How to stay Motivated while playing Guitar

What is Music?
The art of arranging sounds in time so as to produce a continuous, unified, and evocative composition, as through melody, harmony, rhythm, and timbre.

Now, learning to play any musical instrument has its own pros and cons. You might think that it's going to be very rewarding, giving you extreme joy to know that you've picked up a new instrument and will learn it in no time. But lets be realistic, you should know that you will not be good at it, at first, and it may even frustrate you at times. So before you even make the decision that you want to buy a guitar; even though you have the money for it and the time to practice, you should know that playing a guitar or any instrument for that matter, is a big investment in context of time and money. If you think you can survive all the frustration and keep a positive attitude towards it, then you should get yourself a gift of music.

I believe this story is true for many aspiring musicians. A lot of my friends have got very excited about the idea of how rewarding it can be to do something like playing guitar and they just go and purchase their instrument, but when they find out that they aren't able to play it just the way their favorite musician play, instantly, they become very disappointed with themselves and get discouraged. You should avoid any kind of anticipation to be developed in the skill that you just started at and really look at it as an investment of time.

Over the years I've had many of my friends become very amused when they saw my ability to play guitar get better and better. Some of them were so excited that they decided to buy a guitar for themselves and learn to play it skillfully. But to there disappointment, a lot of them only played for about a month or so and got fed up of it and sooner rather than later they wanted quit. Most of them actually did! There were only few who had the patience and persevered to become real guitarists.

I can tell you this much, the better you want to play, the more you need to practice. That's about it! There's no other way to it! Though, motivation for music can come in any form and any time. But before that arrives, you will need to take out the time to practice and practice and practice! Once this a habit has become your mindset, it will turn into something you really strive for and you will notice that you're getting better at it day by day. Don't try to see yourself playing with the likes of Santana, but keep a track of your weekly progress and tell yourself "I remember I was so bad at this track even a week ago..." Having a positive outlook towards your smallest progress will keep you motivated to move forward and help you not give up!

Check your improvements first on a weekly basis and then month to month; you will notice that you have improved quite a lot from the time you had started. Of course the cherry on the cake would be if someone close to you compliments on your achievement and notices how much better you have become. Keep doing what you are doing and with the attitude of perseverance the rewards will keep coming your way. You'll feel that in no time you are able to play your first riff, then your first chord and then your first song and this is just the beginning of your success in playing. Also try to set realistic goals for yourself by assigning yourself with a task, for example, decide that you'll be able to play this chord/song in a particular amount of time! When you have completed this task and achieved what you had decided for, it should be motivation enough to keep you going. You'll find yourself getting addicted to it, just don't get too addicted and miss out on your day to day things!

Remember, the most difficult part of the game is the beginning. Once you catch speed there is no looking back. Time is an investment you have to put, to get yourself started. Never get discouraged and if at all you do then push through the frustration and in just a matter of some time you'll achieve your goal. Now pick up your guitar that has been dumped at the back of your room and start setting new goals for yourself.

I hope this comes to you as a little bit of motivation. Best of luck to all you aspiring musicians! Remember, it's a great reward to learn to play music because music is the language of love and humanity. You can express yourself with music in any way you want to. You just need the desire and motivation to do so.