baking things with comedic results.  And sometimes this has happened as a result of trying to substitute an ingredient or a method that had not been tested.

I’ve tried an ingredient substitution, and watched in sorrow as my “baking project” became a drastic baking disaster. 

I had been looking for a shortcut, or I was impatient and didn’t want to run to the store or visit a neighbor to get the actual ingredient I needed, and thus, I allowed a substitute to decrease the quality (or obliterate the quality) of what I was putting together.

But as the soprano Beverly Sills is known to have said, “There are no shortcuts to anywhere worth going.”

The Iron Triangle

You may have heard of the Iron Triangle.  I talk about this sometimes, because I think it’s a super important picture to remember.  It applies to a lot of different aspects of life, whether business or just doing things we do each day.

There are three sides of the Iron Triangle: Good, Fast and Cheap. 

According to the rule, you can have two sides, but not all three.

If something is good and fast, like overnight shipping, it’s not going to be cheap.

If something is good and cheap, like a professional graphics designer waiving his fee for your album art as he “makes time” in his off hours to gradually get it done, it’s probably not going to be fast.

And if something is fast and cheap, like a quickly microwaved freezer meal, it’s probably not going to be that good.

We have to be able to accept these parameters, because they’re almost on the caliber of laws of nature.  They really can’t be bent.  We can sacrifice aspects of each of the sides in favor of having all of them, but they won’t hold together as well.

Learning the Guitar

Let’s take this idea of “no substitutes” into the guitar learning realm, which is a huge part of my passion – equipping beginning and intermediate Christian guitarists.

In this day and age, we have a lot of options at our disposal for guitar learning.  Some are in-person, with a one-on-one guitar teacher.  Others are at workshops or conferences as a group.

Then there are apps and digital products like recorded instructional videos.

There’s also something called “edutainment” – the idea of sharing an Instagram reel or a YouTube short that has 60 seconds or so of information…with a nugget of instructional wisdom, encapsulated in a fun, entertaining manner. 

I’ve been trying my hand at these recently.  And if you wanted to follow me, I certainly wouldn’t mind. 

I’m findable on Instagram at www.Instagram.com/guitarsuccess4U

I’m also findable with a whole set of YouTube shorts at www.youtube.com/@guitarsuccess4u

So, each of these learning methods has merits, and each has downsides.

Without drawing a Venn diagram and taking opportunity each apart, I will say that when it comes to learning the guitar, some substitutes are less optimal.  Like those that don’t have personal connection.

As relational beings, we as humans appreciate the opportunity to have genuine interaction with some sort of dialogue (I’m not talking about Artificial Intelligence.)  Emotional exchanges where we have the opportunity to encourage each other are more valuable than we may realize.

So, a guitar method book, a DVD, or digital iterations of these in the forms of PDFs and online videos, can only take us so far.  I can’t ask a PDF if it was glad to be a part of my guitar development that day.  I can’t receive sincere, specific, verbal insights from a pre-recorded video about what I’m working on.

And try as they might, the innovators of AI cannot replace a real person.  They might get close with permutations of responses, but an actual conversation with a person is unique and special.

Again, those tools (and digital interfaces like apps, quizzes, and even guitar-emulating video games) can provide value and enjoyable experiences.

But there is no substitute for interpersonal interaction.

To me, the best of both worlds is to have excellent teaching materials with…a personal touch.  And I’ve done this for a couple decades – offering one-on-one lessons with worksheets and charts I’ve made, that I’ve personally walked my students through, giving them gentle encouragement and accountability along the way.

But with a studio roster of 50 students a week with a waiting list, something had to change for me.  In addition to touring and recording, life also got fuller with the beautiful addition of family.

Here’s where I was…I didn’t want my learners to have to experience unnecessary substitutions, at least not in large amounts.

So eventually, the Lord brought to my wife’s mind the idea of creating an online experience where students could access the most relevant concepts I have curated from my three decades of guitar playing…and those could be combined with actual interaction with…me.

We call this unique experience GuitarSuccess4U.

The teaching materials are meticulously crafted to be simple and accessible (and that took literally thousands of hours, so as to save my members a lot of that time.)  Totally worth it.

Side question: what’s the only non-renewable resource we use every day?  Time.  Now, there’s a difference between saving time and wanting to do something that takes almost no time.  I’m wary of someone who uses language like “instant” or “overnight.” 

As a musician, nothing, and I repeat, nothing has come to me instantly or overnight.  Some of my best songs have literally taken years to develop.  That might discourage you, but if you’re in this for the long game, you’ll see the value of taking the time to dig in and discover your potential.

Also, never underestimate the power of community for the benefits of encouragement, accountability, and the gentle reminder that you are not alone.

The interpersonal interaction inside GuitarSuccess4U includes our weekly Zoom calls, as well as comment threads in the portal where the membership materials are.  My goal is to host an in-person guitar camp for my members in the near future.

And while the membership is at a manageable size, I do offer private one-on-one lessons over Zoom, and in person for those who are within driving distance of my studio.

But in this way, I have offered my members a battle-tested curriculum with videos, audio files, transcripts, and PDF worksheets for maximum effective learning and retention…and they experience the blessing of community as well.  Peek at our online Google Reviews and you’ll see how much our members love this.

Think about this for a moment.  If you watch an instructional guitar video, and you have a question, you might be able to find an answer with enough sleuthing.  But what about being able to bring that question to the one who created that video and that worksheet, in a real-time Zoom call?

I love answering questions based on the material inside GuitarSuccess4U.  I also love it when our members help each other answer questions.

If you desire to get out of some guitar ruts, to explore new musical frontiers, and to discover your guitar potential for the glory of God, I encourage you to check out www.GuitarSuccess4U.com. 

You just might find the learning experience you’ve been waiting for.

Remember – there are lots of easy shortcuts that promise “hacks” for learning the guitar, but many of them only take you so far.  True, quality musical offerings require a “long game” mindset.  And that is a worthy thing. 

But we have found a way to save you a lot of time, to help you learn the things you need to learn for your definition of guitar success.  There is time that’s required…it’s not going to happen instantly or overnight, but in that way it actually feels more worthy, because you’ve invested the time. 

It’s been my experience that if I don’t invest time or resources in something, I just don’t value it as much.  If I’m given something, I appreciate it, but if I earn it, or earn the money to purchase it, I think I’ll take much better care of it.

The same could be true in an investment like this.  We find that when people pay, they pay attention.   

So, accept no substitutes for good guitar teaching.  I challenge each of my members to put a reasonable amount of time and effort into their learning, and when they do, I hear about the wonderful results they are getting.

Some of the best music we will ever play is waiting just on the other side of some good, diligent hard work.  That sounds a lot like serious fun to me.

I hope today was a good balance of ideas that were convicting and encouraging.  But please, lean into your guitar pursuits.  They are worth it.  And please check out GuitarSuccess4U.  And share this episode with someone.  And follow me on Instagram and YouTube.  You know, all the things.

I’ll leave you with this quote from the famous inventor Thomas Edison.  He said, “There is no substitute for hard work.”