Practice makes PROGRESS.

I blame Bryan Adams for the bleeding fingers thing with opening lines of "Summer of '69"

I’ve been playing guitar for 25 years and my first 5 years were like I was born to play. Then I plateaued for years. I think natural talent is actually just the aptitude to learn. Beginning was easy but then I had to learn how to learn more and actually practice. Now I enjoy practicing and I’m playing things I never thought I could.

I began playing guitar when I was around 10 years old, I loved guitar hero and really wanted to play but I sucked at it. I was small, my hands didn't hold the guitar well, and nothing ever sounded like the actual songs. I gave up guitar and sold it in my teen years. Im 23 now, a few years ago I got into Guitar/Clone Hero again and it resparked my interest in guitar. I began watching tonnes of videos about it and I saw one comment that really hit me. It was an older man in his 50s-60s talking about how he recently picked up the guitar, how he thought about how even if he had picked it up in his 20s he'd have 40 years of practice behind him. And even in his late years he's proud of what he has been able to do despite that part of himself that said he could never do it. Immediately after I saw that comment, I went to the guitar store and got my first electric guitar to play, still using the Amp I had when I was a kid, and got some lessons. I've since bought 2 more guitars and 10 year old me would be really proud of what I've been able to learn about the guitar now. It's never too late, it just takes practice and the right teacher, which can even be yourself. With the internet now it's easier than ever to learn the way that works best for you. I hope this inspires someone else to go pick up the instrument they always dreamed of playing. And never forget that word playing, it's not about being perfect, it's about play. Have fun with it, don't put too much pressure on yourself

No matter how good you are theres always someone better and no matter how bad theres always someone worse.

I've been playing music all my life and am sidling up to 50 years old. I've felt like an intermediate player for decades now, and finally started asking myself... what is it to be a master level... Can you play jazz sure, but that doesn't necessarily sound like "me"... I started focusing on a variety of sounds, and upgrading all my gear to what I feel better represents "my" sound... including building my own preamp, fuzz pedal, envelope etc from the pcb up... I'm trying to a version of an 1176 right now but it's a little too big for my pedalboard, and I'm not so hot on the dimensions. Recently at a memorial gig for a truly beautiful soul who was a patron of our band for years, and having recently lost my own grandmother I went into it with so much gratitude... I felt on fire... we did on the fly groove changes, and key changes... If there were mistakes they were recovered fast... within a beat... the crowd was joyous, and we were all listening to each other. Our commitment to keeping things slightly improvisational and loose enough to create didn't backfire and sound sloppy. I think it might have been my best gig ever. It still makes me weepy. I think was my first master level gig. Playing bass for 32 years... goddamnit... I should be a master by now.?. Relatively were all always learning, but a third degree blackbelt oughta be able to handle most everything, and it'[s not like someone hands you a chefs jacket. You have to claim it to yourself, and humility actually becomes something of a barrier to you liking yourself.

So agree about embracing limitations...I damaged my left hand in a bike crash & am now struggling with adapting...trying not to give up...😬

I started learning guitar 3 years ago at 36 years old. I dont have musical talent really. I put on the time that I can daily / weekly. I still dont know all my fretboard notes, can do my scales pretty well, can play some riff and learning songs. Im having so much fun and Im very impressed of what I can do now compred to even 6 month ago... Keep it up everyone :D

Ok, I died when I saw how small Sammy's hands are 😂😂. As a smaller dude, I feel that in my soul

0:07 I blame Maybelline for the whole _“maybe they’re born with it, maybe it’s practicing”_ thing. 😂

Going to throw in a bleeding story just because it's fun. In my early 20s I was just starting to play in my first band and we had just been booked for our 2nd show - my 2nd time ever playing live. We were the scheduled opener, playing a 45-55 min set. Since a couple of the people in the band that had a lot more experience than some of the others, they suggested to make everyone feel better to practice the day of the show. I showed up around 11AM or so and we jammed for a couple hours, covering the set through twice over with some stops to hit over a few sticky parts. I was just packing my gear into my car to drive home, catch a nap and then prep for the show when we got a call from the promoter to tell us the main band dropped and we now had to fill 3+ hours of music THAT NIGHT! So we put all the gear back into the house and did the "do you know this song at all" and "we can make that work" for about 5 hours until it was time to pack up, drive to the venue, set up, do sound-check and then play the show. By the end of the night I had blood everywhere, I blew up my fretting hand with almost tearing off a couple of finger nails and my picking hand was all tore up from strumming. Makes for a great story anyway!

