Here's a brief story for you players who feel you will never be able to learn how to play:
When first attempting to learn how to play the guitar, videos like these can make you feel like "that's impossible" or "why do I even try? I’ll NEVER be able to play like that.” Sadly I suffered from that belief for over 10 years of working at the guitar. Up until 2004, I had felt I had hit a wall and figured “the best I’ll ever be is a sloppy power chord player” and contemplated quitting the guitar all together.
To make a long story short, someone asked me if I’d play rhythm guitar in a show they were doing in 2 weeks that would consist of 6 songs. I told them I wasn’t a good player but insisted the songs they were doing were going to be relatively easy to play. After lots of nagging, they convinced me to give it a go. On top of that, I later discovered that this gig was going to be a “battle of the bands” show! And get this... "You are also our lead singer too." I almost had a heart attack! How the hell am I going to play AND sing at the same time? We had only had 2 weeks to put this all together while all the other bands in the competition had 8. I was freakin’ horrified! I had never played in front of a real crowd, let alone sing in front of one. Now they want me to do BOTH?!? I came to the realization I was in way over my head. To pull this off, I would have to learn how to sing effectively, play efficiently, AND memorize lyrics to 6 songs I didn’t even know. I mulled over the possibility of quitting, but instead I became determined to take on the challenge and confront my fears head on.
For 2 weeks I practiced and practiced, working on my technique and vocals. When we got to the gig, the place was PACKED. I was so scared and worried, yet the second I plugged in my Tele and stomped on my distortion box, something happened I can’t explain. I just want into some sort of trance and I started singing and playing – and it sounded GOOD! The crowd started cheering when we opened with a hard rock version of ‘Jumping Jack Flash’ and I threw in a ridiculous 80s solo that the crowd went nuts over. I became calm and fell into a groove. I played the rest of the songs with my eyes closed and let things happen naturally.
At the end of the night, we won the contest! Never in my life had I felt so proud of myself. This erased all my self-doubt and proved that I *CAN* do this if I put my heart and soul into this. I learned if you work with a positive attitude and believe in yourself, anything is possible. From that moment on, I’ve stopped doubting myself and just think positively. In the past 1½ years, I've elevated my playing 100x higher than I ever thought possible. People seem to be shocked most of the time when I tell them I only began soloing about 1½ years ago. Now don't get the impression that I'm some amazing player, because I'm not. I couldn't hold a candle either Robert or that guy in the video right now. But guess what? I don’t have to. Like Nuno and Jimi always state: “Just do your own thing”. I find playing guitar is a lot like golf: its all about self confidence and determination. The sooner you stop worrying about what people think of your playing the better. It's not a competetion... just go out there and do your damn best! If someone doesn't like what your doing, well that's THEIR problem! I just keep plugging away and work nonstop on improving my playing ability.
Jimi Hendrix put it best: "Sometimes you want to give up the guitar, you'll hate the guitar. But if you stick with it, you're gonna be rewarded."
R
