What are the biggest road blocks to improvement?

[Deluge Of Sound]

Obviously he has some natural ability. But practice since he was 2 years old is what made him the top golfer. Ability + practice = kicking ass. Ability - practice = not kicking ass.

+1.

And really, who are we to say that players aren't doing exactly what they want to do, even if it offends our ears?

 

[Professor Jones]

Depending on our nalural talent, we'll have to work more or less to achieve the same goal. Some people will get there fast, others will have to work harder to get the same results.

Then there's the genius level. The vast majority of us will never attain it, no matter how hard we practice. That's just the way it is. In every discipline there is a minority who is clearly above the rest. Their exceptional natural ability, combined with hard work, allowed them to attain a level that others can only dream of.

True that: there are some pretty hopeless players, slugging away at mimicking recordings

I don't think there's anything wrong with that. That's one of the traditional ways of learning how to play. By mimicking a variety of basslines you get to work on lots of different techniques and develop a vocabulary that will be part of your musical personality. As long as you know why you're doing it, and you're not deluding yourself by saying nonsense like "I can play X's bassline so I'm as good as him", it's all good.

 

[Fergie Fulton]

With golf you only see the few that make it, there are plenty that work hard and practice and get no results, improvment or reaching your goal are not a gaurantee. Music is the same you have to identify what it is you need to work on, and see it through the best you can. So long as you try 100% you have aquitted yourself to the best you can.

Many fail because they don't understand what it is they are trying to achieve, so fail to succesfully apply it.
Look at Jack Nicklas and Tiger Woods for example can you pinpoint what it is that makes them so good, so work on that part of the game or would you see something else that is not important and waste time on that? Just for fun, tell me what makes them so good? and for fun see if it matches what i believe. I'll be back in the morning and post my view.

The answer, control of the ball, the ability to put the ball where they want it to go time and time again. Jack once said his success was down to "his ability to play his game when other could not play theres".

The swing of Jacks would never be taught or used as a model today by coaches. Some even said he sent golfers off on a path that could not succeed, because that swing model was Jacks and thats what the copied, not Jacks reasoning behind why he used it.

For Jack his swing was the best way to control the ball in any situation, and in controling the ball, the ability to put in where he wanted it, when he wanted it more often than not is what he and Tiger share. This is built apon sound golf foundations and knowledge, with room to allow personal changes to suit the purpose. And in golf the purpose is to put the ball in the hole in the least amount of shots 18 times, golf is "how many, not how".

Every golfer swings a golf club with the same purpose as Tiger, It just that Tiger swing it less in a round of golf, so scores better.

Music is the same, identify what is your objective and work on it using sound music principals with room for personal changes. If a player sets unrealistic goals or does not understand why they work the way they do, then rut or stunted progress is on the cards.

If you play a genre look at that genre, identify what it is that makes it work and produce the best results, not the most famous players, because that involves so many factors out with your control. If you identify famous with a result of hard work and practice then you may end up dissapointed and un-forefilled as fame is out of your control, but your playing career, style, and actions are your responsibility.

So for me, identify your weakness and keep an open mind that all music has relevence if you can identify what it's relevence is to you. That is indeed a life time task.

 

[Steady Eddie]

I got an insight from a professional violinist I knew. She wanted to supplement her income by giving lessons but, finding there was little demand for the violin, decided instead to teach guitar.

Now this was before she could actually play the guitar herself.

Six months down the line she was giving children beginners guitar lessons and doing very well. This was all down to attitude. She had confidence that she could learn because of her previous track record with the violin, plus she knew what to practice to make progress and simply did it.

Now, of course, being a professional musician she did have a head start but it does seem that if you stop worrying about not being able to play and focus upon the technical skills needed to play the barriers simply won't be there.

 

[Luke19Boarder]

Depending on our nalural talent, we'll have to work more or less to achieve the same goal. Some people will get there fast, others will have to work harder to get the same results.

Then there's the genius level. The vast majority of us will never attain it, no matter how hard we practice. That's just the way it is. In every discipline there is a minority who is clearly above the rest. Their exceptional natural ability, combined with hard work, allowed them to attain a level that others can only dream of.

Thank you! That's what I've been trying to say this whole time.

 

[In_Da_Groove]

I have known musicians who have practiced/played/gigged for years.....yet they never seem to get any better. Why?

I personaly think the reason why you will see musicians not improving over the years is because for the most part they practice the same things over and over, even if its different tunes it will more likely be at the same playing level. The best way to become a better musician is to no your weaknesses and practice at it until its a strong point of your playing, there are a lot of people out there who dnt do that. For example I no this guy who plays bass and yea he can play fast and play challenging riffs but his timing sucks and messes up during transitions in songs, but instead of practicing his timing he keeps focusing on other things so hes probaly improving in some aspects but is still lacking in his weakest point witch makes it look like hes not getting better because we notice the mess ups.
Also a lot of people dnt like to step out of their element and try different genres.

 

[WalterBush]

Most musicians I've worked with who never seem to improve either don't practice, or keep playing the same stuff they already know over and over. That's not practice; that's playing.

Practicing what you don't know makes you better, not playing throught the same scales/songs/chord changes/whatever that you've been doing for years.

The other two roadblocks to improvement I've seen are girls and drugs. Or boys and drugs, whichever. Either way, they seem to distract musicians like nothing else.

 

[wayne holmes]

The times that I improved the most were times when I was challenged---like receiving the audition pieces, or taking a refresher course that includes recitals. A challenge to meet with the help of lessons with someone who knows how to help me prepare for them. Spending time with scales--a lot of time with scales at different speeds is a must.

 

[tobie]

I always look at the biographies of world-class musicians (usually under Bonus Tracks on DVD's). There's always one common denominator: they've had their first stage appearances before the age of 10 (usually with musicians as parents). At an age of 30 that implies lots of practice and lots of experience. There's no way the average musician will ever catch up with such a person and all we can do is envy them!