After reading Daniel Coyle’s Little Book of Talent, I realized that I was spending too much of my free reading time in English and needed to veer back to Japanese.   I pulled out ギター上達１００の裏ワザ  (100 Secrets to Becoming  Better at Guitar) by Masaki Ichimura.   Following your interests in your target language is a little something I like to call hybridizing your crack, doubling the learning power.

Right now, I am mostly interested in the soft skills and philosophy of playing guitar.  Here are just a few interesting principles that could apply to whatever you are trying to learn.  (My translations are inexact and include other context.  Take with a dash of soy sauce.)

If you practice 10 minutes a day you will accumulate 3, 650 minutes of practice.  You will make a difference in your playing.  続けたことによって発見する物事があります。基本練習を毎日１０分やるとしても、１年で３，６５０分やる人と、やらない人で差があります。

In order to become a guitarist who looks at the audience, practice blind folded.  各席を見られるギタリストになるは。。。。目隠し練習.   This hint reminds me of The Little Book of Talent.  If you want to become better and more natural at a skill, you have to change it up.

If you take lessons, you won’t get better if you don’t practice at home.  ギター教室に通うひとは。。。自宅練習しないと上達しない  Of course this is common sense, but engaging and choosing with your skill is all part of the fluid choices that you get to make with your life.  To tell the truth, I kind of suck at guitar.  But I’m trying to practice a little bit each day, so I suck less than I did when I started.   Khatzumoto recently got all neuroplastic on us and spit it like this:  “Your mind, your body, your skills are fluid and mutable. While you’re alive, it’s up to you what you flow and mutate (?) them into; you have the power to choose.”

To Go Up in Your Level of Playing, Reach for the Next Hardest Level Within Your Reach.  上達という階段を登るには。。。。手の届くレベルにトライし続ける。Coyle would call this looking for “the sweet spot” or “reaches.”  You won’t become Eric Clapton overnight, but where is the next “reach” or do-able “stretch” in your learning?  Not just for guitar, kids.

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t’s Important to Do What You Like.   一番、好きなことをやろう。Reaching, stretching, etc is important but a key and often forgotten element is to do what you like and reach for what you think is fun with your skill.  Ichimura illustrates this with a wonderful cartoon of a middle aged man playing guitar dressed in his socks.  Happy feeling make happy learnings.  🙂

Tip 100:   You are the “Producer” of Your Life.  あなたは、あなた自身の人生のプロデューさーです。　No matter what age you are, you get to mix it up and do it like you want to.  You get to write the score, choose the instruments, and write the dance track to your life.   Enjoy.