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Dusan Djukich on keeping it simple

We love to make things harder than they are. We love what a friend of mine calls “the plume of complexity”.When something is complex and elaborate and involved, we can rationalize not putting our full energy into it. It’s understandable to procrastinate or defer. We can say, “Well…, it’s complicated.”

And while music can be complex and complicated, practicing guitar doesn’t have to be.

First we do one thing, then we do the next. First we focus on this, then we focus on that.

Here’s a question: What if practicing felt easy? What if we sat down and played a tune or an exercise, and just paid attention to one thing? The rhythm, the sound of the guitar, how we move our fingers, anything.

Sure, there are a million other little things we could also pay attention to (making it complex). And if we wanted, we could play it again and focus on the next thing. Then the next. One at time so it always felt easy.

How nice would practice be then? No thoughts of “It should be better..” or “I should be…”. What if we just enjoyed focusing on one thing at a time and let that be enough?

The five most damaging words you could be thinking right now are: “IT CAN’T BE THIS SIMPLE.”
Dusan Djukich

About Allen Mathews

Allen Mathews learned guitar as an adult, and has been a full-time guitar teacher for almost two decades to students age 4 to 96. He has taught classical guitar at Reed College and Lewis and Clark College in Portland, Oregon, and has been a guest lecturer and clinician at schools and universities throughout the U.S. Allen is often praised for his creative teaching abilities, and his dedication to helping adults learn classical guitar. He has a popular Youtube Channel offering regular classical guitar tutorials, and has gained fans worldwide for his weekly emails and articles at ClassicalGuitarShed.com.

Thanks to you (you are my only teacher) in only a few months I've gone from very basic beginner pieces to having just completed learning Bach's Gavottes 1&2 in good form and execution. As a non-classical electric guitarist who has always used a pick and never his fingers, this has been no small feat!

-Gregg Olson

Since a year ago with my subscription to CGS it has been for me a pleasurable adventure and a discovery of all the facets of the classical guitar.
Your dedication and enthusiasm, as well as your talent, in the tuition is quite contagious (well, lets hope also for your talent) and has made it fun and useful in my progression. Also the weekly tip that you mail us and the Facebook group is excellent.

-Michel Donnet