I asked members of TGP who have played 30+ years what advice they would give to their younger selves when they were just getting started.
The replies were, for the most part, pretty interesting and I want to highlight just a few takeaways:
1. Wear hearing protection. This, for me, is important. While the Marines destroyed most of my hearing, loud guitar and rock concerts did a good deal of damage as well. Kids, wear those ear plugs, no kidding. You will regret it big time if you don't.
2. Learn to sing. The human voice is the most powerful instrument we have.
3. Forget the blazing chops, nobody cares about that anyways, and focus on songwriting instead.
4. Get out of the house and go public, either with a band or solo. Surround yourself with better players and learn as much as you can.
5. Focus on music theory. Theory opens the door to improvisation and frees you from the constraints of mimicking other players. The goal is music at the speed of thought, play what you hear in your head as soon as you think it, and theory is one important component to this goal.
Check out the thread for more advice and add your own to it.
The replies were, for the most part, pretty interesting and I want to highlight just a few takeaways:
1. Wear hearing protection. This, for me, is important. While the Marines destroyed most of my hearing, loud guitar and rock concerts did a good deal of damage as well. Kids, wear those ear plugs, no kidding. You will regret it big time if you don't.
2. Learn to sing. The human voice is the most powerful instrument we have.
3. Forget the blazing chops, nobody cares about that anyways, and focus on songwriting instead.
4. Get out of the house and go public, either with a band or solo. Surround yourself with better players and learn as much as you can.
5. Focus on music theory. Theory opens the door to improvisation and frees you from the constraints of mimicking other players. The goal is music at the speed of thought, play what you hear in your head as soon as you think it, and theory is one important component to this goal.
Check out the thread for more advice and add your own to it.