Sometimes I'm terrible right out the gate, other times it takes a while to get warmed up. Once in a blue moon I play something that makes me feel, damn I can play this thing! And the worst is when I am rippin, but then my gear or my brain or maybe I just lose it, and suck mode ensues. Just never give up and sammy g you rock!

perfect practice makes perfect

I made up a phrase, "Walking the horses mile" which just means that because someone is naturally good at something or having an eadier time with something doesnt mean you cant either, you just need to put more time in. Like how a horse has a bigger stride so its easier for them to reach a mile.

Talent can be counter productive. I've known several very talented people who got very good at things in a short period of time. Then they got bored and moved on to the next thing. So I'm kind of grateful for my limited "talent". Hard earned skills are more satisfying than easy wins. And perseverance is, in my opinion, the most important talent. Two of my favourite KZfaqrs creating together. Please do more cool stuff. ✌✌

I've been playing for almost 10 years, but I barely improve and I know why: I don't put much effort into practice. And the reason for that is it makes playing feel like work and makes me feel very anxious. So I've given up and only play the same couple simple tunes whenever I feel like it. For me it's a hobby, after all, and for some reason I stop feeling motivated to improve further once I've reached the level I enjoy playing at.

I think talent is a defeatist concept. Like if you say someone has talent, you’re just giving yourself an excuse to not try and be better.

Having ADD and trying to learn by myself is rocky road, but whenever i reach a goal i tought to be too difficult for me however small it might be, that feeling is intoxicating. I know i will never be a professional musician but i dont feel like i have to be. Music is fun as it is to me and thats enough for me.

I really like these videos with you and Rhett. Keep going.

Cobain sat in front of the television and played non stop

The best advice I ever got, and it was very early in my musical journey was "When ever you get the chance, play with musicians who are better than you." I've been doing that for 60+ years now, and I feel that is what keeps me going.

Been dancing bachata for a bit over 2 years now. I have a feel for when to push and pull, to feel the music etc etc, been told multiple times that I'm the best in my group from all sort of sides. I could say that I am talented at dancing at least to a certain degree since I barely train (two hours a week) and have always staid on top of other classmates. Last year (about a year and a half of dancing in), took a 6 or so month break where I only went to partys and which ended about 3-4 months ago. Right after coming back to class, I was objectively worse than when I was dancing 6 months in. Sure, it took me maybe a month to regain about 90% of it, but I am still trying to get all that feel and suave from last summer, can't seem to get in the zone like I used to. All the while, people who previously struggled and are still struggling with new stuff progressed that some are even better than me now. Point should explain itself. Talent makes things easier, but it's far from a deciding factor. Also, any and all skill is a use it or lose it, hell everything about humans works that way. Don't look for too long at something far? BOOM you are near sighted. Don't speak out loud for too long? Boom, diction gone. Don't play an instrument for too long? That's gone too

The expression I always heard about talent is "hard work beats talent, unless talent works hard." This always made sense to me.

Love this collaborative content with Rhett. Your creative styles work well together. Good cop/bad cop.

