146 - 6 Priceless Lessons from Molly Tuttle

Are you ready to get a deep insight into your guitar journey? These 6 lessons from Molly Tuttle will surely inspire you to make some big changes in your guitar playing!

Molly Tuttle is one of my guitar heroes that I have the utmost respect for. She has wisdom and technical mastery that blows me away every time I see her play. I am so excited to share these 6 lessons with you! Each one is a golden nugget of guitar wisdom, so make sure you watch all the way through!

Before I launch into the interviews, I want to make sure I give credit where credit is due. The first interview is from Q on CBC with Tom Power. The second one I'll be referencing is from eTown.

After I share these lessons, be sure to let me know what you want to hear from Molly Tuttle. I'll be interviewing her soon, so I really hope you give me a good question to ask her!

So, without further ado, let's launch into the 6 priceless lessons from Molly Tuttle!

Lesson #6: Have Fun

The guitar shouldn't be a chore. If you can focus your practice sessions and zero-in on the joy and discovery of learning the guitar, the fun will fuel your guitar journey.

If you find yourself getting bogged down in technique and you're getting frustrated, take some time to focus on one chord or technique or scale. From there, chunk it out and don't get overwhelmed with learning!

Lesson #5: Ego is the Enemy

When Molly Tuttle arrived at Berklee College of Music, she was surrounded by jazz musicians, classical musicians, and electronic musicians. When she looked at her peers, she realized that she was a beginner in their world.

While this might seem frightening or shocking, Molly handled the situation with grace. She accepted that she was a beginner, checked her ego at the door, and soaked up as much information as she could. How awesome is that?!

Lesson #4: Community

Who you surround yourself with on your guitar journey — and in life! — is extremely important. Making sure your community supports you and lifts you up is important for your success as a guitar player.

Molly had a unique experience being the first woman to be nominated (and win) the International Bluegrass Music Association's Guitar Player of the Year. The community lifted her up, and now she is excited to lift up and support other aspiring women in the industry up as well!

Lesson #3: Guitar Accessibility

Molly describes her couches at home full of instruments — so much so that you couldn't even sit on them! In fact, the only way to sit down was to have an instrument in your hands!

I strongly believe that having guitars easily accessible will help encourage you to play. If you have to take your guitar out of a case every time you want to play it, that's just one more obstacle to overcome in your guitar journey.

Lesson #2: Forever Student

Molly Tuttle has a unique technique she uses on guitar: claw hammer, which is typically reserved for the banjo. When Molly was teaching at her first music camp, she learned as much as she could about claw hammer guitar technique.

Even after achieving success and recognition, Molly Tuttle continued to expand her knowledge of the guitar and still remains a "forever student," or someone who is always learning. I think this is so crucial for guitar journeys.

Lesson #1: Embrace Who You Are

Never be afraid or ashamed of who you are. "There's nothing normal about everyone being the same," Molly wrote. I cannot agree with her more.

Our differences, our uniqueness, are what make us interesting and beautiful humans and musicians. I want to encourage you to search for and embrace who you are. You'll find that if you use this on your guitar journey, you'll see plenty of rewards.

To catch the full interviews featured on this episode of Acoustic Tuesday, be sure to visit acousticlife.tv/at146/

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★ All show notes and links: https://acousticlife.tv/at146/

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