Breaking Free: Perfection vs Progress

So the first thing we're gonna do is talk about perfection Okay , defined as mastering something completely without flaws , which is oftentimes unreasonable . Now , we want to get something as good as humanly possible , but the truth is that

that perfection so we can call it oftentimes will change as we keep growing as musicians and humans , and so what we thought was as good as we could do at a certain time might not be as good as we can do six months later or a year later or five years later . Okay , so what we want to do is think about progress . Now , what's the definition of progress ?

Gradually getting better through consistent practice and practical application , okay , and that's what I want you to think about . So let's start with the trap of perfection , and then we're gonna talk about how progress could actually be beneficial as well .

So , trap of perfection spending too much time perfecting a single idea , be it a chord , a lick or an exercise or something like that . Okay , chasing perfection can often lead to frustration and even burnout with guitar players . So the misconception that I want to talk about today is thinking that you got to master one thing before moving to the next .

So let's think about chords , for instance . Okay , so you might be a beginner , you might have been playing for a while , but let's just start at the very beginning . So let's say , you're starting to learn how to play guitar and the first thing that somebody

shows you is an ? A chord , an A major chord . So you start working on that chord .

Now there's a whole host of things that could improve when you're learning how to play that chord your finger placement , the strength of the fingers pressing on the strings , the clarity of those notes , making sure you're not touching the other strings that you shouldn't be touching , like the first and fifth strings . When you strum , you're only strumming five strings .

You're not hitting the sixth string , your strumming is even you know it's smooth , your timing is right All of these different kinds of things that could happen in the study of this A chord . Now , if we went and tried to be perfect about every single one of those things , what we're not experiencing is actually playing a song .

So let's say I said to you okay , we're learning how to play this A chord and what I want you to do is continue to work on it . I want you to continue improving on it . I want you to understand the elements that go into practicing it and again , for lack of a better term perfecting it , making it better .

Okay , I can make it faster , I can make the chord cleaner , I can make the chord more accurate , I can improve on my strumming , my timing , my dynamics , all of these other things , by practicing both the chord and the strumming of that chord . But what I also want you to do is I want you to learn how to play the song Electric Avenue Okay , that

silly song from the 80s or whatever it was , and the reason is because it only has one chord . I can teach you how to play a chord and actually get you playing along with some music , whether it's your favorite song or not , which I'm sure it is not , but I could get you playing along with a song .

So you're actually learning to listen to the music that's recorded and being played and then you're responding to that . So you're making the chord , you're strumming , but you're also thinking about the timing . You're listening to the song , you're concentrating for however long . The song is three and a half minutes , whatever it might be .

So , if you think about it , if all you were doing was focusing on the perfection of this a chord , and how perfect it is and how perfect it sounds and how how quickly you can make it , and all those things are good things you wouldn't be focusing on the strumming and you wouldn't be having an actual musical experience playing along with the song .

Now , what I'm not talking about is being lazy . Now , there's no cure for lazy , all right . So I'm not telling you . I don't want you to practice and I just want you to do nothing . And you know , mediocrity is okay and you never have to get good at anything . Of course , I'm not saying that .

What I'm saying is it's easy to get hyper-focused on one element , element and then forget that there's all of these other opportunities to learn how to play a guitar . And again , this could fit into any aspect of your life that you want it to . So what I try and do is get people to understand there's a balance between the two .

I want you to continue working on developing that chord or that lick or that scale or whatever it is you might be doing , developing that chord or that lick or that scale or whatever it is you might be doing .

But in the meantime , there's a whole host of other things that you could be working on as well , that either are in a different stream of development , right , where they're not connected at all . Maybe you're learning how to play the A chord on the guitar , but you're also learning what a triad is in theory , right

? So you're not applying it to the fretboard , you're just learning the idea . Or what is a major scale , or what are the notes of music , right ? What is the chromatic scale ? There's a whole host of things that we could be doing .

So one is a physical element playing the A chord and one is a more of a thought process , and they could coexist side by side each other , okay . Or maybe you're learning how to play the A chord , but again , you're also experiencing it in this real musical situation , which is Electric Avenue .

So you're developing the chord itself or the strum itself or whatever these things are , but you're also putting them together into this machine , if you will , that is now moving , which is the song learning to play along with the song , okay .

So that's what I want you to think about a little bit here is learning to balance the difference between perfection and progress . Okay , what happens with progress as well ? As progress tends to build confidence , okay , if you can create early wins in your playing , it boosts your confidence and oftentimes will boost your motivation .

So , as we're learning how to play Electric Avenue , maybe everything isn't as good as we want it to be , but we're experiencing this thing , this musical reality that makes us happy , makes us confident in ourselves . It's something that's recognizable . Us happy , makes us confident in ourselves . Right , it's something that's recognizable .

So , as we're playing it , you know we're identifying with all of the elements to play along with the song , or somebody's listening to us play , and we get positive reinforcement , whatever that sort of thing is . Or if we're just focusing on that one chord , who's to say we would get any of those things from just this one experience that we're having ?

Okay , now , when is perfection important ? So what we need to do is identify situations where perfection or close to perfect it doesn't necessarily mean perfection , but close to perfect , especially at that time when it matters .

Well , if you were in a recording session or a studio performance , you want to be as ready as humanly possible , so you're not wasting people's time and people's money . Another one would certainly be live performance or an audition or something like that , right ?

So , again , whether or not you could ever be absolutely perfect , but you can be as close to perfect as you can be for these situations

, so you're not wasting anybody's time . You're showing up prepared , right , but I always think like perfection .

The problem is is that and I've encountered it many times as a guitar instructor you know where people will get off in the weeds and they're so concerned about developing this one thing , whatever that is again a lick or a riff or a phrase or a chord or whatever it might be that they're forgetting that there's other elements they could be practicing at the same

time . So all I'm asking you to do is think about learning to balance these worlds . If you're very type A and you're very concerned about how perfect things are , you have to acknowledge the fact that that's a very difficult thing to . It's a difficult pedestal to put yourself on , and you have to be careful how many elements of perfection you're looking for .

Like , if you're trying to perfect 19 different things , it can be very daunting , it can be very overwhelming , where you know maybe there's something about your playing or an element that you really wanna continue getting better at . Again , I think that's amazing . That's exactly the way it should be right .

I'm just saying you don't stop the machine as a result of that . You continue developing all of these other things and then you encounter oh , this needs to be better , or I need to get faster at this , or cleaner at this or more accurate .

Whatever this thing is , whether it's a large thing or a very small thing , like your alternate picking or the movement between two strings , or a concept like hybrid picking or learning to play sweeps on your fretboard , or God knows what , it would be right .

If you're always getting stuck in the mud or the weeds with these things , it's hard to see the bigger picture of what you're actually trying to accomplish . Okay , so that's what I want you to be thinking about a little bit . Okay , strive for consistent progress over perfection of every single thing that you're doing .

Okay , think about your own practice , habits and where you could loosen your grip on perfection a little bit to try and make a little bit more progress overall .

And you know , if you'd love to respond , I'd love to hear you talk about your experiences with this , with perfection and progress , and where you've seen them work beneficially for you and where you've struggled with things . I think it'd be great for you to let you know . A listener know , or a viewer know , and maybe they can benefit from that as well .

All right , so take care , stay positive and , uh , I'll talk to you soon . Okay , and remember , if you're interested , head over to guitar zoom and check out our guitar zoom Academy .

If you've been struggling with guitar playing and you feel like it's time for you to really start achieving the goals that you want to achieve , all you gotta do is head over there and learn more about the Guitar Zoom Academy . I would love to help you out . No-transcript .