There are two ways you can grow and feel more confident about your guitar playing...
Previously, in part 1 I talked about….
#1 - Growing your skills
When you improve your guitar playing… your confidence can grow along with it. That’s because when you pick up your guitar… you know that you can play it how you want. You can be sure that your hands will do what you want…
Because you’ve practiced! (I know I’m stating the obvious here. But a lot can change when you think about what you need to work on to feel better about your playing.)
Today I’d like to share the second tip I have for increasing confidence….
#2 - Play in front of people as often as possible
You may not want to perform. Performing is not for everyone. And if you truly NEVER want to perform ever in your life...
Even if you felt 100% confident in yourself and your ability to play…
That’s okay.
But if you enjoy performing… (or want to feel more confident playing in front of others...) whether to an audience or a loved one…
... you’ll want to start doing this.
It’s very simple.
The more you experience playing guitar in front of people… the faster the anxiety fades away.
If you haven’t done a lot of playing in front of others… it’s likely that your brain is filled with terrified thoughts.
“What if I mess up?!”
“What will they think of me?”
“I’m not good enough”
Etc…
It’s normal to have these thoughts. Many people do. And for some people… these thoughts never go away. The anxiety is always there…
But it becomes less and less the more you play in front of people.
Also the more times you play in front of people… and you get positive feedback…
The brain learns that it’ll be okay. You have more and more positive experiences to fall back on when you’re filled with doubt.
And there you have it...
Those are my two tips for building guitar playing confidence…
- Develop your skills
- Play in front of people more
Is there anything else YOU would add to the list?
What have you done that helped you to feel more confident?