Many people look up to great guitarists of both the past and present, wondering how they became excellent musicians. A lot of people attribute such greatness to natural talent, something they were born with and were good at from the very beginning. But it would be surprising to many that a great number of such great artists did not really have the innate ability to become great players, some of them never even thought of being excellent musicians from the beginning. Conversely, there are a lot of prodigies who showed amazing feats do not necessarily become great artists later in life. In fact many of the great young talents waste away as they become adults for one reason or another.

So what makes the difference between those who make it and those who do not? For some it could have been good management, great publicity or just sheer luck. However for most of the great guitar players out there, one key thing that becomes the driving force to greatness is the passion not only to become a good player, but an excellent artist. Many great talents have the right skills (perhaps the right genes) to become a good guitarist, however they do not necessarily have the immense desire to be the best in their craft. There is even a big danger for prodigies to loose interest in their craft as they get tired of being sensationalized during their younger years.

Those who may not have all the talent but just have a right amount of knack for guitar playing may have a greater chance to be great, if they have the passion that drives them to their goal. One should have a desire strong enough to fuel a discipline that will keep one doing ones work. Of course passion alone would not make one a great guitarist immediately there are some key steps to do so.

First, one should learn from a teacher or a mentor. Why there are some rare cases of do-it-yourself successes, great guitar players more often than not have learned from great masters as well. There are millions of things that only a teacher can impart. Not even thousands of volumes of books and online lessons can replace the vast knowledge a teacher can give.

Second, an aspiring great guitarist has to devote hours and hours of practice through several years. Even the great guitarists of today still practice a lot to ensure that they would not their fingers would get rusty and their minds would not tarnish. Even if you have the greatest teacher in the world, you would not learn much if you do not practice. But it would also be futile to practice aimlessly without a teacher telling what to practice, so these two keys are inseparable.

Third, an aspiring musician should have great patience and a realistic self-evaluation. One should not expect amazing progress immediately. The road to greatness is a long one. There are slow times and fast times. While you should be greatly encouraged when progress is fast, you should not despair during the times you make a lot of mistakes and the moments that you seem not to learn as much.

Fourth, you should do the steps to greatness as soon as you can. Procrastination is evil in the music world. As much as possible do not put off lessons and practice sessions. Devote a special slot of your daily schedule to practices and lessons.

There are many other steps to become a great guitarist, but the ones mentioned above are the foundations to success. It takes hard work and long time to become a great player but if you are dedicated to the craft, you are just a few inches behind to greatness.