Whenever I start working on a song, I immediately try to forget everything, to empty my hands and head of anything that may be hanging over from another song or album. I try to approach it like "This is the first time I've ever played a guitar. What am I going to do?
The Edge, U2
I was stuck in a rut. I was playing the same old stuff, with the same old feeling. I was getting frustrated at the pace of my guitar playing growth. I would pick up my acoustic, mess around a little, and then put it back in the corner. I had no direction, I couldn’t focus, and boredom was creeping in. Have you ever felt his way before?
During this period, I was reading a lot of Zen philosophy on the Internet. I instantly connected with many of the Zen teachings; I needed to learn more. I headed out to the book store and found a great book; Zen guitar by Philip Toshio Sudo.
The teachings in Zen Guitar are truly inspirational to me; In fact so inspirational that I created this blog. To be honest I have no Idea where this blog will lead me. My only hope is that it will provide some clarity in my personal life…and to those that read along.
So here I was stuck in a rut with my guitar playing and quite frankly with life in general. The Guitar Zen gave me fresh perspective on things…the beginner’s mind. The lesson I learned, is to drop all preconceived ideas about playing guitar and approach playing like it’s the first time.
I remembered the excitement, and joy of just playing. I thought back to when I started learning, and how I would pick things up like a sponge. More importantly I started looking at everything like it was the first time. I looked at my wife differently, my job differently, everything.
Dropping preconceptions really opened my mind to new learning. The cool thing is that I simply go in with the mindset of what will I learn today? ...and let it happen... I just receive the lesson.
The Edge, U2
I was stuck in a rut. I was playing the same old stuff, with the same old feeling. I was getting frustrated at the pace of my guitar playing growth. I would pick up my acoustic, mess around a little, and then put it back in the corner. I had no direction, I couldn’t focus, and boredom was creeping in. Have you ever felt his way before?
During this period, I was reading a lot of Zen philosophy on the Internet. I instantly connected with many of the Zen teachings; I needed to learn more. I headed out to the book store and found a great book; Zen guitar by Philip Toshio Sudo.
The teachings in Zen Guitar are truly inspirational to me; In fact so inspirational that I created this blog. To be honest I have no Idea where this blog will lead me. My only hope is that it will provide some clarity in my personal life…and to those that read along.
So here I was stuck in a rut with my guitar playing and quite frankly with life in general. The Guitar Zen gave me fresh perspective on things…the beginner’s mind. The lesson I learned, is to drop all preconceived ideas about playing guitar and approach playing like it’s the first time.
I remembered the excitement, and joy of just playing. I thought back to when I started learning, and how I would pick things up like a sponge. More importantly I started looking at everything like it was the first time. I looked at my wife differently, my job differently, everything.
Dropping preconceptions really opened my mind to new learning. The cool thing is that I simply go in with the mindset of what will I learn today? ...and let it happen... I just receive the lesson.
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