Managing Expectations Within Your Guitar Lessons

One of the hardest things to grasp in a modern world is patience.   Due to the technology now available to us we want things instantly – it’s called instant gratification.

In my time as a guitar teacher I have noticed that need for instant gratification creeping in more and more to the way students want to learn.   There is an expectation that like many other things in our lives we can get instant gratification from playing the guitar.  Sadly, learning guitar doesn’t work like this and this can often put many off persevering with the instrument.

I’ve found that to combat this incessant need for instant gratification is to manage expectations.  I see students getting frustrated when they can’t play a song instantly.  I see their discomfort when trying to change chords quickly and their annoyance when they can’t do it straight away.  I see students get disheartened when things don’t come to them quickly.

Often it’s remembering at these times, how long you’ve played for, how hard the piece actually is and how far you’ve come in such a short space of time. It’s looking at the positives over the negatives and focusing on progression over perfection.

Learning an instrument may be one of the hardest things you ever do but you can make your guitar lessons even more enjoyable by managing your expectations.  Look for the small wins, think of things you’ve managed to get right within your guitar lesson.  DON’T GIVE UP!!!

Instant gratification isn’t something that you’ll find easily when playing guitar.  There are times when you’ll play songs that you already know the chords too and you may find the rhythms easy.  They are the times when you may feel instantly gratified.  If you’re constantly challenging yourself though these times should actually be few and far between and that’s OK.  It shows you’re willing to learn the harder stuff.

Stick with it and your guitar lessons can be enjoyable, progressive and positive.  Learn to manage your expectations and you’ll go far!