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I've noticed that the people that really develop skill in an area almost always use inferior instruments and material when they're first developing the skill.

I've noticed that the people that really develop skill in an area almost always use inferior instruments and material when they're first developing the skill. Paradoxically, getting a brand new guitar can be the worst thing to do for a child interested in music. A simple used one with scratches and stickers pushes the child's focus to their own skill, not to the object. Though it isn't true for everyone, I've also noticed that skilled practitioners beat up their high priced tools in ways that doesn't degrade their performance, and they're always able to compensate for inferior situations and build methods of adaptation if they frequently lack the ability to control the situation. For example, a programmer may set up a linux machine that they can always SSH into if they can't control the computer they're working on in order to have a familiar environment or a chef may keep a spatula and a carefully thought out pre-selected set of spices with them to always be able to make something flavourful while traveling.

mitchty 9y ago
This is why when I got my first motorcycle my buddy told me "lets find a beater on craigslist thats been in a crash". I paid about $2k for it, and that yamaha had seen a hell of a dump at 50mph and had scratches that looked like a banshee had its way with the left side because it insulted her mothers size or whatever. But damn if he wasn't right that when I inevitably had it fall over whle practicing in the parking lot that I didn't care much. Plus after riding that (not quite a) beater I was much better prepared for stuff with more zoom to it. I think buying cheap/refurb/broken and learning from that is definitely the way to go when starting/learning. You learn how to appreciate the good stuff later on. Just like how now I can pretty much use unix to a large degree after using them for ~20ish years, I tend to stick to osx+nix to get me up to speed. I keep my configurations portable to open/freebsd and linux as well on the off chance I need to move around, but other than that I tend to not be too committed to what I'm running.
GenYCubeJockey 9y ago
Was wondering if guitar or culinary arts would show up. I read in Bourdain's "Kitchen Confidential" that Chefs bring their own knives. Hence an attachment to the tool and appreciation of quality. Guitars are similar, in that a mint condition guitar is nice to look at but kind of scary to play. The highest selling instruments have been famous for who played them, when, and where, not the brand or how close to new they might be. It's funny how artisans who base their livelihood on tools relate to them versus the drop-in tourist who starts cheap and gives up easy.
jkFeiwi 9y ago
Another reason for this may be that skilled people know enough to ignore marketing claims. Let's take guitars. You can get a squire (introductory model), a Fender made in Mexico (intermediate, a few hundred dollars) or an American standard (top of the line, a few thousand dollars). Most working musicians I know will stick with the Mexican fender, because they know there's not much difference between them and the Americans (The Mexican guitars are quite nice), and you can gig with it without worrying that a scratch or nick will tank the value. So who buys the American fenders? People in their 40s and 50s who play guitar, but not professionally. For them, the guitar is a collectors piece. The story behind the guitar matters more than how it plays. Don't get me wrong, American standards are great guitars. But unless you're looking for a very specific tone, the Mexican fender will do the job.
- gkya 9y ago
  Squire makes lovely guitars. I owned one for some time in my first years (never became professional, play to myself on and off since years), it was a cyan strat, and people were amazed with the general intonation of the thing. The stupid 16yrs old version of me traded it for a shitty acoustic because I didn't have the money to buy a second one. I could still have that cheap piece of beauty and play it with joy. The whole "tone" business (pun unintended) is a bit shady IMO. With an electric instrument, the wood contributes only so much to the tone. I'd look for sustain, feedback and intonation over that, especially in the cheaper segment. You can set up some nice tones with volume and tone on the guitar and the equalizer on the amp. Put on a nice set of strings and you're good to go. Tip: use a tuner app to test the notes from random places all over the neck, at least one note each fret. Make sure everything is in tune. With some cheaper guitars, they place the first few frets correctly and don't care that much for the rest.
- brett40324 9y ago
  Ive been playing guitar for 25 years and still practice on high action junk $50 pawn shop acoustics, or even kids sized walmart guitars with now almost rusty strings. I do this for dexterity, mostly playing scales and usually out of tune. Then for actually playing, recording or anything serious, of course I play something nice. Aside: I started learning the mandolin last year and picked up a Rogue model for 40 bucks. Ive learned to make it sound pleasant, but it is terribly strenuous to play. When i do upgrade I know that the piece of crap it really is will have done me very well :)
jaredandrews 9y ago
While I generally agree, a note I would add about guitars: you don't need to buy a super expensive guitar to start but you do want to make sure it's properly setup (usually costs < $50 at a guitar store). Action that is too high can be a huge motivation killer for the novice guitarist and they might not even know the issue can be fixed.
jdietrich 9y ago
Whenever I buy a new guitar, I deliberately damage it - a quick scrape against a belt buckle or a dent against the edge of a table. Even if you know that the guitar will have a hard working life, you can't help but handle it with kid gloves when it's still all shiny and new. The first ding always hurts, so you might as well get it over with. I wonder if this has any bearing on the popularity of reliced guitars. Aesthetics is undoubtedly a part, as with pre-distressed jeans, but I can't help thinking that some players are more comfortable with an instrument that has taken a beating before it left the factory.
heurist 9y ago
Depends on the skill. Low-quality tools can interfere with effective learning and thwart budding passions.
- Wistar 9y ago
  Pianos are a good example of this. Inexpensive pianos, especially uprights — unless they have a Fandrich action — are simply incapable of the expressive range that a sensitive and skillfull budding pianist needs to have to learn. A seasoned pianist can usually work around a crappy piano in ways that a learner can not.
semi-extrinsic 9y ago
"The more constraints one imposes, the more one frees one's self. And the arbitrariness of the constraint serves only to obtain precision of execution." - Igor Stravinsky
anthony_romeo 9y ago
I took up watercolor painting this year without any painting experience, and I'm having a blast. I began with cheap paint and brushes despite hearing that professional quality tools are better. Now I'm gradually buying better supplies. As a result, there's two points of value I feel I gained through this method: 1. I was able to start with very low cost, and could fearlessly practice without the regret of wasting expensive product. (With that said, I acknowledge that watercolor painting is already one of the least expensive ways to paint) 2. As I upgrade my paints and brushes, I'm learning why professional tools are better. There are pretty clear differences between cheap and expensive paint, but without experiencing both, one can't really evaluate their value. I think it's really a matter of setting expectations. If one starts by suffering to achieve perfection, they'll probably quit. I think they'd better serve themselves by finding joy in the act itself, and letting that feeling drive improvement. Even masters fail to achieve true perfection from time to time.

