Practice Makes Better

I guess it was probably about six or seven years ago when I finally decided I was going to do it. After all, I had been thinking about it for a long time and I wasn’t getting any younger. My window of opportunity for becoming a guitar slaying rock star was closing more and more each year and I’d done this j.o.b. bullshit for long enough.

Whoever sold people on working the 9 to 5 j.o.b. gig must be a master of persuasion because everyone’s doing it. But most people don’t want to be. They just do it because everyone else is doing it. Get up. Go to work. Go home. Rinse and repeat. But I digress.

Boring

Think about it for a second though. Everyone wants to be a rockstar. But rockstars don’t want to be anything else. I believe it was Paul Stanly from KISS who said something like that. And it’s true for the most part. It’s a life like no other. Image the feeling of a crowd going crazy for YOU! The money. The girls. The travel. The girls. The money. The cars. The fans.


It’s gotta be a euphoric feeling like no other. And that’s why people dream of becoming one. They’re bored with their lives and the 9 to 5 gig they sold out for. Of course I’m not talking about everyone. Some people love what they do. But a lot of people gave up on their dreams. Hell, they’ve even given up on their hobbies.

Not Me

I started playing the drums when I was in my early teens but for some dumb reason I quit playing. Now, I was going to learn how to play the guitar. I bought an entry level electric guitar, a cheap amp and I was on my way. Or so I thought.

I didn’t know the difference between and ‘E’ string and an ‘e’ string. I didn’t know what an A minor or F sharp chord was. And at the time I didn’t know I could find a lot of lessons on the internet. I don’t know why, but it just never occurred to me. Maybe I wasn’t that serious about playing after all. So… I sold my stuff.

I’m Back

Then, a couple of years ago, I got the itch again. It was really always in the back of my mind but I kind of put in on the shelves like way too many people do with their goals, dreams and hobbies. Because they’re too busy. Talk about a bullshit excuse. We can talk about that some other time because right now we’re talking about my guitar playing.

How It Happened

One night a friend loaned me an acoustic guitar that belonged to a friend of his. His friend was actually hiding it from his wife because he had already boughten too many guitarts. Lucky me. This was my chance.

When he gave me that guitar I told myself, ‘this time I’m taking lessons.’ So I signed up and started learning how to play it right. I learned the A, E, G, D and C chords. Plus I started learning tabs. And a lot more. But it was tricky in the beginning. Getting your fingers on the right strings without touching other strings and moving from string to string is tricky. Like everything though, you get better with practice.

I’m not going to lie, there were times I wanted to quit. I mean, it would be great to be a Rockstar but I knew that was probably never going to happen. I was joking around about that earlier in the story. So why was I doing this at 45 years old?

Because I Like It

After sticking with it for a little while I started putting chords together and learning parts of songs. I’m going to tell you, there’s something about sticking with something long enough to progress. Even though I got frustrated and wanted to smash the guitar into the floor like a Rockstar at times, I didn’t. Instead I kept playing parts over and over and over until I got them and I got, and still do get, immense satisfaction from that.

I’ve been playing for a couple of years now and while I’m not on stage with thousands of raving fans screaming at me, I’m having fun. And I just keep getting better and better. And the better I get, the more songs I can play and the better I feel. Accomplishing something is very fulfilling. Don’t ever forget that.

What If?

That question started to enter my mind when I actually started making music with my guitar. I actually have five now, four electric and one acoustic, but I’ve quit buying for now. I started asking myself, ‘what if I get good enough to play on stage at a local bar?’ That would be amazing. And I think it is definitely a possibility within the next few years.


I don’t have to be perfect to play. I don’t even have to be perfect to enjoy it. But I did have to get better to really enjoy it and that came with practice. The saying, ‘practice makes perfect’ is b.s. Because no one is ever perfect. Even Buddy Guy, a legendary Blues guitarist says he’s still learning new things on the guitar and he’s 83 years young.

Find something you like to do, or even something you used to like to do and start doing it again. And don’t worry about being perfect, at anything for that matter. Just focus on getting better and having fun. As a matter of fact, apply that principle to all areas of your life. I’m going to throw that advice in for free.

Remember to grab a copy of my book. It’ll change your life for the better.