I am sure that all of us at one time or another suffered from this disease. Fortunately, there is a cure for it. But if left untreated, it can persist for a long time and seriously hamper a person’s ability to play guitar.

So what is it and, more importantly, how is it avoided?

First, let’s see what Guitar Envy is. Well, it is an infection that attacks the ego and the emotional nervous system. It causes a loss of direction and discipline, and causes us to start questioning our own abilities and doubting those around us to whom we turn for guidance and learning, namely our music teacher.

Now please don’t mistake Guitar Envy for inspiration and oomph. These two are completely different and exist at separate ends of the learning spectrum.

So where do we get this infection? Well the most common place is the local music store or now even online on YouTube.

What we must avoid is the guitarist plugged into the biggest rig with many pedals and playing the most expensive guitar in the store. He and I say him because women (no offense, there are a lot of great guitarists) don’t tend to infect people in the same way, they have other ways of seducing us. No, sadly this is a masculine thing.

The next thing you hear is a quick neoclassical or Joe Satriani licking followed by strong eye contact from the player as if posing a challenge reminiscent of the final scenes from the movie Crossroads. You start to sweat and the walls of the store close around you. You look at the fresh start on the wall that you were about to test, and suddenly you think what happens if I stink when I plug and play. You worry that the people in the store will start laughing and smiling and maybe even ask you to stop playing as you are putting them off for buying a set of guitar picks they came to buy.

It’s at this scary moment when you’re at your most vulnerable, what you want to do is go home, close your bedroom door, get your book on 25 Great Licks by Yngwie Malmsteen, and keep playing until you can touch one so quickly. As you can. you can. You ignore your classmates, your wife or girlfriend and you stop receiving calls from your guitar teacher worried about having missed your lessons. You’re mad at him because he didn’t teach you how to play a cool, quick lick from the start. This, I’m afraid, is Guitar Envy’s main diagnosis.

You could even go back to the store to listen or even chat with the boy and even ask him who his teacher is. The usual answer is that you don’t need one, but if you want it, it will show you some great tricks and a few tricks it learned. The other usual comments will be that he doesn’t play in a band as he can’t find a band that likes the things he likes or just wants to play the usual songs that everyone else is playing.

So she goes back to her room and keeps working on her licking. After weeks of practice, you are finally ready. Of course, you will need the large deck and a variety of pedals as described in the deck guide video. Finally, you pick up the strategy you first looked at weeks ago and now you’re good to go. You explode in his lick trying to play even faster than in his room. As the dust settles and the noise fades into the distance, you look around the store. To his amazement, no one seems remotely interested in what he played. If anything, they look happier now that you’ve stopped. You think, what could have gone wrong, why no one wants to cheer and say “lick mate”. Or better yet, ask you to join the band that will play tonight as the opening act for Guns ‘n’ Roses.

You leave the store feeling dejected and depressed, return to the room and practice the riff even more, determined to play even faster. You’re totally obsessed with showing people at the store that you can play guitar because you can play that lick just as well, if not better, than everyone else.

At this point, hopefully you will find help, either from a friend or family member. Who will tell you that the lick is boring them to death and that you sounded better before you started playing that annoying lick, and why don’t you play your old songs again and take lessons again?

Feeling downright unhappy, you come to your store and your guitarist friend is back. You know when you walk in the door that it’s him, since he’s playing the same lick that he played when you first saw him all these weeks before. Desperate, you ask him what else he can play. The usual answer is that he just plays these licks, he doesn’t like to touch anything else as they suck.

At this point, you either finally wake up or become best friends with that guy.

If it is later, then you are alone. However, if you finally start to wake up, you will become aware of the disease and start on the road to recovery.

Let’s see the symptoms and cure.

First, playing guitar isn’t about how fast you are or how cool the lick sounds in the store.

As a music teacher, I have worked in many music stores over the years and would always enter the sales area during my break time. I would see familiar faces during peak hours of the week. They would play their guitar and then they would see the response from the clientele. At first I was really impressed, I used to walk up and compliment them on their skills. But then after having been caught up in casual conversation with them enough times, asking a few questions like “the cold scale run is not a harmonic minor run or a Phrygian dominant lick,” I found out from the responses I received that no they did it. get an idea of ​​what he was talking about. I could mention that the lick sounds better if you change the key down to E, but you would only get a vague look and even a slight look of contempt.

What is very clear is that they learned their lick from a video or an online source, they could hit the perfect note in certain cases, but if they had to get out of that box they would be lost.

My point is this. Don’t get caught up in Guitar Envy. Eventually the times will come to play the great licks, but as a musician it is more important to know and understand what you are playing and how you can use it musically. A good music teacher won’t show you certain quick licks just to impress people. They will show you the technique, precision, and information you can build from, so you can grow as a guitarist. In a sense, focus on the long-term game, take your time, and set goals that are realistic and achievable.

So the next time you venture into your store, take that “start”, plug it in, and just tap into what you know and feel comfortable with. If it’s the opening bars of “Smoke on the water” or “Stairway to heaven,” congratulations and give him a pat on the back. Keep practicing, keep learning, and focus on your performance.

Eventually you could get the band gig that will open for Guns ‘n’ Roses.