A touchy guitarist played same licks over and over. One night he confessed to the bass player he felt embarrassed about his lack of inventiveness, asked if anyone noticed. The bass player affirmed he had noticed. Then the guitarist flew into a rage accusing the bass player of being judgemental and cruel. A month later Tim Icepick, the reviewer from Cow Magazine, attended their New Years Eve show, and called the guitar licks monotonous and cliché posturing. That was the last straw. He decided to take lessons with Soozie Fromagefrais, legendary teacher who lived with her son outside of town.
After explaining his problems, she asked him to play soccer with her son who was five years old. They played in the back yard a few minutes but the boy didn’t understand the reason for the net, he just kicked in any direction. Later inside she asked the guitarist how he found playing with her son. He said it isn’t like playing a real game, he’s just a little boy. If you want to get better on your instrument, nobody can magically give you more understanding, it has to be done by your own efforts. My little boy kicks in any direction and so do you, lashing out at yourself or others. Nothing can help you understand until you can be ok with the fact that you don’t understand.