The discussion at the end of learning a skill by doing it and not spending the time to “sit down and practice” really speaks to my situation with recording. I learned how to record by just making demos in GarageBand, and I’m no Rick Rubin, but I can ma something that sounds coherent. No one taught me how to mix or record, I figured it out on my own

2:30 Igor Stravinsky wrote about how he embraced limits and obstacles as part of the creative process; even using self imposed obstacles to encourage creative problem solving. He wrote:“My freedom will be so much the greater and more meaningful the more narrowly I limit my field of action and the more I surround myself with obstacles. Whatever diminishes constraint diminishes strength. The more constraints one imposes, the more one frees one’s self of the chains that shackle the spirit.”

one thing I notice is that when people practice, they do stuff that's comfortable and familiar rather than trying new things that seem out of reach. the more you try to learn stuff that you think is beyond your skill limit, the better you will become and the more adaptable of a musician you will be. Variety is the spice of life and will aid you immensely on your journey to improving at a skill.

Good stuff, you guys! 😎

I'm enjoying your chats with Rhett

Doing something you can't quite do until you can do it well is the key.

I *love* the look on Sammy's face when Rhett is talking about the fast playing and shredding section (huge respect to both of course)

for me just composing and then practicing my compositions is how i practice. keeping it fun keeps me playing and getting better.

I bled on my left hand once!!! Was after covid restrictions started to die down, barely played at all during lockdown, finally got back with my band to play again and my fingers just weren't prepared for the amount of playing i did!!

Latley Ive been jamming out to some Pink Floyd tracks to improve my jamming/phrasing. I dont alwya have the results, but I've noticed that gradually I've improved my feel. There really is no wrong way to practice. I would say listen to a lot of music and pick up licks and incorporate them into your playing. Try lots of things and you'll find something that works...✌️❤️

Talent is like a blade. Some have bigger ones, some smaller ones. Everyone still has to grind it to make it sharp. Some hone it so much that they cut themselves with it.

I’ve enjoyed the videos the two of you have done together. Very honest!

❤️❤️🙌❤️❤️

the "the you can't make music until" excuse was the main problem holding back Bill & Ted

Hard work pays off but imperfection still occurs due to numerous factors in a live situation especially. I've had my fingernail separate and bleed during bends as well. Super glue works wonders for that.

I can't make the music I want to make until I reach a personal milestone of competency. I was overtaken by an unnatural desire to know what it feels like to be able to play guitar. The first week I acquired 2 cheap guitars that would allow me not to miss a single day of practice, even when I went to a remote low resource Island off of Belize for 2 weeks. I have picked up a guitar at least 5 times a day for almost 7 months. One is a tiny headless travel guitar, just a neck really. It lives behind my van seat and goes backpacking with me. The other that helps me practice more is an Enya nova go parlor sized guitar. Cheap and carbon fiber. Play it cooking with steam, walking in the woods in the rain, drop it off the couch with the dog, bang it into doors as I fiddle about while doing things. This guitar saves my wooden ones. I have a long way to go but the NEED to know that feeling of competency, in the fretboard, to play without thought, to play my thoughts, it gets stronger with every glimpse, every success. And I don't care who hears me. I don't do it for anyone. The dog hears me. The lady does too when she doesn't have her noise cancelling headphones in. Doing it for you and wanting it is something I wish I had the first time around when I was 14. All my friends played, had bands. I sang a bit. I quit because it didn't bite and the last thing the world needed was another guitarist. Now it's like an addiction, the strongest fixation I've ever had, every facet, working on them, everything. My most accomplished guitarist friend passed away 2 years ago. I wish I would have had the need then. There's always room for a new guitarist. No kids so I suppose I can fixate on this pursuit.

Yes I see myself more like an artist as a guitarist, this lends me to writing songs but not senseless practice. Practice comes naturally if I have an idea, I use this as an technique/ theory session

Natural comprehention of music (aka talent) is true. As well as, if you practice wrong it won't make it perfect. Wise practice makes perfect.

I love to practice and challenge myself

I’m at a point with my playing , my fingers dance along the fret board . My mind empty’s of all thought , but the ebb & flow of the music . I was never a natural , but the need to play music has always been in me . Playing guitar involves my entire being , it has become as important to me as eating & sleeping .

