I have been taking online guitar lessons from Andy Crowley and found an interesting graphic in his complementary book, Beginners Guitar Book called the Cycle of Accelerated Returns.

I had never heard this term before reading Andy’s book and I thought perhaps that you hadn’t either so I attached the graphic.

This concept contains common sense: the more you practice, the better you get, but I had never seen the idea conceptualized this way.

We learn best through practice and repetition. The medical school maxim: “see one, do one, teach one” holds true in just about every learning process.

We learn by doing.

Initially learning something new is a grind. Tedious. Boring. Wearisome. Frustrating. Irksome.

The exasperation we face in the initial stage of learning toughens our minds as we learn to delay gratification. Persistence will lead to improvement making it easier to practice. The improved skill makes practicing more interesting that causes us to want to practice longer that increases skill and you have joined the cycle.

The key to merging with the Cycle of Accelerated Returns is persistence. The most certain way to success is to try one more time.

So how am I doing with the guitar lessons? Well… I’m enjoying the process and practicing longer so I must be on that cycle although I still can’t play that F barre cord.