Quote:
Originally Posted by WonderMonkey
Do you think that you made the turn from not having to think about things and that's why progress shot up?
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No, I think that not having to think and having my capability for speed suddenly increase are both results of having put in the practice needed to build "muscle memory" or in more scientific terms, to build myelin on the neural circuits. I also built hand strength, dexterity and flexibility all of which help. Since I was new to the guitar when I started the book, I was also trying to work on all the usual beginner problems like slow chord changes and making my fingers do things they had never done before. I think that's why it took me so long.
I'm an experienced teacher and tutor in other disciplines and I've always been fascinated by how people learn so I was careful to practice in a way that I knew would produce results. There is some fascinating research coming out in the area of skill development and I'm happy to take advantage of it in teaching myself guitar.
I spent 10-15 minutes each practice session playing all three examples trying for perfection each time so I didn't learn it wrong. Then I went on to more interesting things so I built other skills and had fun playing songs.