4 ms·

Playing a musical instrument is like weight lifting for your brain.

criddell 4y ago
There’s a big physical part too I think. I’ve been trying to learn guitar on and off for thirty years and I think a certain lack of coordination and muscle memory, poor sense of rhythm, and some degree of tone deafness has made it a real struggle.
- nescioquid 4y ago
  There is a large portion of music performance that is simply muscle memory, but probably a larger portion is really perceptual. In order to develop better motor skills, you need to be guided by the resulting sound compared with an intention, an idea of the sound you want. This implies that the first thing that has to change is perception and imagination. There's a literature on how to practice music. Many of the techniques you'll encounter really have to do with aiding perception (the idea, the sound, awareness of what you are actually doing) and interfering with "muscle memory" so that you can break down and improve execution. Coordination, rhythm, or pitch will not improve until perception does, but perception can certainly be trained and improved! Also -- just try practicing something intensely for 10 minutes, then practice/play something else. Then come back next day after a good sleep. The improvement that happens while you sleep is almost creepy.
- asdff 4y ago
  Good practice helps with this. You can get a better sense of rhythm by playing rhythm and strumming on beat, or tapping your foot, or practicing with a metronome. You gain coordination with regular practice, and muscle memory with practicing different chord shapes and scales. the tone deafness can be improved if you always keep your guitar in tune and start to intrinsically learn what good tone sounds like as you practice.
  - criddell 4y ago
    I’ve been doing these things for 30 years now. Progress is slow.
    - asdff 4y ago
      It's tough making time for how much practice you really need to do. Really great pro guitarists like Jerry Garcia were probably playing guitar north of 40 hours a week whereas many amateur guitarists are lucky to squeeze in 20 mins a day sometimes. The best time to get great at guitar (or any skill really) is when you are a kid and really can just play 8+ hours a day every day all summer without having to worry about a job or many other responsibilities taking up limited time.
      - criddell 4y ago
        I have learned a lot over the years. I’ve had a few teachers, some better than others. I’ve used some online teaching resources. I know the fretboard pretty well, I can switch between chords cleanly and quickly, and I understand the very basics of music theory. I just can’t put it all together. None of it has become pure muscle memory. It all takes active thinking as I play so if I’m keeping time, my chord changes are bad, if I hear lyrics, my strumming ends up matching the cadence of the vocal track. Despite all that, I do enjoy playing what I can play. It just isn’t much.

There’s a big physical part too I think. I’ve been trying to learn guitar on and off for thirty years and I think a certain lack of coordination and muscle memory, poor sense of rhythm, and some degree of tone deafness has made it a real struggle.

nescioquid 4y ago
There is a large portion of music performance that is simply muscle memory, but probably a larger portion is really perceptual. In order to develop better motor skills, you need to be guided by the resulting sound compared with an intention, an idea of the sound you want. This implies that the first thing that has to change is perception and imagination. There's a literature on how to practice music. Many of the techniques you'll encounter really have to do with aiding perception (the idea, the sound, awareness of what you are actually doing) and interfering with "muscle memory" so that you can break down and improve execution. Coordination, rhythm, or pitch will not improve until perception does, but perception can certainly be trained and improved! Also -- just try practicing something intensely for 10 minutes, then practice/play something else. Then come back next day after a good sleep. The improvement that happens while you sleep is almost creepy.
asdff 4y ago
Good practice helps with this. You can get a better sense of rhythm by playing rhythm and strumming on beat, or tapping your foot, or practicing with a metronome. You gain coordination with regular practice, and muscle memory with practicing different chord shapes and scales. the tone deafness can be improved if you always keep your guitar in tune and start to intrinsically learn what good tone sounds like as you practice.
- criddell 4y ago
  I’ve been doing these things for 30 years now. Progress is slow.
  - asdff 4y ago
    It's tough making time for how much practice you really need to do. Really great pro guitarists like Jerry Garcia were probably playing guitar north of 40 hours a week whereas many amateur guitarists are lucky to squeeze in 20 mins a day sometimes. The best time to get great at guitar (or any skill really) is when you are a kid and really can just play 8+ hours a day every day all summer without having to worry about a job or many other responsibilities taking up limited time.
    - criddell 4y ago
      I have learned a lot over the years. I’ve had a few teachers, some better than others. I’ve used some online teaching resources. I know the fretboard pretty well, I can switch between chords cleanly and quickly, and I understand the very basics of music theory. I just can’t put it all together. None of it has become pure muscle memory. It all takes active thinking as I play so if I’m keeping time, my chord changes are bad, if I hear lyrics, my strumming ends up matching the cadence of the vocal track. Despite all that, I do enjoy playing what I can play. It just isn’t much.