Senior Instructor at Halifax Guitar Lessons
Why does this have to happen to you? Why now? You were finally learning or getting better on guitar, maybe you found a really good guitar teacher to help you, but now you find yourself with a tough decision.
You are feeling pressured, stressed and overwhelmed. The problem is that you know what the decision needs to be. You just do not want to make it. Not now.
But is the decision really that obvious?
Is Stopping Your Guitar Lessons Only About Time And Money?
Life gets busy. And this time you figure the busy period is probably only temporary. So the easiest way to relieve the pressure right now is to stop taking guitar lessons.
The reasoning you come up with is that you do not have time to practice anyway so you would be wasting your teacher’s time and your money continuing with lessons when you are not totally committed to practicing.
It seems logical when you look at it this way but there are pieces missing. Learning to play guitar is a lot more valuable than the amount of money you pay to learn it and a good teacher would not think you are wasting their time.
Guitar Lessons Should Not Be The Lowest Priority In Our Lives
What you may not see or realize is that learning how to play guitar has a lot more value than it seems to have so it usually has the lowest priority in your life and therefore is the first thing to get cut when things get busy.
I can’t blame you because this is how our society views music too as a whole. When a school program has budget cuts what goes first? The music program gets chopped almost every single time.
Music is seen as a fun thing to do, a side activity. However there is a lot of science that shows this to be incomplete. Music is incredibly powerful and can help kids, teens and adults in many ways.
Because we value music so little it gets dropped too quickly.
Also, when you stop taking guitar lessons, you remove a huge accountability factor. Now that you do not have to take the time, money and energy to go to lessons, the value placed on practicing guitar actually goes way down.
Because of this the vast majority of people that have every intention to continue practicing when they stop lessons actually stop practicing altogether. Then years go by and they realize their busyness killed the one thing they enjoyed.
Many of my guitar students are such people. That’s not what we want to happen to you.
Give Guitar Lessons The Priority They Deserve And Keep Going
The best thing you can do in this situation is the opposite of what you feel. Do not stop taking lessons. You will regret it. Everyone usually does.
Instead of stopping lessons when your life gets busy, you need to keep going. This is the only way to protect the investment in time, energy and money you have already put into learning to play guitar up until this time.
If you have to reduce or stop practicing outside of lessons that is much better to do than stopping lessons altogether. That’s because you will at least be able to maintain what you have already learned, albeit at a slower pace, with your teacher who will keep you on track.
And if you are able to do it, you can even progress during this time. How is this possible?
The Secret To Keep Progressing On Guitar Even When You Are Busy
I know this is going to sound a bit crazy but the very best thing you can do is to increase the amount of guitar lesson time you already have. It would be better for you to reduce or stop practicing at home instead for many reasons.
Why? Because if you go to lessons more often with a good guitar teacher, you will continue to practice and play the things you know and are learning the right way in their presence and the chances of actually progressing during this time goes way up.
Your time in lessons can then become a time for you to get your mind off all the busyness and to rest from all of it. A time for you to look forward to, enjoy and will reduce all of the stress in your life caused by the busyness.
However, if you stop lessons and try to practice on your own instead, you will have no feedback, you will have no direction and you will more than likely start to practice incorrectly, become frustrated and stop. This is typical.
So instead of stopping your guitar lessons when times get busy, push forward, keep going to lessons or even take more. This way you will stay on the path to reaching your dream to learn to play guitar.
Leave the regrets behind and go for it!