I just did a lecture yesterday at NYU about the role of the guitar in jazz history. With the invention of the amplifier, guitarists have been able to stretch the role of the guitar from playing purely resonant strumming to fronting an ensemble and playing the melody and taking solos. And now I think the guitar has become as versatile as the piano, or even beyond that with the advent of electronic music, in terms of being able to create new textures and waves of sound. For years I plugged my guitar into a very simple amplifier until I felt I was comfortable enough with the instrument. It's very easy as a young musician to take your devotion to music, to jazz, to your instrument a little too seriously.
Music is supposed to be personally and spiritually fulfilling, a vehicle for expression.
All the time you spend honing your craft should only help you to focus more on those very things. You can never practice enough, you can never be diligent enough. They were born and raised around it. So all I have to do is provide opportunity. My oldest son Mark is 10 and he plays drums and piano quite well.