What Learning Guitar Taught Me About Learning Anything

I've got 5 quick tips for you if you're thinking about starting a new hobby.

Picking up a new hobby can be daunting; you may be unsure whether you’ll enjoy it or even stick with it. At the start of last year, I decided to learn how to play the guitar. It’s been a lot of fun so far. But I have also gained some interesting insight into what it’s like to learn something new. While carefully observing my behaviour on my journey to becoming a rockstar, I have picked out a few things I’d like to share.

Despite What They Say, Gear Matters.

I spent roughly $700. I purchased an electric guitar, an amp, a strap, a bag and some picks. I could have gotten a cheap $50 acoustic guitar, but instead, I decided to go for something more expensive. Mind you, I have friends who spend thousands on guitars, so to me, $700 was cheap.

When I plugged it in, I knew this was a good investment in terms of developing a habit. I was able to achieve the metal sound I was looking for, and it feels nice to hold and play. All of this culminated in me enjoying the act of playing guitar, which in turn, encouraged me to play more

Having equipment that fosters motivation was more beneficial than I initially realised.

Unless you’re unsure about picking up something new or don’t have the money, invest in some decent gear when you start. The gear you choose will assist your progress. Spend wisely.

Enjoyment

The first thing I did when I got my guitar was drop the tuning to Drop D and pull up tabs for my favourite songs. I didn’t bother with the pentatonic scale or memorising different chords and octaves, I just wanted to play something I liked.

The goal I had in mind was to have fun. The last thing I wanted was to feel like playing the guitar was a chore by having to complete drills. Yes, they’re important to the development of your skills, but my main priority was enjoyment, whereas forcing myself to do something I don’t like seemed to be antithetical to my goal.

Since I have naturally improved at playing, the drills I do now are easier to complete, and I get more satisfaction from them than when I wasn’t as good.

If you want to start a new habit, let’s say, going to the gym, do the exercises you want to do. It’s more important to enjoy going to the gym and to create that habit than it is for you to do the most optimal things, lest you dislike it before it becomes a habit.

The perfect exercise regime is the one you can stick to. The right diet is the one you can stick to. The things you can stick to are the ones you enjoy the most.

Remember Where You Came From

Sometimes I’ll revisit the first few songs I learned. I remind myself how difficult it was when I first tried them. I would spend multiple sessions over a few days to get it down. Now, I can play them in a matter of minutes.

Some people track their workouts. You can see when you were on baby weights and upgraded them to big boy weights, or how you couldn’t run a single kilometre without stopping.

It’s rewarding to reminisce about how you struggled when you first started, and how far you’ve come since then. You feel a sense of pride.

Remember what it was like when you first started.

Practice in Your Sleep

The expression ‘sleep on it’ was meant as practical advice when facing a tough decision. Turns out the people who coined the term knew that sleep helps with clarity, decision-making, and a whole list of other things. They discovered a fundamental truth about humans before science could catch up.

Studies were carried out where mice ran through a maze multiple times while their brains were being monitored. They found that the patterns they detected in their brains while running the maze were also found repeating when they were asleep, but at an accelerated rate. During the day, the mice would run the maze in 4 - 5 seconds, but their neural sequence would be replayed during sleep at 100-200 milliseconds, as in, they were doing it 20 - 50 times faster while they slept.

It’s like in a video game where you gather experience points during the day, and at night you get to spend that experience. I’m always amazed at how consistent this is with me. I’m trying to learn a new bit, replaying it over and over, struggling, then the next day… it just clicks.

Sleep isn’t just helpful for learning something - it's essential for mastering it.

Friction

Lastly, make it as easy as possible to practice.

I’m sure I need not tell you how important practice is when learning a new skill. To make practice easier, remove as much friction as possible. I’ve written about friction and habit forming in the past, but I’ll briefly go over it here.

I have my guitar sitting right beside me on its guitar stand. It not only looks cool, but it makes it easy for me to pick up and immediately play. It’s almost always in my line of sight, giving me a visual trigger to remind me to practice. If, however, it were in its guitar case under my bed, there are way more steps in between me wanting to play and me playing.

It may only be an extra minute to grab it from under my bed, but that minute can be the difference between starting an activity and doing something else.

When you remove friction between you and the thing you want to practice, you make it easier to achieve consistent practice. But if you make it difficult to start, you’re less likely to follow through with it when you get a burst of motivation.

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Starting a new hobby is easy. It’s maintaining it which is the hard part. But it’s all part of the journey. There’s no need to give up if you’ve failed your habits recently, it’s just a new opportunity to strengthen them. Get some good gear, do what you enjoy, remember what you were like at the start, get enough sleep and remove the friction. You’ll be well on your way in no time.