Could it be that you underestimate your abilities?
According to Steve Morse that’s very likely. He’s one of the best guitarists alive, not a household name but every guitarist knows him. Morse is famous for working incredibly hard and pushing things to the extreme while making them feel easy.
In a recent interview he said that even the best musicians tend to underestimate their abilities.
His full answer is fascinating:
Another thing I learned being a band leader is that musicians underestimate their ability. Even really good musicians. They would often say: “Let me work on that at home.”
I say: “How about this? Give me five minutes, just five minutes of your undivided attention, and let’s just see where we are.”
And I would show him that 16 bar difficult part in five minutes by breaking it down and they would be able to play it. Maybe not at the exact tempo, but they would have it.
Almost universally, five minutes of attention can bring anybody doing anything to a higher level of understanding. So why is it so hard for us to give five minutes?
That very much matches my experience. Spend just five minutes learning something and everything changes. It might be reading, watching a tutorial, thinking something through, practicing something, or speaking it through with an expert.
These five minutes change everything.
How often do you do that?
And, honestly now, how often do you find yourself glossing over it, postponing it, or simply moving on to the next thing?
Keep lighting the path!
PS: If you’re willing to invest four hours, imagine what a Clarity Lab can do for you.