I've been playing since I was 14 and still can't sweep arpeggios or stuff of that nature, just now able to manage some complex solos , and time to time I get discouraged seeing these youngsters shred some Buckethead solo like it's butter , but in the end I'm so grateful I can improvise , riff really cool chunky drop d bangers , play just about any song from my favorite bands tool , nin , mastodon , the cure etc as long as it's not Joe satarani level I'm alright and I'm so thankful, never been in a band but still love to learn and jam , just keep going , spiral out and it may just go where no one's been spiral out keep going!

My biggest issue is finger pressure. Especially if I'm playing chords. Trying to stay more conscious of it. I push way too hard lol. So I took three of my guitars, strung each with a different gauge of strings(8-10's) and I switch between those three hoping to help with my pressure problems.

Great artist always has a story to tell

I will say the pads of my fingers have bled numerous times. I live in the desert and the winters especially are ridiculously dry. My fingers split from the dryness and occasionally a string will slide right into that cut at a gig. OUCH! The super glue helps for sure.

My reality is I have a day job, and busy family life, I play for my own love of music and the satisfaction of making it. Started at 30, been playing 30, and if I play another 30 I’ll never touch a Jerry Garcia or any of you guys making it on the YT, but I’m only trying to get better than me, not somebody else. Love guitar and grateful to you guys making this content. Some of the best commentary ever for you guys, thanks.

My music teacher always said "practice makes permanent." If you practice things improperly you build up these habits that can slow you down dramatically because you're unable to get out of the bad habits slowing you down

I spent a year, practicing every day, trying to get a particular flamenco guitar technique. At the end of the year, I still couldn't do it. I nearly quit guitar but instead I decided that there was a joy/work ratio that if I couldn't get something with a certain amount of work, I wasn't going to sacrifice my joy banging my head against the wall. I would play the pieces that gave me joy to play. There was one guy more talented than you. You are more talented than many. I'm more talented than some. Play the best you can. Practice a little every day and don't listen to those who look down their nose at you and smugly assume that you aren't as good because "you didn't put in the work" Don't allow anyone to take away your joy in music, play what gives you joy.

My friend is a natural at everything, he can play anything on a guitar, is great at all sports, can draw anything with aplomb, yet he's never pursued these skills any further in life because everything comes naturally and easy to him. On top of everything he's a lovely guy who everybody likes because he's so easy-going; I'd like to hate him for having so much talent but he's such a charismatic and generous person it's impossible: A rare breed.

I had my fretting fingers bleeding, when I was starting out playing the electric guitar. I was practicing like 3-4 hours almost every day at that point and probably pressed the strings too hardly. Also the bleeding was in my flesh - you could see it through the skin, tiny pillows of blood in the tips of my middle and ring fingers, but no blood leaving my body, if that makes sense.

05:52 I’d put Eric Johnson in that list too. Smooth as silk, yet can be as speedy as Gonzales

You guys missed mentioning Tony Iommi when talking about Django. He's a classic example of overcoming a handicap and actually using it to create something new & great (the heaviest dang riffs in existence)

Started at 52. Happy to be able to play and sing ok at 58. It’s the best.

If you needed a Blues Lawyer to make a snarky comment, I’d have been happy to oblige 😉 5:00

This applies to all creative fields and GenAI is basically people thinking they can "create" something without putting in the work. Putting in the work is where the spark that resonates comes from and why GenAI output always feels so hollow (at best)

This is also why the best musicians are not necessarily the best teachers. The ones that had to work at it can relate. When I taught guitar there were students who struggled with stuff I did, and ones who struggled with stuff I learned easily Both made me go over what I did in how to help them, and it helped me as well as the students

I was In the Music major program in collage, the fact is you must be exposed to pitch recognition and sight reading parralell to the development of you aural audiation and word reading skills, every single student that didn't come equipped to pass Aural Skills II (the abillity to transpose by ear and sight sing with only 1 ping of a reference C) fell away in that class. Every single student that made it thru described to me "not really remembering how they did only that Mom taught the as a child" I could shred scales and tech circles around several of them all day, yet would have to drill a piece adnauziem to get something where they could pick it up on the spot like quoting a phrase they had just hurd vie instrument or on paper. I have met hundreds of musicians but never one that picked up that lvl of musicianship post maturity. Love for anyone to name me one, I have searched for decades to no avail.

