Learning

Learning to play the guitar is much like learning a new form. This is not the first time that I have had this thought but I was reminded again today while at my lesson. I was working on a particular transition and having a bit of difficulty getting it and I thought, I need to go home and practice this repeatedly and it will become easier. I know this because there comes a point with every form that I practice when I know that the only thing that is going to make a difference is time in. This happens especially after learning a new move or correcting a move that I have been doing for a while.
A few years back, after I had learned all the moves in Kempo, it didn't feel right and I didn't know why. I spoke to Sifu Brinker about it and he suggested that I break it down, do a bunch of reps and see if I could figure it out. Well, at first I didn't notice anything and kept going back to him and he challenged me to look at different ways that I was moving and try different things. I continued to repeat the form until I was familiar with it at a level that I didn't think was possible, it felt like I owned the form and I knew how to move in it. I began to figure things out on my own  and discovered that I was adding movements that didn't need to be there and skipping ones that did. I learned to figure out how it felt to move correctly and how it felt when I wasn't. That was a turning point for my martial arts training, once I now how something feels, I am well on my way to figuring it out.
I am hoping with a lot of repetition I will be able to figure out this chord transition too!

Sifu Robyn Kichko
http://mantismantle.blogspot.ca/