Letting Go |
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Oct 13 2011, 10:01 AM
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QUOTE (Todd Simpson @ Oct 13 2011, 04:51 AM)  I have had students who really struggled with this a while back when I was doing a lot of one on one lessons. I could tell that the students actually had talent, much more than me in many cases. And it was really just practice discipline standing in their way. But somehow, it got twisted in to a lack of confidence in their playing. And confidence, or lack of it, comes through in ones playing. It's hard not to hear the player in part of what's played. So I would always tell them Play With Authority Even if your not playing much. Eric clapton for example, never bows his head when misses a scale and I've seen him miss quite a few. He throws his arm back in a flourish and grabs a string bend. And the crowd goes wild. Yes, you're very right, Todd. I've lost count of the amount of people who've stood in front of me and exclaimed 'Oh man, I wish I could do that' or 'I suck' or words to that effect.. they forget the part where they've only been playing a year or so and I've been playing for over a decade. It's not that they suck, they just haven't been doing it as long.. it's only practice that seperates me from them. If you apply yourself, you can do it. Ability doesn't fall out of the sky and land in our lap.. you have to want to do something. That desire then points you towards the knowledge which will help you, the teachers or the info that you need, and you practice the bits that appeal to your desire the most. Sooner or later, your path is well established and you're on your way. The paradox is that you have to let go of the 'result' or 'outcome' so that you can focus on the NOW. If we've unconsiously applied a time limit or a goal that has to be reached or you'll be unhappy, then you strangle yourself with it and will find progress even harder. Have goals, but make sure they're constructive ones, not destructive. If they are like 'I want to be the best insert technique here' or 'I want to be be better than' then they are quite destructive goals and I'm sure none of us here think like that. You will know if it's more of a constructive goal because it will be concerned only with your own natural progress and not concerned with how you appear to the outside world. Here's a short story I posted which applies to this perfectly. 
This post has been edited by Ben Higgins: Oct 13 2011, 10:01 AM |
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