Dave Wirth
Flow. I like to describe it as the feeling I get when time disappears. When I am not focused on anything except playing music and I am so drawn into it that someone new could walk into the room and I wouldn't know it, I am in the flow state. In my opinion, everyone who picks up the guitar has different reasons to, but flow is possible regardless. Flow, to me, is the reason everyone slowly gets pulled into playing, and all the better.
The following is a comparison between two types of guitar styles, namely classical guitar and pop guitar, and how long and dedicated a person must be to get into that flow state with either.
Pop Guitar
Usually, all it takes for a person to learn pop guitar from scratch is to learn chords comfortably, learn to strum, and learn how to change chords within a strumming pattern. Then comes the songs and learning how to play along and listen. That's about it. Getting to the point where time can absolutely disappear isn't really that difficult or far off. It's merely being comfortable enough with the instrument and those three skills. This is not very hard to do. I would guess that it can take anywhere from about one to six months of work.
Classical Guitar
It takes a minimum of at least two years of study with classical guitar to get to a flow state. A minimum, and it's not guaranteed! The skills? Well, learning the Andres Segovia or the Aaron Shear scales, finishing up the 120 exercises for the right hand by Giuliani, practicing Scott Tennant's Pumping Nylon, learning a lot of etudes by Sor, Carcassi, and listening. Then come the actual pieces. Choros or Preludes by Villa Lobos, Julia Florida by Barrios, or Capriccio Arabe by Tarrega.
So what are the implications?
First, classical guitar is not just something we can up and decide to do. Most people who do want to learn classical guitar already have a love of that music. Second, if anyone wants to teach classical guitar and wants to teach only classical guitar, they will have an uphill battle. Look at the hoops a person has to jump through! Instead, why not learn how to teach pop guitar and gradually introduce the student to the wonders of classical guitar? Third, flow state, the place we go when we are on stage or playing with friends, having a blast, etc, is the only reason we play. Flow is important, and it takes far less time playing pop guitar to achieve this state than it does classical guitar.
Finally, which sounds most fun? Perhaps there is an iconoclast out there who is working to soften the educational tradition of classical guitar so that flow is easier to achieve, faster? I hope to meet you if you are reading.
