Breaking Free: Perfection vs Progress

We explore the critical difference between perfection and progress in guitar playing, examining how perfectionist tendencies can actually stifle our musical growth while a progress-oriented mindset builds confidence and creates more enjoyable experiences.

• Perfection defined as mastering something completely without flaws is often unrealistic and changes as we grow musically
• The trap of perfectionism leads to spending too much time on single elements while missing the bigger musical picture
• Using the example of an A chord to demonstrate the many aspects beginners focus on perfecting
• Learning simple one-chord songs like "Electric Avenue" creates musical experiences even while still developing technique
• Working on multiple aspects simultaneously (chord technique, theory concepts, songs) creates balanced growth
• Progress builds confidence through early wins and recognizable achievements
• Perfection does matter in specific contexts like recording sessions, performances, and auditions
• Finding balance between technical development and musical application creates healthier long-term growth

If you've been struggling with guitar playing and feel it's time to start achieving your goals, head over to Guitar Zoom Academy. I would love to help you out.

Links:

Check out the GuitarZoom Academy:
https://academy.guitarzoom.com/

• Steve’s Channel → https://www.youtube.com/user/stinemus...
• GuitarZoom Channel → https://www.youtube.com/user/guitarz0...
• Songs Channel → https://www.youtube.com/user/GuitarSo... .

Chapters

• 1:10 Perfection vs Progress Introduction
• 2:20 The Trap of Perfection
• 3:46 Balancing Practice with Musical Experience
• 5:48 Benefits of Progress-Focused Learning
• 8:18 When Perfection Actually Matters
• 11:19 Call to Action and Academy Promotion

Transcript

Steve: 0:35

All right, today we're gonna be talking about the difference between perfection and progress, and how oftentimes we can get stuck in the concept of perfection you know a lot of us are pretty type A and how that actually stifles progress, and so let's go ahead and talk about this a little bit. So the first thing we're gonna do is talk about perfection Okay, defined as mastering something completely without flaws, which is oftentimes unreasonable. Now, we want to get something as good as humanly possible, but the truth is that that perfection so we can call it oftentimes will change as we keep growing as musicians and humans, and so what we thought was as good as we could do at a certain time might not be as good as we can do six months later or a year later or five years later. Okay, so what we want to do is think about progress. Now, what's the definition of progress? Gradually getting better through consistent practice and practical application, okay, and that's what I want you to think about. So let's start with the trap of perfection, and then we're gonna talk about how progress could actually be beneficial as well. So, trap of perfection spending too much time perfecting a single idea, be it a chord, a lick or an exercise or something like that. Okay, chasing perfection can often lead to frustration and even burnout with guitar players. So the misconception that I want to talk about today is thinking that you got to master one thing before moving to the next.

Steve: 2:07

So let's think about chords, for instance. Okay, so you might be a beginner, you might have been playing for a while, but let's just start at the very beginning. So let's say, you're starting to learn how to play guitar and the first thing that somebody shows you is an? A chord, an A major chord. So you start working on that chord. Now there's a whole host of things that could improve when you're learning how to play that chord your finger placement, the strength of the fingers pressing on the strings, the clarity of those notes, making sure you're not touching the other strings that you shouldn't be touching, like the first and fifth strings. When you strum, you're only strumming five strings. You're not hitting the sixth string, your strumming is even you know it's smooth, your timing is right All of these different kinds of things that could happen in the study of this A chord. Now, if we went and tried to be perfect about every single one of those things, what we're not experiencing is actually playing a song.

Steve: 3:08

So let's say I said to you okay, we're learning how to play this A chord and what I want you to do is continue to work on it. I want you to continue improving on it. I want you to understand the elements that go into practicing it and again, for lack of a better term perfecting it, making it better. Okay, I can make it faster, I can make the chord cleaner, I can make the chord more accurate, I can improve on my strumming, my timing, my dynamics, all of these other things, by practicing both the chord and the strumming of that chord. But what I also want you to do is I want you to learn how to play the song Electric Avenue Okay, that silly song from the 80s or whatever it was, and the reason is because it only has one chord. I can teach you how to play a chord and actually get you playing along with some music, whether it's your favorite song or not, which I'm sure it is not, but I could get you playing along with a song. So you're actually learning to listen to the music that's recorded and being played and then you're responding to that. So you're making the chord, you're strumming, but you're also thinking about the timing. You're listening to the song, you're concentrating for however long. The song is three and a half minutes, whatever it might be. So, if you think about it, if all you were doing was focusing on the perfection of this a chord, and how perfect it is and how perfect it sounds and how how quickly you can make it, and all those things are good things you wouldn't be focusing on the strumming and you wouldn't be having an actual musical experience playing along with the song.

