New Tricks

Fender Stratocaster

“You can’t teach an old dog new tricks.” I’m sure you’ve heard that mind-numbing cliche many times. Well, I’m here to say that education is not a bag of tricks and humans are not dogs. Some do resemble their  ole’ dog, anyway . . . 

For years I heard that platitude from students who would use it as excuse for not being able to successfully learn a new skill to their satisfaction or expectation. Agreed, learning a new skill is challenging. Let’s be honest, it’s downright hard. We tend to get entrenched in our comfortable ruts.

Think back a minute. Remember what it was like to learn to ride a bicycle? It was exhilarating! Well, maybe not at first. Did you have training wheels? I’m sorry. What happened when your Dad removed those training wheels. I’ll bet you fell - over and over again. But with a determination that refused to quit, you learned to ride. It was simply a matter of learning the tricks.   

You see, to remain young and active, life is about learning and teaching new skills. In today’s educational lingo it’s called “skill development”.

I’m learning to play the guitar. Admittedly it’s a formidable way to practice skill development. It's a skill I’ve always dreamed of doing but were afraid to try. Everything I’d read kept encouraging me; dare to dream to re-invent yourself go back to what you loved as a child. It’s never too late to learn something new. So, I did. Every morning I began practicing guitar. At first basic chords, G, D, C, and E, man was that tough. And rather boring. I struggled to play some Buddy Holly songs. Simple enough, three cords and a few straightforward licks. Not so. It took me eight months to develop the strength, flexibility, and coordination to play a G chord with consistent results.

Try it sometime.

Then the breakthrough came. I overcame my stubborn nature and enrolled in guitar lessons. Yes at 58 years old I decided it was time to stop dreaming and start playing. 

Face the facts there comes a time when the teacher becomes the student. One who studies: an attentive and systematic observer. A person formally engaged in learning a new skill. The key word here is engaged. This means dedication to daily practice. Directed instruction from an observer who can correct for inconsistencies in technique. And a fresh perspective on what works. That’s what my guitar instructor provides.

I’ll admit he exceeded my expectations from the first lesson. He did not say, “Here is the fretboard, here are the notes memorize them, then we will get started.” Not at all.

My first lesson was a question and observation session. “What chords do you know. Play them for me.” Then an amazing thing happened. He asked, “What do you want to play?”

“Blues guitar, maybe some Jazz,” I responded.

“Ok, let’s get started.” He took out a blank sheet with eight sets of six lines. This represented the guitars fret board and in handwritten symbols gave me the tablature notation to play Basic Blues in “A”.

He played it to demonstrate the rhythm and fingering. Then he asked me to give it a try. I could not believe my ears. Was I really playing a blues riff? It was magical.

“Good, practice this. Next week we will begin to build on this foundation,” he said.

Granted it’s still early in my guitar learning curve. I can almost play something that resembles music. Thank goodness my coach doesn’t treat me like a dog and his systematic approach to guitar is not a bag of tricks. Give me a few more months before I debut on stage with my Fender Stratocaster.

No tricks - just consistent, persistent practice.