Your Brain is Going to Explode, But It Will Recover

You decide to pick up a guitar and learn how to play.  That was your first mistake ;-)

First comes the numbness and searing pain from tender fingertips that have never pushed down a fine wire string like this before.  Part of this is inexperience, with your fingertips, but also with your technique.

You make it past that initial rite of passage.

The finger pain does not cause you to quit and you have found your new addiction.

You are onto the next levels.  You learn chords, songs, rhythm patterns, etc.

Then you learn to pick.  This is a whole new level of insanity as you try to move your right hand independently from your left which is probably holding down a chord that is fairly static (ya, I know at first it does not feel static but after lots of practice it will).

Your brain does convulsions!  How will you ever get your right hand to move in sync to the beat and hit the correct strings?

Well, you practice, practice, practice.  You play slow, I mean stupid slow.  You play when no one else is around because you suck so hard.  When family/friends are around you feel sorry for them.

Then one day, you are picking a song.  Boy this sounds cool.

Then you are picking everything you already know with chords and switching it up, picking the song, and then strumming.  This is fun, neat!

Time Passes....

As always occurs with anything skilled based, you plateau.  Your playing feels a little flat.  You are not challenged any longer.

You want more.  The beast must be feed with more knowledge.

Next you try Alternate Picking, String Skipping, Arpeggios, Legato, Sweep Picking, and String Bending.  Sometimes combining several of these.

What hell has your brain entered?  The madness; left fingers moving, right hand jumping between strings, up strum, down strum, bending 1/2 step, whole step, multi-fret jumps.

Don't make it sharp, not to flat, keep the beat, don't hit the wrong string.  You are overwhelmed.

Your brain is going to explode!!!

Then...slow down...take your time.  Speed up gradually.  Repeat.  Repeat.  Repeat.

Keep adding another hour to the 10,000 Hour Skill Bank.

It will come.  You'll get it.