I’ve taught dozens of people to play the guitar, and I’ve learned to predict who will learn to play well: those who enjoy the (pretty bad, maybe even atrocious) music they produce as a beginner. If someone tells me in the first session how they picture themselves being applauded for their great skill or how they want to be famous and play in a rock band, I know there is heavy sledding ahead. They’re a long way from any such outcome, and grasping at it will make learning the basics like fingering or playing simple scales that much harder for a biologically built-in reason: immediate
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