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Guitar UpdateFebruary 09, 2006 Monday night was my third guitar class. One person dropped out after the first class and another is wondering whether he can commit the time at this point in his life. Steve, the teacher, said that around the third class is usually when people take a hard and more knowledgeable look and ask themselves if maybe they should defer guitar playing to next year. I've been practicing about an hour a day, making noticeable progress . . . At class #3 we were introduced to standard tuning and the G, D, and E minor chords. These -- the G chord in particular -- require considerably more digital dexterity than the two-finger chords we were doing in open tuning. As my fingers protested and resisted the demands I was making on them, it dawned on me that most of the other survivors had a lot more experience with guitar playing than I did. They could make the chord changes while doing the finger- and flat-pick patterns, accelerating, accelerating -- leaving me in the dust. Not an easy position for a recovering perfectionist to be in. It reminded me of the adult ed. woodworking class I started quite a few years ago. I'd love to be able to build tangible things, not just word castles and thought forms. Several of my classmates had considerable experience with tools; the teacher, it seemed, was more interested in exploring advanced techniques with them than teaching the basics to the newbies among us. Still, I went down to a local lumberyard to buy the required materials -- and got the typical treatment of a female who wanders solo into Guy Country. I tried repeatedly to catch the attention of the (male) clerks, who attended to every man who walked though the door and never did notice me. I dropped the course after two classes. A few years have passed since then. I'm more determined to play the guitar than I was to build a bookshelf, and Steve is a much better teacher than the woodworking guy. He called me up after class on Monday, was afraid I was getting frustrated, suggested that I come by sometime this week and we could go over some stuff. I went by this afternoon. We went over some left-hand technique; he emphasized the importance of maintaining a steady rhythm, even if it's slow. I learned a few tricks about stringing a guitar; Steve lent me his Gripmaster, a gizmo to help string players develop digital strength and dexterity. Already I know I want a gizmo of my own. I also know I'm going to stick with it. One, I'm motivated; two, I think I can do it; three, it's OK with Steve if I can't keep up with the others in class. (Keep in mind that this guy not only isn't charging for the class, he isn't charging for the tutorial time.) The axiom "Practice makes perfect" has been around for a long time. A few years ago, I heard the variation "Perfect practice makes perfect." I don't like it. If the practice is perfect, why keep trying to improve? And if perfection is required from the outset, who could possibly qualify? The forefinger of my left hand doesn't want to stand up straight. All my fingers wince upon being told to bear down. Some of my chord changes are so clumsy I laugh out loud, and slow? Slow is my new middle name. But each time I take out the guitar, check the tuning, and start practicing changes, they come a little easier and a little cleaner than they did the last time. Good enough for me.
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