When I was a kid I took guitar lessons. In this short article I want to share a few tips that helped me.

At the beginning of your musical journey, you often imagine, how you will perform your favorite songs or compositions. But the first challenges make you realize that there are many hours of hard work ahead. The hardest part is for children, who are in traditional music schools. It’s important not to lose the enthusiasm with which you took up the instrument in the beginning! Solving the problem is easier than it sounds - look for teachers who can teach you to play what you love.

This is the easiest advice. Listen to music of different genres and directions, this will help you develop your musical ear and sense of rhythm.

Listening to music is an important skill. Practice it as much as you can, and one day you will be able to break down any song into musical parts. Try writing your own short essays in verse and matching the melody to them. You won’t get it right away, but it will help you write a good song on your own later on.

The main trick is that all your movements are possible because of muscle memory. This is a set of movements that are stored in the nervous system with a lot of repetition. Remarkably, the nervous system doesn’t know what you’re doing right and what you’re not. As a result, you make mistakes that are very difficult to correct. Playing at a slower tempo, performing vocal techniques in a more concentrated state can teach you to perform things that many people can’t master for years.

Once you realize you’re capable of playing more than a dozen songs decently, it’s worth think about finding other musicians. The reason is simple - many things you can’t can’t be learned in a lesson. Only real experience in the form of choosing repertoire together, rehearsals and performances will allow you to grow and discover new possibilities of your instrument and your voice.

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