If you’ve ever noticed, being rich is a sliding scale. When we first start out in life, most of us are working crap jobs for no money. The idea of affording anything beyond the basic necessities in life (and often, even those) seems too far off to obtain. And people who own a house and a couple of cars? Those people are rich!
But eventually life progresses, and one day we wake up to discover we’re now that person who has a house and two cars. Except we certainly don’t feel rich! Those people with giant houses and big-screen TVs in every who take vacations to Europe — they’re really the rich ones.
Except the people who reach that level of income will tell you they don’t necessarily feel rich either. It’s the multimillionaires who own five homes and a yacht — they’re rich.
And on and on it goes. “Rich,” for most people, actually means “richer than I am.”
On Being a Good Guitarist
For most of us, being a “good” guitarist is a bit like being “rich.”
When you first start out, you figure out the basic cowboy chords pretty quickly, but it seems like you’ll never be able to play barre chords — players who can do that are amazing! And then once you’ve figured out barring, it’s the people who can play a guitar solo who are “good.”
Or triads. Or modes. Or who play in a band. Or who make YouTube videos.
For most of us, “good” ends up meaning “better than I am.”
And yet, we constantly want to appraise our own playing. We almost reflexively judge our own abilities against people whose skills make us wonder why we are even trying.
For most of us, “good” ends up meaning “better than I am.”
Or we get into pissing matches about who the greatest guitar player is (answer: there isn’t one).
Why It Doesn’t Matter
The reality is, there is no list of characteristics I can give you to tell you when you’ve become a “good” guitarist. There’s no set of achievements that, once completed, unlock that title for you.
Yes, there are probably a few things you need to be a “good” player. You should probably be able to make sound come out of the instrument, for instance. But there are so many genres of music, styles of playing, and musical preferences that finding some kernel of pithy, underlying truths about what makes a good guitar player is almost impossible.
And even if it were possible, labels are by and large useless. What does it really matter if you or anyone else considers your playing to be “good?” One person may love how you play, while someone else may hate it. You might be a great rhythm player but suck at soloing. Or you might have the manual dexterity of Joe Satriani but not be able to play in time.
What does it really matter if you or anyone else considers your playing to be “good?”
Thus we are right back to where we started: What does “good” mean, and who gets to define it?
Let’s also remember that music is not a competition. You don’t get any extra points for being “better” than anyone else. Ultimately, are no wins or losses because music is art. And the best music in my opinion is collaborative art — art in which egos and competition only hurt the end result.
How to Really Rate Yourself as a Guitarist
The truth is, given any set of criteria, I am better than some guitarists and worse than others. And while I may move up or down the list, there will always be someone better than I am — someone to look at and say, “Now they’re ‘good.’”
But that’s a limiting mindset if you ask me. I would propose a set of other, more useful metrics to judge yourself on. Things like:
Are you having fun?
Do you actually enjoy playing guitar? This is the number-one reason I play and even write about guitars — because I like them. Playing brings me joy. If you’re not having fun, you’re missing the point!
Are you progressing, or at least maintaining a level you’re happy at?
In other words, are you at or striving to get to a level where you can play the things you want to play? Musical proficiency and growth are often rewarding for their own sake.
Do you share your passion with other like-minded people?
Do you have the chance to play music with or for others? Or at the very least, do you play music for your own enjoyment?
Given any set of criteria, I am better than some guitarists and worse than others. But that’s a limiting mindset.
If you can say yes to any of these things, then I would say, “Congrats! You are a good guitarist.”
Call yourself anything you want: Okay, decent, intermediate, learning — it doesn’t matter. What matters are things like having joy, progressing as a player, and engaging in a passion. Focus on these things, and the “good” will take care of itself.
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