Just Play
You don’t need a breakthrough—you need a habit.
I felt on top of the world!
I had just finished hosting a sold-out Master Class at NYC Guitar School with the incredible lead guitar player and teacher Suke Cerulo. The room was packed, the energy was high, and the students were stoked. I felt inspired to go home and play lead guitar, proud of what we’re bringing to our students, and excited to start planning more Master Classes.
Do I look happy? Yes, I look happy. I was happy! (photo: Ellis Nolan)
As I stepped outside into the lights and sounds of New York City, I was filled with that classic NYC sense of wonder. It’s been many years since I was a farm boy in Idaho, but gosh, I still can’t get over the bright lights and tall buildings and how lucky I feel to be here. In fact, I was looking at a bright moving billboard when I stepped off the curb near Madison Square Garden onto a patch of uneven asphalt and fractured my ankle!
Bummer.
Luckily, I could still play guitar.
The next day I was able to practice what Suke calls “self-generation” using “Little Wing” by Jimi Hendrix—just like he showed us in the master class. I could teach my classes, including the beginner guitar group at the “Back On The Chain Gang” Song Lab and I even sat in stood in for part of a song with one of our adult rock bands, Super Friendly Aviator, as they played on 4th Avenue during the NYC Marathon.
Photo: Laura Silver
The Miracle of Achievable Standards
And I could still work out.
I’ve worked out every day for years. My current streak is 1,276 days and counting—and my streak before that was around 1,000 days, too. A fractured ankle is not going to stop me.
Hang on, don’t be too impressed. Because I have a secret that allows me to get those workouts in. It’s huge, it’s fun, and you can use it too in workouts, guitar, or anything else.
What’s the secret?
Low Achievable standards. My rule is simple: to count as a workout, it must be at least 15 minutes of intentional body movement. That could mean a 9 mile run, a gym session, or punching my heavy bag on what my wife calls my “man porch”. But it could also mean walking from the guitar school to Grand Central, 15 minutes of burpees or easy stretching.
Or, heck, even a session of elevation and icing.
Listen, I’m counting it!
Because what’s going to help future Dan go for a walk with his hypothetical future grandchildren isn’t my best marathon time or heaviest bench press. It’s just the fact that I use my body. (Plus, of course, a bit of luck.)
Let’s apply this concept to guitar playing.
There’s a time to go hard. But it isn’t all the time.
During his master class, Suke said something that stuck. It was something like (I’m paraphrasing, sorry, Suke):
“Guitarists often feel like every time we pick up our instrument, we have to be pushing a limit—faster, harder, newer.”
And hey, that makes sense. There are endless chords, scales, techniques, and styles to explore, let alone playing all of that at a faster tempo. But for most players, the issue isn’t that they aren’t learning enough new skills.
The issue is that they aren’t playing.
The One Thing You Have To Do To Play Guitar
To be a guitar player, you don’t need to know everything.
You don’t need to play in 7/8 or sweep pick across five positions.
You don’t need to “get better” every time you play.
You just need to play guitar.
That’s it. Here’s a quote by a mostly unknown thinker that applies:
“The secret to success is remembering what you want.”
—Dan Emery, Founder, NYC Guitar School
Or as legendary strength coach Dan John puts it:
“The goal is to keep the goal the goal.”
What’s Your Goal?
Let’s put aside why you want to play guitar for a second.
If your goal is to play guitar, then… shouldn’t you make playing guitar the priority?
Not practicing.
Not improving.
Not feeling bad that you’re not better.
Just playing. For fun.
Because a few weeks of intense woodshedding is meaningless if you don’t pick up your guitar for the next few months.
You can’t get better if you don’t keep playing.
But even more importantly, you can’t keep playing if you don’t keep playing.
How Easy Can You Make It?
Let’s stop worrying about what we can’t do for a minute. Instead, ask:
- How easy can I make this?
- How fun can I make this?
What if you just picked up your guitar and played the chords you already know? (Try playing along with the Level 1 Graduation video to remind yourself of what those are. What if you played along with super easy songs? (Here’s a blog post with a bunch of them.) What if you played that song you love to play?
What if you just… enjoyed what you already can do?
(And would that make it easier or harder to learn more–if you wanted to?)
And Oh—Watch That Curb
One last thing: next time you’re stepping off a curb at Madison Square Garden?
Please look where you’re putting your foot.
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