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Here’s the scenario. You are a lead guitar player in a band. You just performed for a group of people. Overall, you feel like it went well and really poured everything you had into playing your parts and improvising that solo section. Most people tell you they were impressed with the performance. You feel good about it.

However, one friend, who also happens to play guitar, says to you, “Yeah, dude, you played your parts well, but the solo section seemed way too long and lacked interest in the melody.”

Some of you might not pay much attention to the comment, but for others, this could be devastating, especially for newer guitar players who don’t have a lot of experience or confidence.

In general, I think at a gut level we believe that critique directed towards us is somehow a bad thing. Maybe in our minds we would say it’s a good thing, but when it comes towards us, our initial reaction might be to write it off rather than consider it, and in some cases, we might even be afraid of it, or discouraged from ever playing music again.

“Whenever you play music for someone you inevitably invite critique. Think about it. Everyone has a reaction towards a piece of music or a work of art. That’s precisely the point of art.”

When I was studying music in college, we had to take a voice class where we had to perform popular music pieces while the rest of the class critiqued our performance and listed out the things we did well and the thing we didn’t do well. Needless to say, there were always things that we didn’t do too well, and sometimes the critique was just brutal.

I think what made the critique so brutal at times was because of the inherit personal nature of music. So when we hear something like, “Yeah, I didn’t really dig your interpretation of that melody,” we feel the comment is directed towards us personally because we’re so connected with the piece of music we are playing.

However, whenever you play music for someone you inevitably invite critique. Think about it. Everyone has a reaction towards a piece of music or a work of art. That’s precisely the point of art. When you go to a concert, there might be things you like and things you don’t like. Just because there are things you don’t like doesn’t mean the artist is afraid to put on the concert.

Through my class critique experience, I learned how important it was to simply be quiet and receive the criticism. It was only when I received the criticism and mulled it over that I was actually able to learn and grow from it.

Are we willing to humbly embrace critique in order to become better artists and musicians?

I’m finding that this will always be a challenge, but one that is well worth it.

How well do you receive criticism? How do you respond and process criticism?

I’m not sure if this a universal experience for guitar players, but I remember when I first started learning guitar I was incredibly insecure and lacked confidence whenever I played in front of other people–especially, other guitar players who I knew were better than me. I’d end up getting so nervous! Maybe you can relate?

Even today, it can be sometimes intimidating to be in the company of those who I know are a hundred times better than myself.

However, I’m learning what a great opportunity that presents itself when I find myself in those positions where I’m in the company of guitar “greats.”

I have a friend named Patrick. Patrick is a guitar performance major here at school, and he spends over 28 hours in the practice rooms practicing guitar. That’s not counting all his other course work for school. I have a tremendous amount of respect for my friend’s discipline and dedication. I’m always blown away by his guitar performances. He is a hundred times better than I’ll ever be.

But rather than being intimidated, I decided to ask Patrick for help last week. For awhile now, I’ve been wanting to start learning new stuff on the guitar. I’m kind of in a rut and need something new to bite into. My friend was thrilled that I asked him. We ended up spending over an hour looking into new techniques.

All to say, it can be easy to be intimidated by the guitar greats that we encounter, but rather than shying away, use those encounters as an opportunity to learn something new that can help bring your guitar playing to the next level! Often these guitarists would be more than happy to show you something new.

If you are doing this, it really hinders your guitar playing.  

Let’s look at why.

Think about when you practice guitar…

I often practice guitar with it sitting on my lap.  My guess is that most of you probably do too.  It usually isn’t till a performance or a show that comes up where I throw on the guitar strap.  

Now, when you practice guitar, think about where the position of the guitar is in relationship to your body. For me, the body of the guitar rests on one of my legs, which puts the guitar right smack in front of my stomach.

When we practice this way, we become used to this position. If our guitar is positioned this way when we practice, we’ll perform much better with a guitar strap adjusted so that the guitar is in a similar position to our practice position.

But maybe you are the type who practices with their guitar down to their knees…

Another real problem, and the main problem, with having your guitar strap adjusted so low is that it causes a lot of tension in your arm and wrist.  If I have the guitar strap adjusted in such a way that causes the neck of the guitar to be really low, I’m going to have to reach really far down towards the neck and then bend my wrist very awkwardly upwards to actually play.  

All this reaching and bending is causing tension in your arm and wrist.  Any tension will decrease your speed, accuracy, and dexterity in your guitar playing.

Adjusting Your Guitar Strap

Adjust your guitar strap so you can comfortably reach the guitar fretboard without tension and a severely bent wrist.  A good reference for where you should set your guitar strap is how the guitar is positioned when it sits on your lap.  Ultimately, where you adjust your guitar strap will vary from person to person. The goal is to decrease tension in your arm and wrist so you can increase speed, accuracy, and dexterity in your guitar playing!

Best Selling Guitar Straps & Locks

His reason for selling his guitars was simply, “I’m just getting too old.”  Bill was 81 years old.  In talking to him, I found out that he actually played professionally all throughout his life.  He ended up showing me some of his recordings, and man, they were impressive!  Bill played guitar at lightning speeds with flawlessness.

So I said to him, “What advice do you have for me to increase my guitar speed?”

He just kind of stared at me with deep, pensive eyes.  I half wondered if he heard or understood my question because of the amount of time that passed before he said anything.  He thought for awhile, smiled slightly, and then said confidently, “Practice. Practice. And, practice. Then,” he went on with an increased smile, “you must develop a slight nervous twitch in your picking hand.”  

We both laughed, but inside I was kind of disappointed that all he told me was to “practice.”  It seemed so elementary.  But then, as I was leaving, I realized that his words contained deep wisdom.  Time that is diligently spent in practice is the only way we’ll ever grow as musicians.

On a similar note, if you are wanting to hone in on different skills and techniques on guitar, then check out my reviews on some splendid online guitar courses.

Now, with that being said, go practice!