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Learning how to play guitar...reminds me of learning how to trade


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Learning how to play guitar...reminds me of learning how to trade

  #1 (permalink)
 
shodson's Avatar
 shodson 
OC, California, USA
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So I got a guitar for Christmas. So did my 11 year-old son. We are going to learn together. Being a fairly self-motivated person I figured I'd try to learn as much as I can on my own. Having some musical training in piano and choral performances (math and computers), I felt I had a decent foundation to build on. And I figured before hiring a guitar teacher (mentor/coach) I ought to see what I can do on my own.

I found some YouTube videos about how to play guitar (cherry-picked wonder trades) that were superficial and semi-useful, but they always seemed to lead to a site that wanted to sell me DVDs (proprietary indicators) about how to play (trade).

Then I thought, "Wow, trying to learn how to play guitar is like trying to learn how to trade"
  1. There are many vendors that will sell you "quick and easy" ways to play guitar, but you'll never really learn the instrument the way you should in a sustainable way
  2. No matter what you "know" you have to practice hundreds and thousands of hours to master the instrument
  3. While reading books and watching videos may be helpful, learning from a teacher/mentor is the best way to get started on your road to mastery
  4. There are many ways to play guitar, you need to figure out which style of guitar best suits your objectives

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  #3 (permalink)
 
Jeff Castille's Avatar
 Jeff Castille 
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shodson View Post
So I got a guitar for Christmas. So did my 11 year-old son. We are going to learn together. Being a fairly self-motivated person I figured I'd try to learn as much as I can on my own. Having some musical training in piano and choral performances (math and computers), I felt I had a decent foundation to build on. And I figured before hiring a guitar teacher (mentor/coach) I ought to see what I can do on my own.

I found some YouTube videos about how to play guitar (cherry-picked wonder trades) that were superficial and semi-useful, but they always seemed to lead to a site that wanted to sell me DVDs (proprietary indicators) about how to play (trade).


Then I thought, "Wow, trying to learn how to play guitar is like trying to learn how to trade"
  1. There are many vendors that will sell you "quick and easy" ways to play guitar, but you'll never really learn the instrument the way you should in a sustainable way
  2. No matter what you "know" you have to practice hundreds and thousands of hours to master the instrument
  3. While reading books and watching videos may be helpful, learning from a teacher/mentor is the best way to get started on your road to mastery
  4. There are many ways to play guitar, you need to figure out which style of guitar best suits your objectives


Shodson.......you are right!! When it is all said and done........you teach yourself to play guitar.........just as you ultimately teach yourself to trade.

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  #4 (permalink)
Gapperon
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you got it 100% right. going through the same exact thing !!!

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  #5 (permalink)
 
cory's Avatar
 cory 
virginia
 
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learning guitar, juggling and dancing help you to synthesize, identify market structure ahead of the crowd.

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rem4444's Avatar
 rem4444 
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Learning guitar is a humbling experience. For those of you who haven't tried, just recall that the fretboard is full of patterns, but offers no clues about how to decipher those patterns. You just have to learn and practice.

The good news is that many people master the guitar, and by the looks of some of them, passion, practice and commitment carried the day rather than school smarts.

We will prevail.

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  #7 (permalink)
Jaime Oreffa
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Yeah I do agree with you. Learning how play guitar or any instruments are the easiest thing to think but the hardest thing to do. When I was 13 years old I start playing with my friends which we do have the same genre.You have to think that your not practicing because you want to learn, instead your practicing because you love to play guitar and you have to apply that to your system. Just like trading you have be self motivated, kind observer, flexible enough and especially you have to put your heart and mind to succeed in this business

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  #8 (permalink)
Pedro40
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
 
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I completely disagree. Sure there could be a few small similarities like with any learning process, but there are HUGE differences:

1. There are well established methods of teaching guitar playing. Not so much about trading.

2. Psychology plays a huge part in trading, not so much in guitar learning.

3. If you put in enough practice hours, you will be at least a somehow decent guitar player. Very not so much about trading.

4. Guitar playing is mostly for pleasure (although you can profit from it too), trading not so much. If trading is a hobby, you are in the wrong business...

So all in all, they are nothing like each other..... And I play guitar and mostly learnt it from myself, hell, I play my songs. Somehow I always got bored with books and methods and I play for my own pleasure...

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  #9 (permalink)
 OptimusJohn 
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I've played guitar for a little over a decade now, and until I read this post I never really noticed the similarities.

As Pedro40 above me said, I think there are fundamental differences, however, a lot of the examples used are very analogous.

Of course, there is a standard base-line that kind of exists in the guitar world that you don't see in trading. For example, you would clearly be able to teach someone with relative ease given enough time how to play a specific song, even if they do not understand exactly the theory behind it.

There is an ability to play, and then there is also a further ability that must be learned through study and realization exactly what it is you're playing.

In trading - there is no base-line. You can't really start making money (except maybe by accident, which in that case you're gambling) unless you know exactly what you're doing. You have to find the market inefficiencies and understand at the very least what signals predict their occurrence before you make money.

However, in certain genres of music, like Jazz, there are deep, extensive theories that you have to know inside and out to be proficient. Jazz guitarists are IMO the best all around guitar players because they have to understand what is happening. This is the same with traders - they need a deep understanding of the markets to be able to 'play.'

Another thing that is very analogous once you get deep into guitar, is that while music is defined and there are rules, etc., psychologically every player has their own unique view point. They will play one note when improvising when another play would choose differently. It happens by their experience and how they learned, who they learned from, and trial and error. They understand that certain notes will result in a certain type of feel, rhythm, or what-have-you that is only learned by hours and hours of practice.

Trading is the same way - everyone will have their own psychological outlook and 'blue-print' of their understandings based on who they learned from, their 'trials & errors', and their own understanding of the markets. Just like one musician might have really defined their style of playing by a unique technique or phrasing, traders will define their success on their biases towards market analysis and what insights they've managed to happen upon over the years.

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  #10 (permalink)
 dnkhoward2 
Dover, Fl
 
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I have played guitar for about 30 years and I have been trading for about 5 years.

I have said a few times that trading reminded me of playing music. Although Pedro40 and OptimusJohn make some good points, I have compared the two before and thought they were similar.

Just another opinion here.

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Last Updated on September 16, 2013


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