What Learning the Guitar Taught Me About Life
Ever since I was a little girl, I was fascinated by music. Guitars specifically. Whenever I heard someone playing the guitar, I would stop in the middle of what I was doing and just listen.
It was one of those things I was naturally drawn to. Something about guitars made me want to listen to them, hold them, play them.
I got my first guitar when I was 12 as a gift from my parents. It was a kid’s guitar, and I was so excited. I pulled out the guitar and started strumming along the strings. To my dismay, I sounded horrible.
I had no clue how to play. I just beat against the strings waiting for the magic to come out. When it didn’t happen, the guitar went back in its case and I didn’t pick it up again for fifteen years.
When the pandemic hit, I was inspired to pick it up again in an attempt to stay sane. I never had a teacher to teach me a guitar and had no formal training. I went full in any way as I started watching YouTube videos, downloading apps, and finding all the chord sheets I could.
I learned how to play chords and strumming patterns. I was slowly but surely learning real mastery over it. As I continued to play, I continued to learn. What I learned was more than just the guitar. It also taught me valuable life lessons.
1) Patience is a virtue.
When you’re first learning guitar, it takes time to figure out how to switch between chords and even longer to get used to it. Nobody tells you it will take hours of practicing going back and forth between the same two chords. It’s not pretty, but it’s necessary. You have to learn to slow down and be patient.
2) It built discipline.
If you don’t keep up with your practice, you lose muscle memory. Every day, I would sit down in the same place, at the same time, and practice. I have to do this every day. This translates to life as well. You have to show up, day in and day out. You have to build up discipline.
3) Anything worth having in life requires effort.
Playing the guitar is something I have always wanted to do. More than anything in the world, I wanted, and still want, to be a musician. But these things don’t come easy, and it turns out nothing turns out easy in life.
If you want something, you have to work for it. When you put in the work, it makes the accomplishment all the sweeter because you get tangible awards for your effort.
Learning the guitar has been valuable for me. It’s given me great joy to be able to play, and it’s taught me important life lessons. It taught me patience, discipline, and hard work. These three things are crucial if you want to succeed in anything.
All of the things that we want in life require effort, and without those qualities, you will get nowhere. Learn those and you can learn anything.
If you’d like to experience the full Medium experience, consider signing up for a membership. Membership will grant you access to all my articles and thousands of other writers on this platform. By signing up with this link, you’ll directly be supporting me. I will receive a commission at no extra cost to you.
[embed]https://medium.com/@ohsnapitsmags/membership[/embed]