Steve: 4:43

Now, what I'm not talking about is being lazy. Now, there's no cure for lazy, all right. So I'm not telling you. I don't want you to practice and I just want you to do nothing. And you know, mediocrity is okay and you never have to get good at anything. Of course, I'm not saying that. What I'm saying is it's easy to get hyper-focused on one element, element and then forget that there's all of these other opportunities to learn how to play a guitar. And again, this could fit into any aspect of your life that you want it to. So what I try and do is get people to understand there's a balance between the two. I want you to continue working on developing that chord or that lick or that scale or whatever it is you might be doing, developing that chord or that lick or that scale or whatever it is you might be doing.

Steve: 5:30

But in the meantime, there's a whole host of other things that you could be working on as well, that either are in a different stream of development, right, where they're not connected at all. Maybe you're learning how to play the A chord on the guitar, but you're also learning what a triad is in theory, right? So you're not applying it to the fretboard, you're just learning the idea. Or what is a major scale, or what are the notes of music, right? What is the chromatic scale? There's a whole host of things that we could be doing. So one is a physical element playing the A chord and one is a more of a thought process, and they could coexist side by side each other, okay.

Steve: 6:11

Or maybe you're learning how to play the A chord, but again, you're also experiencing it in this real musical situation, which is Electric Avenue. So you're developing the chord itself or the strum itself or whatever these things are, but you're also putting them together into this machine, if you will, that is now moving, which is the song learning to play along with the song, okay. So that's what I want you to think about a little bit here is learning to balance the difference between perfection and progress. Okay, what happens with progress as well? As progress tends to build confidence, okay, if you can create early wins in your playing, it boosts your confidence and oftentimes will boost your motivation.

Steve: 7:03

So, as we're learning how to play Electric Avenue, maybe everything isn't as good as we want it to be, but we're experiencing this thing, this musical reality that makes us happy, makes us confident in ourselves. It's something that's recognizable. Us happy, makes us confident in ourselves. Right, it's something that's recognizable. So, as we're playing it, you know we're identifying with all of the elements to play along with the song, or somebody's listening to us play, and we get positive reinforcement, whatever that sort of thing is. Or if we're just focusing on that one chord, who's to say we would get any of those things from just this one experience that we're having? Okay, now, when is perfection important?

Steve: 7:43

So what we need to do is identify situations where perfection or close to perfect it doesn't necessarily mean perfection, but close to perfect, especially at that time when it matters. Well, if you were in a recording session or a studio performance, you want to be as ready as humanly possible, so you're not wasting people's time and people's money. Another one would certainly be live performance or an audition or something like that, right? So, again, whether or not you could ever be absolutely perfect, but you can be as close to perfect as you can be for these situations, so you're not wasting anybody's time. You're showing up prepared, right, but I always think like perfection.

Steve: 8:30

The problem is is that and I've encountered it many times as a guitar instructor you know where people will get off in the weeds and they're so concerned about developing this one thing, whatever that is again a lick or a riff or a phrase or a chord or whatever it might be that they're forgetting that there's other elements they could be practicing at the same time. So all I'm asking you to do is think about learning to balance these worlds. If you're very type A and you're very concerned about how perfect things are, you have to acknowledge the fact that that's a very difficult thing to. It's a difficult pedestal to put yourself on, and you have to be careful how many elements of perfection you're looking for. Like, if you're trying to perfect 19 different things, it can be very daunting, it can be very overwhelming, where you know maybe there's something about your playing or an element that you really wanna continue getting better at. Again, I think that's amazing. That's exactly the way it should be right. I'm just saying you don't stop the machine as a result of that.

Steve: 9:31

You continue developing all of these other things and then you encounter oh, this needs to be better, or I need to get faster at this, or cleaner at this or more accurate. Whatever this thing is, whether it's a large thing or a very small thing, like your alternate picking or the movement between two strings, or a concept like hybrid picking or learning to play sweeps on your fretboard, or God knows what, it would be right. If you're always getting stuck in the mud or the weeds with these things, it's hard to see the bigger picture of what you're actually trying to accomplish. Okay, so that's what I want you to be thinking about a little bit. Okay, strive for consistent progress over perfection of every single thing that you're doing. Okay, think about your own practice, habits and where you could loosen your grip on perfection a little bit to try and make a little bit more progress overall.

Steve: 10:25

And you know, if you'd love to respond, I'd love to hear you talk about your experiences with this, with perfection and progress, and where you've seen them work beneficially for you and where you've struggled with things. I think it'd be great for you to let you know. A listener know, or a viewer know, and maybe they can benefit from that as well. All right, so take care, stay positive and, uh, I'll talk to you soon. Okay, and remember, if you're interested, head over to guitar zoom and check out our guitar zoom Academy. If you've been struggling with guitar playing and you feel like it's time for you to really start achieving the goals that you want to achieve, all you gotta do is head over there and learn more about the Guitar Zoom Academy. I would love to help you out. No-transcript.