mitchty 9y ago

This is why when I got my first motorcycle my buddy told me "lets find a beater on craigslist thats been in a crash". I paid about $2k for it, and that yamaha had seen a hell of a dump at 50mph and had scratches that looked like a banshee had its way with the left side because it insulted her mothers size or whatever. But damn if he wasn't right that when I inevitably had it fall over whle practicing in the parking lot that I didn't care much. Plus after riding that (not quite a) beater I was much better prepared for stuff with more zoom to it. I think buying cheap/refurb/broken and learning from that is definitely the way to go when starting/learning. You learn how to appreciate the good stuff later on. Just like how now I can pretty much use unix to a large degree after using them for ~20ish years, I tend to stick to osx+nix to get me up to speed. I keep my configurations portable to open/freebsd and linux as well on the off chance I need to move around, but other than that I tend to not be too committed to what I'm running.

GenYCubeJockey 9y ago

Was wondering if guitar or culinary arts would show up. I read in Bourdain's "Kitchen Confidential" that Chefs bring their own knives. Hence an attachment to the tool and appreciation of quality. Guitars are similar, in that a mint condition guitar is nice to look at but kind of scary to play. The highest selling instruments have been famous for who played them, when, and where, not the brand or how close to new they might be. It's funny how artisans who base their livelihood on tools relate to them versus the drop-in tourist who starts cheap and gives up easy.

