The qualities of a successful guitarist

Statistically most people who buy a guitar only last a few months. I have been researching this problem for close to 30 years and what I have found was  people who succeeded on guitar tended to share a few similar qualities. I realised that for my students to succeed they needed to adopt these qualities. They are as follows;

1. They were prepared to stick it out for at least one year. Students who make the commitment for at least one year no matter what are very unlikely to quit. When I say commit I mean commit to practicing daily. If they do the result is they become guitarists for life. I would often survey students and there were very few who said I did it for a year or two and gave it up. In most cases they took up guitar for a month or two and gave up.
2. They had support. When I say support I mean in terms of friends and family. With kids this was usually a parent who either also play guitar or helped them with practice. With adults it tended to be a friend or family member. Going it alone is always tough. 
3. They had a teacher. I made it a habit to follow up on students who either inquired but did not enrol or students who had purchased our method online but not enrolled with a teacher and the continuation rate was far less than those students who had enrolled in one of our schools. This occurs not just with guitar students but with almost anything. No teacher equals no accountability which means no practice therefore no progress. Eventually the guitar ends up in the next garage sale.
4. They always make time for guitar. The truth is time is not the issue. The real issue is priorities. I advise all my students to just do the practice at a set time no matter what no excuses.  I practice 2 hours a day plus I do 30 minutes a day with my 4 year old daughter. I rarely compromise on this no matter how busy I am. Practice is actually no chore at all. I love and really look forward to it each day but it wasn't always that way.  Developing a habit is the hardest part but once you do it gets easy. Successful guitar students are sometimes lucky because they fall into the routine of practice easily but most need to work at it. 

There are other other common traits of a successful guitar student but these are the ones that tend to stand out.

The G4 GUITAR METHOD.

A structured proven method of learning guitar.  

www.g4guitarmethod.com