The same thing happen to me when I was busking I was so filled with adrenaline that i didn't realize that the skin of my index and thumb was hitting the strings.

I think passion is where the magic is because it inherently makes you less likely to give up on practicing ever increasingly hard stuff. IT makes you either numb to it, or even makes you crave difficult stuff.

I have almost no talent. But I am very disciplined. The way I see it is my ceiling is probably lower that people with talent. But in saying that I have done the relaxant amount of work that now people are constantly impressed at listening to me play. I am by no means a specialist, but I have enough tricks and knowledge that I can bring something to most musical situations. Plus it’s been a great way to spend my time. Never regretted a minute.

Funnily enough, I started bleeding from my middle finger knuckle when trying to learn bleed by meshugga. It was ever so slightly brushing against the strings without me noticing

I've played until I bled, but I was playing slap and pluck on bass for nearly an hour long jam. There were a few slow spots in there, but most of it was pretty upbeat iirc. I got blood blisters on my pointer, middle, and thumb on my right hand, and one of my finger's blisters busted open and got my pick guard all bloody. It was glorious. I was drunk and on mushrooms; I think we all were. Should have recorded it, but try setting that sh!t up while in that condition lol

Before guitar, I was an artist. In grade school, I was famous for my sketches. In high school, everyone else surpassed me. I was stuck in my own little thing and never learned anything else to improve my craft. It was a good life lesson for me, especially as a musician.

Practice always gets me stuck in a rut, if i stop playing for a week and come back my improvisation is much better

I’ve come to believe there are those with varying levels of natural talent and then there are those where music is a learned skill. Of course those two streams cross at times as well. But I feel like while I was born with SOME talent, my level of playing has largely been a skill I’ve put a lot of time in.

We all feel like that from time to time...... my personal laughing at myself comes when you pick up a guitar at the music store---- all of a sudden nothing comes in mind to play......

So, talent does matter, it depends on what your goals are. Talent doesn't only make you learn faster, it apparently also increase your max skill level. My problem is I am unconvinced I'm ever going to reach the skill level I want and that's why I don't put in the work. And this has been the most pernitious thing in anything I wnt to learn ever.

My biggest problem is that I try out all possible guitar styles up to the point when I am thinking „yeah I could master this one if I worked on it“ and then I go to the next style.

5:24 Even Gilmour could do some fast playing. There is a part in the Live at Pompeii performance of “Careful with that Axe Eugene” where he is playing quite fast. It's just that for most of the music in Pink Floyd and his solo career, playing fast wasn’t really compatible with the songs.

i had a teacher say: "practice makes permanent" and it STUCK w me

Bireli Lagrene clip! I don’t think he’s really covered in the KZfaq guitar world, it would be cool if you could.

To the talent issue, I'm a professional artist and have heard "you have a god given talent" my entire life and I'm just thinking that the over forty years of practice, study, determination, and learning from mistake after mistake might have something to do with it.

I've been teaching since 1983. Talent absolutely matters. We all have a unique sets of strengths and limitations. Try to teach a student with no natural rhythm. Try to teach a student who is physically unable because of bone structure to form basic chord shapes. Watch Steve Howe play The Clap on KZfaq. Can you hold down a bar chord and bend or slide notes with your pinky like he does? I cannot and no matter how much I practice, that ability will not be possible for me and MANY other players because of bone structure. Steve Vai says play to your strengths and ignore your weaknesses and I think thats good advice. Be yourself because there's enough sound alike modern shredders out there now as it is.

I don't want to shred. I don't even like to listen to shredders. But, on the other hand I don't want to have any technical limitations that prevent me from playing something that I want to play. So, to that end I keep pushing myself to play faster and more accurate runs, even if they don't really make any musical sense. That way when I am writing a song and I feel like the section needs a few fast licks to really nail what I am trying to say, I can do that without banging my head against the wall or winding up with something that I am not really happy with. My main problem with practicing is that I get bored doing exercises and then wander around noodling. I kinda wish I had more discipline to not do that, but at least I am still improving.