jkFeiwi 9y ago

Another reason for this may be that skilled people know enough to ignore marketing claims. Let's take guitars. You can get a squire (introductory model), a Fender made in Mexico (intermediate, a few hundred dollars) or an American standard (top of the line, a few thousand dollars). Most working musicians I know will stick with the Mexican fender, because they know there's not much difference between them and the Americans (The Mexican guitars are quite nice), and you can gig with it without worrying that a scratch or nick will tank the value. So who buys the American fenders? People in their 40s and 50s who play guitar, but not professionally. For them, the guitar is a collectors piece. The story behind the guitar matters more than how it plays. Don't get me wrong, American standards are great guitars. But unless you're looking for a very specific tone, the Mexican fender will do the job.

gkya 9y ago
Squire makes lovely guitars. I owned one for some time in my first years (never became professional, play to myself on and off since years), it was a cyan strat, and people were amazed with the general intonation of the thing. The stupid 16yrs old version of me traded it for a shitty acoustic because I didn't have the money to buy a second one. I could still have that cheap piece of beauty and play it with joy. The whole "tone" business (pun unintended) is a bit shady IMO. With an electric instrument, the wood contributes only so much to the tone. I'd look for sustain, feedback and intonation over that, especially in the cheaper segment. You can set up some nice tones with volume and tone on the guitar and the equalizer on the amp. Put on a nice set of strings and you're good to go. Tip: use a tuner app to test the notes from random places all over the neck, at least one note each fret. Make sure everything is in tune. With some cheaper guitars, they place the first few frets correctly and don't care that much for the rest.
brett40324 9y ago
Ive been playing guitar for 25 years and still practice on high action junk $50 pawn shop acoustics, or even kids sized walmart guitars with now almost rusty strings. I do this for dexterity, mostly playing scales and usually out of tune. Then for actually playing, recording or anything serious, of course I play something nice. Aside: I started learning the mandolin last year and picked up a Rogue model for 40 bucks. Ive learned to make it sound pleasant, but it is terribly strenuous to play. When i do upgrade I know that the piece of crap it really is will have done me very well :)

jaredandrews 9y ago

While I generally agree, a note I would add about guitars: you don't need to buy a super expensive guitar to start but you do want to make sure it's properly setup (usually costs < $50 at a guitar store). Action that is too high can be a huge motivation killer for the novice guitarist and they might not even know the issue can be fixed.

jdietrich 9y ago

Whenever I buy a new guitar, I deliberately damage it - a quick scrape against a belt buckle or a dent against the edge of a table. Even if you know that the guitar will have a hard working life, you can't help but handle it with kid gloves when it's still all shiny and new. The first ding always hurts, so you might as well get it over with. I wonder if this has any bearing on the popularity of reliced guitars. Aesthetics is undoubtedly a part, as with pre-distressed jeans, but I can't help thinking that some players are more comfortable with an instrument that has taken a beating before it left the factory.

heurist 9y ago

Depends on the skill. Low-quality tools can interfere with effective learning and thwart budding passions.

Wistar 9y ago
Pianos are a good example of this. Inexpensive pianos, especially uprights — unless they have a Fandrich action — are simply incapable of the expressive range that a sensitive and skillfull budding pianist needs to have to learn. A seasoned pianist can usually work around a crappy piano in ways that a learner can not.

semi-extrinsic 9y ago

"The more constraints one imposes, the more one frees one's self. And the arbitrariness of the constraint serves only to obtain precision of execution." - Igor Stravinsky

anthony_romeo 9y ago

I took up watercolor painting this year without any painting experience, and I'm having a blast. I began with cheap paint and brushes despite hearing that professional quality tools are better. Now I'm gradually buying better supplies. As a result, there's two points of value I feel I gained through this method: 1. I was able to start with very low cost, and could fearlessly practice without the regret of wasting expensive product. (With that said, I acknowledge that watercolor painting is already one of the least expensive ways to paint) 2. As I upgrade my paints and brushes, I'm learning why professional tools are better. There are pretty clear differences between cheap and expensive paint, but without experiencing both, one can't really evaluate their value. I think it's really a matter of setting expectations. If one starts by suffering to achieve perfection, they'll probably quit. I think they'd better serve themselves by finding joy in the act itself, and letting that feeling drive improvement. Even masters fail to achieve true perfection from time to time.