As a musician, you spend a lot of time practicing alone. Whether it’s in the basement, in your room, or in a practice studio, most of us feel more comfortable when we are doing things the way we want and at our own pace. However, there are a lot of benefits to playing with others. You will find that playing with others advances your own guitar goals and helps you become an even stronger guitar player. Here are some ways that playing with others benefit you:

• It helps you keep a steady rhythm. When playing alone, you are the one who sets the tempo. Therefore, if you rush or drag in your rhythm, it may not be very noticeable to you. But when you are playing with others, it forces you to listen to those around you and keep in time with the other players. This in turn will make you more aware of your habits to rush and drag and will strengthen your rhythm when playing alone too.
• It shows you how your part fits in the big picture. Guitar riffs are cool on their own, but when played solo, something just seems to be missing. They run the risk of sounding boring and repetitive when there is no rhythm guitar, bass, drums, or vocals. When you play with other people, there is the magical feeling that your part belongs in the whole. This is when the “real music” happens.
• It helps you become aware of your weaknesses. Nothing is more eye-opening in guitar playing than when you start to play with someone else and realize that they know something you don’t, or have a skill you don’t possess. It not only humbles you as a guitar player, but makes you aware of the areas you need to focus on while practicing.
• It helps you get over stage fright. Playing with others inherently involves playing in front of others as well. The more you play with others, the less nervous you’ll be playing for an audience. Getting over stage fright in guitar can help you get over stage fright in other areas of your life as well, like public speaking and presentations.
• It teaches you to be flexible. When you’re alone, you can stop and start a song as many times as you want. If you mess up or don’t like something you played, you can immediately stop and fix it. However, when playing with others, you learn to be flexible and roll with whatever comes your way. You learn to adapt to the people around you and improvise when necessary. This is a good skill to have in life in general.

For these reasons, you should try to play with others as much as you can. Stepping out of your comfort zone is extremely valuable for growth and you will see your versatility as a guitar player expand immensely. When you can’t hide behind your bedroom door, you find that you are capable of more than you thought.

Northville Guitar Lessons is a guitar school providing guitar lessons in Livonia, Plymouth, Novi, Canton and Northville Michigan .

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