Introduction: The Twelve points of Focus, and the Twelve Common Missteps

My personal Achilles heel is practice. I guess it’s my personal battle with attention deficient disorder. I believe most Americans suffer from ADD…because we want everything, but don’t want to work for it. There I said it!

I want to play like Jimi Hendrix, but I don’t want to put in my dues. In reality we know there are no short cuts, including signing a pact with the devil. During my short time playing guitar, I’ve adopted the Zen Guitar approach to practice from the book Zen Guitar by Phillip Toshio Sudo.

You can develop your own training regimen, or use something on the Internet. You could emulate the style of your favorite artist, or hire a personal trainer. The point is that your training regimen should be in the spirit of what you want to play on your guitar. Whatever regimen you choose, attempt to incorporate the twelve points of focus. If you can maintain the twelve points of focus, and stay away from the twelve missteps; you are doing all you can. In later blogs I will elaborate on each point of focus, and misstep from my personal experience, and tips from Sudo.

The Twelve points of Focus:

1. Spirit

2. Rhythm

3. Technique

4. Feel

5. Perfection

6. Mistakes

7. Stages and Plateaus

8. Discipline

9. Limits

10. Follow-Through

11. Taste

12. Collaboration

The Twelve Common Missteps:

1. Self-Doubt

2. Instant Gratification

3. Ego

4. Half-heartedness

5. Speed

6. Competition

7. Obsession

8. Mishandled Criticism

9. Failure to adjust

10. Loss of focus

11. Over thinking

12. Over earnestness