{"id":6869,"date":"2016-03-15T19:12:22","date_gmt":"2016-03-16T02:12:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/bluesguitarunleashed.com\/blog\/?p=6869"},"modified":"2016-03-15T19:13:04","modified_gmt":"2016-03-16T02:13:04","slug":"dont-suffer-needlessly","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bluesguitarunleashed.com\/blog\/dont-suffer-needlessly\/","title":{"rendered":"Don’t Suffer Needlessy…"},"content":{"rendered":"

I have a confession to make to you today… at times I suffer from “isuckitis.”<\/p>\n

It’s a chronic condition that affects nearly 100% of guitar players and has several visible symptoms:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Feelings of frustration when the thing you could play on your guitar yesterday sounds like you’ve never even tried today…<\/li>\n
  2. Thinking that every other guitar player at the local open jam sounds better than you on the exact same amp…<\/li>\n
  3. Compelling desires to buy a new guitar, amp, or pedal based on the conviction that it is guaranteed to make you sound better…<\/li>\n
  4. As symptoms persist and get more severe, there is a higher propensity to spend time on guitar related websites and forums, and less time actually playing the guitar…<\/li>\n
  5. In extreme cases it is even characterized by putting the guitar in its case and then putting the case in a closet or under a bed…<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    But you don’t have to suffer from “isuckitis,” and it is curable with a bit of determination…<\/p>\n

      \n
    1. Record yourself today playing something that is a struggle. In 30 days record yourself playing it again, and again in 60 days… you’ll be surprised at how you sound when you aren’t paying attention to it every single day.<\/li>\n
    2. Realize that one of the best learning tools you have is attached to the sides of your head – your ears. Spend time listening and paying attention to music as much as you spend playing it.<\/li>\n
    3. Look at any internet TAB or free online video with your “filters” on… if it sounds wrong, it just might be because the person who posted it might not actually be that much better than you.<\/li>\n
    4. Remember that it’s called playing guitar for a reason… it’s not supposed to be work (unless you make a living at it and then there are definitely days when it is… but it’s still the coolest job ever.)<\/li>\n
    5. Forget about anyone else – you\u00a0don’t ever have to be better than anyone else. Music is about expressing yourself and enjoying the sounds you make with your guitar, not about impressing anyone (though it’s nice when it happens, don’t hang your hat on it or you’re bound to be unhappy.)<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      If you know someone suffering from “isuckitis,” let them know it can be treated and there is hope after “isuckitis…”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      I have a confession to make to you today… at times I suffer from “isuckitis.” It’s a chronic condition that affects nearly 100% of guitar players and has several visible symptoms: Feelings of frustration when the thing you could play on your guitar yesterday sounds like you’ve never even tried today… Thinking that every other […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluesguitarunleashed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6869"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluesguitarunleashed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluesguitarunleashed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluesguitarunleashed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluesguitarunleashed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6869"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/bluesguitarunleashed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6869\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6871,"href":"https:\/\/bluesguitarunleashed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6869\/revisions\/6871"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluesguitarunleashed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6869"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluesguitarunleashed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6869"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluesguitarunleashed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6869"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}