Why is it easier to learn Guitar than Poker?
If you decide to learn two things today: playing the guitar and poker, and you don’t have a teacher, you’ll likely get better at playing the guitar faster than poker. I am not talking about just learning the basics but getting some level of expertise.
Put simply, a year of guitar practice makes you an intermediate guitar player; a year of poker practice doesn’t.
These two different hobbies can teach us something important about life.
Easy vs. Hard Progress:
Poker is easy to understand. It comprises a limited set of actions — Bet, Call, Raise, Check, and Fold. Therefore, memorizing the rules comes comparatively easy in Poker. However, attaining mastery in Poker entails navigating a more intricate learning curve.
Now, think about the guitar. There are about 4000 different guitar chords to learn. In addition, various elements such as finger positioning, choice of guitar, lead versus rhythm, and more come into play. Surprisingly, the process of mastering the guitar is often viewed as a linear progression.
Life Lesson: Things that seem simple at first can get harder as you go along. What looks like an easy path might not stay that way.
Feedback and Mentorship:
When you play the guitar, you get feedback right away from the sounds you make. If something sounds wrong, you know it and can fix it. The solutions are often precise, like adjusting a chord or note.
But with poker, feedback only comes when the game is over. You know if you won or lost, but you can’t always say for sure if your strategy was right.
Life Lesson: To make progress in life, it’s important to get feedback. You need to know how you’re doing and what you can do better. It is also important that the feedback shares the precise actionable items for you so that you can refine your approach and make necessary adjustments.
Small vs. Big Goals:
With the guitar, you can set small goals, like learning a chord, a riff, or a song. You keep moving forward step by step.
In poker, the goal is big and far away. It takes years to get good at the math and probabilities involved in the game. Even then, victory is not guaranteed, as an element of chance always lingers.
Life Lesson: When your goal is small and clear, it’s easier to work toward it. Instead of setting lofty, unattainable goals, it’s advisable to aim for achievable and measurable goals.
Whether it’s guitar or poker, one thing is certain: life’s learning path isn’t always straightforward. Embrace all experiences, learn from past errors, and continue moving forward.
I’m a Learning Experience Designer by day and a nighttime author. I use my cognitive psychology knowledge to craft engaging learning experiences that unlock people’s full potential.
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