While there are many who can play the guitar there are far and few who become professional guitarists. The guitarists who stand the test of time are truly dedicated and passionate about guitar music and guitar playing and guitars in general. The type of person that becomes a professional guitarist almost quite literally lives, sleeps and breaths guitars.
How long does it take to become a pro?
Many people will pick something new up and drop it a few months later for something else. True guitarists are passionate about what they do and their life most likely revolves around playing the guitar. This may even look like having a band, touring for fans, playing shows and seeing some income come from your efforts.
In order to reach a high level of success in the guitar world however, you must first put in some solid ground work and learn the fundamentals of guitar playing. After that, you'll then only begin to be able to start to perfect different skills and techniques.
So how long will it take? Well, Learning the basics of guitar may take months to a year on average and mastering the guitar may take a whole lifetime.
What does it take to become a guitarist?
It must be stated again just how much hard work needs to go into your efforts to become a guitarist. When trying to become a guitarist you not only have to be incredibly good at playing, which may take years and years of dedication and practice but when it comes to making a career out of it you’ll have to be willing to start at the bottom and work your way up. You may have to do small shows and birthday parties before you’re selling out the Air Canada Centre or Rogers Arena.
Furthermore there may have to be a lot of marketing efforts and networking to be done to meet the right people to get yourself in a favourable position. While “dream jobs” are definitely possible, chances are there is much more competition and you’re going to have to put in extra effort that other people are not willing to do themselves. Sometimes success is really just about showing up day in and day out.
A Little Luck
Even with immense talent and skill, some people may remain “undiscovered”. Sometimes in life there are moments of synchronicity where because of your efforts it was almost as if something was bound to happen. Picture this; You’re busking at the local park like you usually do and you manage to make a little money. You continue this cycle without seeing any results, you’re posting your music online but no one is seeing it until one day someone in the industry discovers you playing in the local park. Boom.
You’re a superstar. While we can’t rely on something like this to happen and if we expect it to happen it most likely will not. That said if you don’t quit and continue playing guitar and improving your skills you’re bound to see a return on your investments at some point, be that small or large.
Will Power
Successful people will often not take no for an answer. Oftentimes success is really just a matter of trying again and again when you really want something. As soon as the trail goes dark many people will just give up. True guitarists that make something of themselves will not stop no matter what, they have their sights set on their goals.
When a professional guitarist first began they probably heard many people making fun of their efforts and their abilities and some of these concerns may have been warranted to some extent. However, at the end of the day they were able to learn guitar at a high level because their goals and passion outweighed the opinions of the peanut gallery and the neigh-sayers.
Learning and playing the guitar is tough
There is a lot to learn and play the guitar and playing efficiently. Technique can only be developed over many hours playing the guitar and even over a lifetime.
That said there are even more skills for experts to develop and perfect that are not in the tool belt of people at the beginner or intermediate level. Such skills as;
- Finger picking - In general finger picking is difficult but there are ever more advanced picking techniques like sweep picking, where a guitarist plays single notes in on consecutive strings with a sweeping motion and travis picking, also know as pattern picking is an alternating thumb style where a guitarist repeats a particular patterns with their thumb adapting to new notes in each chord.
- String tapping - It doesn't stop at hamerons as tapped arpeggios are a masterful skill to be learned on the guitar that can be even more intricate than other tapping methods.
- Vibrato - Similar to string bending, this technique is an art in itself where the guitarist moves their finger over a string on the neck of the guitar to achieve a unique sound. This technique shows real control of a guitar as any poorly executed maneuver could lead to an awful sounding result. There is a lot of intention that also goes into playing a vibrato effectively and when the moment calls for it.
There are many more expert level skills to learn but we think we've made out point. We won't even mention that you could also potentially play a double necked guitar. Or maybe we will.
The point is that there are so many skills under the sun to work on and improve when it comes to guitar and some people may not be as interested to learn and perfect these skills as others will. Where you could get away with not needing some of these skills and still do very well for yourself in the world of guitar, it will never hurt to try new things and keep up with your learning and skillset.
Learn guitar with classes
If you aren’t seeing the desired results with your training, consider hiring a personal tutor to get you to the next level. If you’re serious about playing guitar and you may even want it to be your career it should really be prioritized guitar classes. You should look for an educated mentor to help critique your playing and make sure you’re playing at the highest level possible to ensure more opportunities in the future.
Investing in yourself and your passions is definitely important for your success and your quality of life. Luckily with Superprof you don’t need to break the bank to do that. We offer thousands of guitar tutors across the world so that you can find the right one for you. Guitar learning classes are available for everyone of every level and you may find guitar classes near you or classes via webcam. No matter what you are looking for when it comes to your tutor, we have you covered.
Conclusion
Being a professional guitarist may not be for everyone. While most people may be able to pick up and play a guitar to some degree, the ones who make a career out of it take it to the next level. That said, there are many different levels of success in the guitar playing world and you need to figure out what your own personal goals are. You may not desire to sell out large arenas but you may want to teach other people how to play guitar and share your passion of playing with them which could be incredibly rewarding.
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