You don't need lessons
Thursday, July 05, 2007 - posted by hellomynameisscott at 5:52 AM
I’ve been playing guitar since I was 12.Can’t read music.
Don’t know theory.
Never took a single lesson.
“You only need to know three chords: G, C and D,” my dad said. “The rest you’ll figure out on your own.”
So I did.
I learned by practicing every day.
I learned by writing my own songs.
I learned by going to lots of concerts.
I learned by listening to tons of great music.
I learned by playing with people who were better than me.
And that made me a better musician than I EVER could have become by paying some guy $60 an hour to teach me scales.
Guitar, I learned, was 90% self-taught.
INTERESTINGLY: over the years I’ve also come to learn that lots of stuff (ok, most stuff) is 90% self-taught:
Selling.
Writing.
Creativity.
Performing.
Creating art.
Doing business.
Which doesn't mean that self-teaching is a replacement for lessons.
I'm sure all of us could use some help on those first three chords.
Which doesn't mean mentors, advisers and teachers aren't necessary.
I'm sure all of us could learn from the experiences of others.
But ultimately, I still believe: you don’t need lessons.
Just go. Just get started.
The best way to get good at something is to just start DOING that something.
LET ME ASK YA THIS...
How did you learn to do what you do?
LET ME SUGGEST THIS...
Share your best anti-lesson tip here!
* * * *
Scott Ginsberg
That Guy with the Nametag
www.hellomynameisscott.com
Are you the luckiest person you know?Watch Scott's interview on 20/20!
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Labels: commitment, consistency, stick yourself out there
I don't know, Scott. I think that you're right in that the most important part about learning something is the doing. You can learn about something by reading about it, going to a lecture or seminar, attending classes, or listening to CDs and podcasts. But you learn how to do it by doing.
But lessons can be valuable for picking up those "first three chords." A good teacher, coach, or mentor can help you get started in the right direction. In many things, having the right form is half of the battle, and it's hard to get that form exactly right on your own.
So what I'd say is that lessons aren't a replacement for doing. The hours spent in practice are more important than that one hour in the lesson. But the lessons can help you get better faster.
Hi Scott,
A good instructor can be invaluable. A good instructor is not necessarily someone you to whom you pay copious amounts of money either. A good instructor can be a friend, parent, co-participant in an activity (fellow musicians, sparring partner etc).
I have learned tonnes of things from younger but skilled people who were not designated coaches but training partners.
I also believe that if you really want to learn you must have an open mind and try things many different ways to find a way that works for you.
Keep up the blogging Scott! I love to read it!
I am a salesguy and blog on sales. My anti-lesson was after all the training on closing techniques, etc, I had a customer close me. After just talking about his needs, and what he was trying to accomplish, and talking a little about how I could help, he just said: "Great - lets get started". That's when I learned that closing a sale is not a technique or a question, it is the logican extension of a relationship where you or your product/service can actually help someone. Thanks for asking! xoxoxo JohnOnSales
True, to a point.
I originally taught myself how to do what I do. And, for being self-taught, I was pretty good.
But I needed to get on to a career without that qualifier. Now I have a master's degree in my field. While the paper itself is good for only a few things, I learned SO much more in the process of the formal training than I ever could have taught myself.
I don't think there's any such thing as truly self taught.
Self taught means sitting in a bubble and learning guitar.
You didn't do that.
Sure you didn't have formal lessons but you mimicked experts, you leveraged their learnings.
I taught myself geometry 7 years ago. Completely. No instructor, no book. Just me & a compass and that triangle thing and that half-circle thing with the degrees on it. I had started to see
these beautiful mandalas in my dreams. Imagine the Sri Yantra in the movie Mimsy. Just like that. So I was drawing them by hand and
then it occurred to me to get a compass for faster, perfect circles. Then I did paintings of the mandalas with acrylics--had never done that before either. You've prolly never written your name in the air with your elbow, but I bet you could teach yourself pretty fast.... :-) H.