A baby lion is not afraid of running alone in the vastness of savanna. The same behavior can be typical for a guitarist, who has only begun a long journey into the diverse world of music. One of the points that he discovers very soon, is that many people - including skilled musicians who use the same instrument-, tend to overreact over little things. And often times it leads to the constant discomfort from even such a regular process as pulling the strings. A human brain is capable of getting rid of many psychological obstacles. And a string breaking phobia is not an exception.
Practical Toolset
Always have extra strings
In that way you will be as calm, as if you had an extra life in this reality. An extra string pack will exclude the chance of playing without one. You also won’t have to play riffs of your setlist alternatively if it happens during your show.
Don’t avoid a guitar string winder
Yes, there are very few paranoids who prefer not to use a string winder, so that they could avoid the sense of anxiety. If you happen to be one of them, note that a winder is one of the great tools that can save you a plenty of time and make your life a lot easier. There is no reason to worry about getting used to it so much that you will overdo it. Just stop spinning it as soon as you think that it’s time to do it manually. Your intuition won’t let you down.
Use a tuner and you won’t go too high
We all have seen how movie paramedics defibrillate someone who they think needs a jumpstart for their heart. What do these characters do? They dramatically say “clear!”, hit the person with discharge and check the patient’s heartbeat on the monitor of the defibrillator. There is a lot simpler algorithm that can work perfectly while tuning your instrument:
1. You don’t have to say “clear” (if you don’t want to).;
2. You focus your eyes on the indicator of your tuner.
3. You d̶e̶f̶i̶b̶r̶i̶l̶l̶a̶t̶e̶ spin the peg until tuner shows you that the string is ready.
In that way you will be 100% sure that you didn’t overdo it. And even if you don’t bring the string back to life, the thought that you did everything right will keep you away from blaming yourself. Thus, you will start to worry about it less and less.
Promise to make yourself a specific gift every time it happens
Parents always bribe their children with toys or ice-cream whenever they want to take them to some painful or at least unpleasant procedure in the hospital. A kid will not only be ready to go, but he will also have more patience to accept it calmly. The same principle can work for you. But in order for this method to work, you have to promise yourself to buy something more than just a new string.
Psychological Mindset
It will never hit your face and especially your eyes
There is no way that laws of physics allow this to happen if you hold your guitar in a regular position. Furthermore, if for whatever reason you want to injure yourself in that way, you will have to try really hard to achieve that specific goal…
First of all, even if your guitar is on the same level as your chest and you have a poor posture, it’s still not enough to make you get hurt. You would have to place your eyes closer than one inch away from a string and exactly right above the spot of the potential break. And even if you bother to find and put a surgical eyes fixator on your face in order to damage your eyes it still may not be enough. Right after it breaks a string may fold inwardly, facing the deck of guitar.
Don’t close your eyes while tuning your string
Doing so you’re creating the same feeling as if your clone was aiming a snowball at you and threatening to throw it in your face while you have your hands tied up. Don’t bully yourself in that same way. Closing your eyes won’t increase, nor decrease the chances of breaking the string. You only enhance your sense of discomfort by doing so.
It’s better when it happens while practicing but not during the show
The reality is that a string can break anytime. However, it is a lot better when it happens during your practice time, rather than in a break before your song during a live performance.
There’s no reason for panicking if you’ve discovered a fixable problem in the engine of your car when you’re in your own garage. But it can happen in the middle of a desert. That’s why you’ve got to have some basic tools in your car. In this case - a pack of spare strings in your guitar bag.
The Scale of the Problem Is Insignificant After All
Imagine an astronaut who spends all of the time in the international space station. One of the risks that she has is to get a good dose of radiation from the sun flashes. One of the worst case scenarios is that– she will need an organ transplantation due to cancer that she might get. Let this metaphor serve you as a reminder that you face a lot fewer risks than that astronaut guitarist. Your guitar is most likely not as radioactive as the sun, and the nearest pack of strings is probably closer to you than the nearest satellite to our planet.
About Author:
Zack Hargrove is an editor-in-chief at cheapwritingservice.com. He is very enthusiastic about covering topics of music trends, album reviews.