Finger Robotics

It's all about discipline and training

The subconscious is like a robot and can be trained to do automatic actions. It is really nothing more than a brainless automaton and just does what it's told. Always. No exceptions. It doesn't think at all. The trick is to repeat the instruction or physical action enough times for it to become a habit. How many times? This would vary between people. Try tying your shoelaces a different way for 14 days and then go back to your usual way.

It doesn't really take much to change an old habit. But the training has to be consistent and identical each time. The old computer saying applies well to the subconscious and also to guitar playing. "garbage in - garbage out". It's the easiest thing in the world to program the mind with bad habits and defective thinking (garbage). I confess I am guilty of sloppy thinking and lazy habits 90% of the time.

I dare say we all are at times. So we can not reasonably expect the fat controller inside the subconscious to bless us with good results. But if we take the time to program it well with good habits for specific tasks, it will wil not fail you whe you perform that task. The subconscious has the ability to process this information below the conscious threshold at lightning speeds at a second's notice.

The parts of the body that took part in this specific training, in this case the fingers, will naturally respond and "go through the drill". I also take a lesson watching martial artists train. Stop-start. Do this-do that. Over and over. The result is that if these people find themselves in a situation where they need to defend themselves, the attacker is on the ground in the blink of an eye and even the martial artist can't tell you exactly what he did.

There is no quick way to master the guitar

Martial artists and sports people in general know that to achieve the level of competency they desire they have to be disciplined and work hard at it. So what is it with guitarists. Why do we expect miracles with little or no training. Why do they keep getting sucked into buying the "Play guitar like a expert in 10 easy lessons" type courses. To be sure, there are some good courses out there that will really teach you how to play. However, these are much more comprehensive than practicing a few power chords over the weekend.

They also require you to put some hard work in over a reasonable time period. Otherwise nothing happens. Sure, you might pick up a few good memory tricks in 10 easy lessons. You might even learn a few neat ways to visualize scales. That's great if you do, but learning to play the guitar is about actually playing the guitar, not just reading about it during the commercial breaks on TV.

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