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Beginner Guitar Lessons:The fastest guitar player is the best myth busted!

By Mike Hayes | June 6, 2009

Do you know who the world’s fastest guitarist is? I don’t and to
be perfectly honest I don’t care … and neither should you!

Treating guitar playing as an Olympic event has absolutely
nothing to do with playing music. With so much nonsense around
it’s difficult for a newbie player of get their ears pinned on
straight.

Recently I received an email asking …”Do you think Yngwie
Malmsteen is the fastest guitarist ever?” this is a very common
question, the guitarist’s name varies however the question is
along the lines of who do I think is the “fastest” or “best”.

Truthfully, I have know idea who would be the fastest or even the loudest … because all of this stuff is not music, it’s showing off!

Here’s some ideas to get you thinking about your relationship
with this marvelous musical instrument.

Myth: He (or she) who plays the fastest wins.

Cost of believing the myth: If you are not careful you can go off
in a totally non-musical direction and completely miss the whole
point of playing a musical instrument.

A guitar is not a toy! It is a musical instrument that requires
practice, disciple and dedication, in return your guitar will be
a tool for your musical expression and creativity.

This is where it gets confusing for the new player … with the
market flooded with games such as the “guitar hero” software many potential players think by messing about on these “toy” guitars that they will be off to a blinding start on the real thing.

Nothing could be further from the truth … what do these games
teach us about, musical expression, dynamics and the ability to
play with other human beings?

Another example of incredible stupidity is the number of
lightning fast robot players on sites like “Youtube”, try typing in “fastest guitarist” and you will have some very entertaining moments … unfortunately it does not communicate anything!

Reality: Playing music on a guitar is an art. You don’t learn it in five minutes, you don’t learn it plugged into a computer and you certainly don’t learn it from manic people running all over the fretboard like a bee in a bottle.

Music is not about showing off!

Benefits of going with the reality: Nothing and nobody can take your personal satisfaction and the ability to express yourself … it’s yours.

It’s  a lifetime of musical discovery and it’s yours if you are
prepared to pay the price.

I invite you to use these tips and tools when you play the guitar.

And now I’d like to invite you to get free access to my “How To
Remember 1,000 Songs” eCourse. You can download the course for
free at: http://www.guitarcoaching.com

From Mike Hayes – The Guitar Coaching Guy & the Express Guitar
System

http://www.GuitarCoaching.com
http://AdvancingGuitaristProgram.com

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