Whenever we take to develop a new ability, it requires us to learn skills that were hitherto unknown to us. One thing that we often do to try and make this easier on ourselves is to scour the net, or chat to others, for advice.
Advice is both good and bad. You've got to realise that everybody's experience of life is personal to them and what works for them may be because their circumstances allowed it. Maybe they already had tons of experience under their belt, they were in the right head space, it appealed to their unique way of learning and so it worked for them.
'Them' being the key word. Anecdotal evidence is great and all but it isn't proof of anything and it most certainly isn't a magic bullet to set you on the road to success.
What it can do is make you aware of something you might not have realised. It could be something to do with technique or how to arrange your time spent on it. It could be to do with gear / equipment. It can make you look at your own approach and give you ideas of things to try out.
'Try' being the key word here.
It will always come back to trying stuff out. Physical action. The amount of words consumed can't make up for time spent doing something. At some point you'll have to put hand to fretboard, foot to tarmac, hand in pocket - whatever it may be.
Going back to the idea of having unique ways of learning, people definitely do have different ways in which they judge whether something is working for them or not. Some people have a very logical, methodical way of working. Others tend to be more about feeling it and going on intuition. This is important to remember when you take advice from people. You may read a cool sounding quote from your favourite guitar player but is this guy someone who is more of a methodical, logical type or someone who just 'feels it'?
For example, someone like John Petrucci or Guthrie Govan have immense knowledge, both technical and musical, to impart to anyone who wants it. Yet someone like Jimmy Page, EVH or Keith Richards may have more of a 'it's rock n roll - just play your guitar' approach. Depending on what guitarists you like or what genre you prefer, you may choose to embrace certain soundbites and ignore others - often due to the source. But I say give all advice its fair due. Be wary of all extremes and be aware that the answer is usually a combination of everything. These guys all had different ways of learning things. Some of them were more instinctive and accidental, some of them understand more of what they do while others are just thankful that whatever they do seems to work.
So, when taking advice, consider the source. But don't discount it out of hand either. There are loads of ways of doing things and the chances of one guy having the exact answers you need are very rare indeed. You could spend years on forums looking for the best ways of doing something or you can go and try them for yourselves now. Having some knowledge is good because you can often avoid mistakes such as over training injuries caused by too much, too soon or bad technique. But the rest of your knowledge will come from your own endeavours and will eventually become your own wisdom.
Trial and error - it's the story of life. When's the last time you put this into action? It could be guitar playing or anything else
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This post has been edited by Ben Higgins: Oct 1 2015, 04:47 PM