John Petrucci So much Feel but also fast as fugg lol.

Yes. Mine did. I was 9 years old. Bled for awhile.

This is great. I’m going to show this to my physics and math students. So many of them think they need to be some sort of genius to learn things.

Talent is what you’re born with, skill is what you learn.

Practice makes better, you'll never be perfect and that's okay, just gives you more of a reason to keep getting better!

My junior high band teacher always said practice makes permanent. If you practice the wrong way you won’t ever get better

That goes until you meet someone who is both really talented and works really hard. Them your perspective changes on what is to be good at something. I believe that anyone can be really, really, good at something if they put the work. But there are absolute monsters in certain areas and that are outside of what is possible to most people, and if you meet one of those in real life you know it.

Hard work beats talent WHEN talent doesn't work hard. Listen, kids You have to put in the work. Endlessly. Non stop. Andres Segovia became a professional classical guitarist at the age of...6?? At 91 years old, during an interview, Segovia was asked "Why do you still practice 3 hours per day, 365 days per year?" He said: I am beginning to notice some improvement. Look at Mark Tremonti The dude practices all day every day from the time he wakes up until the time he comes off the stage. You have to have a goal You have to want that goal And you have to work your fucking ass off to achieve it. During High School, Zakk Wylde practiced from the moment he got home, until it was time to go to school the next morning. And he still runs his scales every morning and every night Practice practice practice practice practice practice practice and then practice some more and then keep practicing and then go practice again. Do you want to be a guitar player? Yes? Good. Go practice. Are you practicing right now? No? What are you waiting for? Go practice.

My junior high coach often used to say, "All the talent in the world is wasted from lack of dedication"

To compare is to despair. Set your objective, make your plan and put in the work. Charlie Parker was humiliated his first time out. He then went into the woodshed and came out with serious skill. Learning guitar is like any other skill. Like driving or learning to use a computer, you get a lesson, put in the hours, and you get better. Just remember to take some time off to recharge. When I go on vacation or out anywhere, I forget about my guitar. It’ll be there when I get back.

#Rhett Shull Thanks man. I hate practicing, too. I'd much rather learn a new song, or guitar instrumental piece. I hope that in that process I'll discover something I've never done before, perhaps never realized I could do, or something that needed improving.

Practice is my favorite part. your done when your fretting fingers are silver.

Hay mate plz make a gear collection video

One's number one goal in making music should be to please themselves, and if pleasing other people is a result, then that's great, too. If someone plays to be the best in the world than they will never reach their goal.

You could do a whole video about myths about Kurt Cobain. From he didn't practice to he didn't know anything about music to... All of it. He's a cypher that people fill up with whatever reality they want to be true.

Ayeeeee I see that Tyler Bryant rattlesnake's record shirt

Being "the best" implies competition. Making art is not a competition. Competition is, I feel, very much informed by a perverse monetary trigger or sheer ego (or a mix of both). Turning art into a thing that needs to have monetary purpose is what kills it. Ego just makes for asshole artists. Maybe not as bad as the first thing, but that ego, in my experience, can lead to gatekeepy behaviour, or claiming that other people just copy you. I'm pretty sure real originality is rare, and it is only inspired by certain ingredients being put together. This can happen out of experience or just something you stumble upon randomly while searching for something. Teaching someone how to make art, on the other hand, that's a skill that is worth paying for, I think. It's giving someone tools to develop themselves. Teaching how to use tools is one of the most important human traits. Mankind benefits from sharing how to use tools.

You da man, Sammy G. Whatever you’re doing, keep doing it.

People that sacrifice and grind, and grind some more, and grind even more then that, will earn their talents.

0:45 1:10 i think you jst did that very thing to yourself... i believe what you meant to say was "i can never be good just LIKE that person" ... but imo you CAN be just as good but in your own way

Angus Young also has tiny hands and look at him!

Greg Koch is a hero.

Limitations can be an advantage.