Playing music ain’t about winning … it’s about grooving!

Playing music ain’t about winning … It’s about grooving : myths & tips to practice healthy guitar. MYTH: Top guitarists practice guitar all day!

Kirk Hammett Metallica

The top favorites among the myths of guitar students and non-musicians, is that top musicians practice all day and that’s why they are so good. To dispel this myth: musicians also have a life, also have to eat, sleep, rest, work (earn money to pay bills) and perform daily tasks such as putting out their garbage bag :-). I always get the recurring question “How many hours a day should I practice” and “After how much time can I play guitar”.

Playing music ain’t about winning ... it’s about grooving!

It is of course tempting and very cool to look up to the (often) “false life” of your idols, but let’s be realistic for a moment. We are people of flesh and blood and have limits, we are not machines where you replace a number of parts every so often. Hours of uninterrupted guitar practice will surely give you a daze as if you live by the myths of your musical superhero. But also know that you’re physically harming your body and can result in stopping playing guitar for months, or worse, having to stop permanently.

In other words, all the talk about endless guitar practice every day is nothing more than tough talk. Moreover, people only hear the success stories on TV, but do not forget that this accidental success is about 1 in 100 million. So 1 success story means 99,999,999 failures. Compare it a bit to the Lotto…! Conclusion: practice regularly, but in moderation!