Back in the day when I was learning, home studios hadn't blown up yet so it was still a rare thing to do studio work as a beginner. So I didn't get a chance to record myself and hear myself playing. But now, with all the software available cheap and free, or some of the nice hardware practice tools, it's easy for anyone to record themselves. You can record yourself playing along with backing tracks or even just the CD. This is helpful because you can REALLY hear what you sound like so you know what you need to work on. When I was a new player it was always a rude awakening playing in the studio and hearing myself, because my time and feel wasn't as good as I thought it was. I would have LOVED to be able to record myself as easy as you can now while learning.