Don't Compare Yourself with Others

If you're trying to learn a song it's sometimes a good idea to compare your playing to a recording to try to figure out how to play better. This is a good idea. But other than trying to polish your playing skills, I think it's best it's best not to compare your playing to someone else's. Here are a few reasons why:

1) You haven't been playing the same amount of time: Most of the time, it's a bit silly to compare your progress to another musician, simply because you haven't been playing the same amount of time. If they've had longer to practice and to learn their craft, can you really expect to be as good as them?

Objection #1:
"But wait", I hear (some of ) you thinking. "What if I compare myself to others who did start at the same time, or compare my progress to the progress of other musicians when they had the same amount of time on the instrument?"

Well, that brings me to my second reason...

2) Everyone has their own strengths and weaknesses: No two musicians are exactly alike, and that usually means that we learn about the elements of music at different speeds. Some musicians find rhythm incredibly easy and have no problem mastering it (they're rare, trust me) Some musicians learn to read music quickly. Others start with a great sense of pitch.

None of you tend to be the same, so it's not worth comparing yourself to others. Chances are you are better than someone else at something.

Objection #2:
"But wait", I hear (some of) you thinking. "What if they've been playing the same amount of time as me, and they're better than me at everything?"

Okay, let's move on to my third reason...

3) Your practice habits may be different than someone else: Okay, even if someone is better than you after playing for the same amount of time, they may have practiced more. Maybe they practice twice as much. Or maybe they've got better practice habits. Maybe their teacher has given them better ideas for proper practice than yours has (assuming you have a teacher).

Objection #3 (boy, you're really giving me a hard time today): 
"But wait", I hear (some of) you thinking. "What if we've been playing and practicing the same amount of time and with the same habits, and they're still better than me at everything?"

Okay, I'll admit it. It's possible to meet someone else who plays the same instrument who:
1) has been playing about as long as you have
2) has practiced about as much as you have
3) doesn't know any special practicing techniques or habits that you don't also know, and
4) is better than you.

So let me pull out the big guns...

4) It doesn't really matter if someone else is better than you, because there will probably always be somebody out there who is better than you:

I accepted a long time ago that I'd probably never be as good as Eddie Van Halen, Andre Segovia, or Joe Pass, all masters of their respective music genres. But I don't need to be. If I was as good as any of them I wouldn't be focused on becoming a great teacher, and frankly, I can do a much greater service to the world of music by being a great teacher than I can by being another great player.

I'm also pretty happy with my progress on the guitar, bass, ukelele, and piano, and voice. I'd definitely like to be better at all of these instruments, but that's the great thing about learning music: you can always get better.

The sooner you focus on simply getting better, the happier you'll be.