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Get practicing!

No matter who you are, practice is an important part of your development as a musician and every player that wants to get better, does it. Why? It’s simple. They want to be the best they can be and so do you. Its easier than you think and far less difficult than trying to think of a new excuse every week for lack of practice!

Step 1. Find a place and time
Its important to have a particular place and time where you can regularly practice without it conflicting with your day to day life and others around you. For example, 1 o clock in the morning may be great for you, but not so good for the people you are living with and they may not share the enthusiasm you have for playing! So be thoughtful. The obvious place most guitarists choose is their bedroom. In most cases, it works well but if you are someone who can be easily distracted by a TV, a game console or a computer in your room, then move your practice into a different place. Your practice area should have a cd player, a music stand, leads and obviously, your guitar. It’s a great idea to have your stand, music folder and guitar set up (amp and lead plugged in if its electric) at all times. It can be a distraction when you realize its time to practice and you haven’t got your amp plugged in or you can’t find your music folder. You will leave yourself open to lines like “Aww, its ok. I’ll practice tomorrow” Imagine what would happen if you said this every day?

Step 2 The 3 P’s plus one R
Practice
At the very basics, practice is spending time on your instrument. Working on homework (whether it be a song, exercises, scales, chords or all of the above) and to achieve the goal of getting the homework down. Your practice should also include quick revision on what you’ve previously learnt and a fun song that you love to play.

Patience
Keep your cool. Think you are going to get that tricky part down right away? Think again! It may take many attempts before you nail something. If you find yourself losing patience with it, take a deep breath and calm down. If you can’t calm down, then play an old song that you enjoy playing. Its important to keep the guitar fun and exciting. Try then coming back to that “tricky part.” You will get it down!

Persistance
Success will eventually come your way.

Regularly
You need to do these 3P’s regularly to move forward with your playing.

Let’s meet Todd. His goal is to get in shape for summer during the spring months. He pays a subscription fee to a local gym and then buys all the necessary equipment. He goes to gym the following week and really enjoys it and has a great workout. He then decides to go again at the end of that month and then maybe 3 more times till summer time. Do you think he’ll reach his goal? The short answer is, no way. If Todd decides to stick to a regular workout routine, then he will get in shape for summer. It’s the same with your playing. One or two practice sessions one week and even less the next week followed by one two hour practice session in the 3rd week will not get you there. Effective practice time every day will ensure you will be well on your way to becoming a great guitarist

Remember, there is ALWAYS time to practice. Its whether you decide to prioritize your guitar over certain things in your life. Its unfortunate but it’s the truth. Watching TV or playing the playstation will not help your guitar playing. But sacrificing 15 minutes of your favourite TV show? Maybe spending only 20 minutes on “Facebook” every night instead of an hour? Perhaps even doing the unthinkable and getting up 15 minutes earlier in the morning! Small sacrifices will go a long way.

Step 3. Pace Yourself
Lets look at Todd’s first week of going to a gym, if he decides to do the same workout done by someone else who had been going to the gym for over a year, then he’s going to find it very difficult. It’s the same with your playing. If you are a beginner player, then a two hour guitar practice routine is not going to be effective for you. You will most likely last 10-15 minutes before you have to take a break, perhaps even less, perhaps more. It will all depend on your fingers. Your fingers are getting a workout, much like Todd at the gym and it will take time to build those muscles up. So pay attention to your fingers. Are they starting to hurt? If you are half way thru your practice session, take a quick break then resume. It won’t be long before you start to notice that you will be able to go longer without your fingers hurting, this is a sure sign that you are progressing as a player. If you have practiced for 15 minutes and you are enjoying playing and your fingers aren’t sore, keep playing. This is a sign once again that you are progressing and you may need to look at a longer practice session.

Step 4 Knowing How much practice to put in
It’s the old saying, you get out what you put it into it. You will reap what you sow. The more time you spend effectively practicing, the better you will get. Keep in mind, Step 3 and the rule of pacing yourself. Many musicians will have conflicting ideas on how much you should practice though, I like to apply it to a ratio of number of years study to time. So,

1 year- 10-15 mins
2 years 15-30 mins
3 years 30-45 mins
4 years or more- 45-1 hr.
Keep going!

This is only a rough guide and you should remember to pay attention to your fingers and the importance of pacing yourself.

How you doin so far? Take a quick break. Grab a drink and keep reading when you are ready. Two points to go!

Step 5. There are no excuses
As a guitar teacher, there’s nothing more I dislike than a student coming in and mumbling his way through a list of excuses as to why he didn’t practice during the week. There are no excuses. There are of course exceptions to this rule, you may have broken your arm, or perhaps you were out of town during the week or your guitar is getting repaired. There’s many possible scenarios. However, in all these circumstances I’ve listed, there are ways to still dedicate time to the guitar. Why not look over your music folder/book and revise chords and notes you’ve learned? You may have broken your arm, but you can still read! You’ll be amazed what the power of the mind can do for your playing. Breaking your arm, or being out of town, or having your guitar repaired are not frequent occurrences. Remember making excuses to not practice, will not help your playing and the only person at a disadvantage from lack of practice, will be yourself. I’m amazed at how many students will come to me and say they haven’t practiced, yet when I ask them what they watched on TV this week, they can name off many shows! Refer to Step 1 and “prioritizing your time”

Step 6 Keep your practice fun
Playing guitar is fun so your practice session should be no different and there are ways to keep practice more fun and less of a chore. Try changing things up. A change is a good as a holiday
1. The order of your homework
Say for instance your homework for the week, is a finger exercise and two songs. Day 1 of practice might be start on the finger exercise then the two songs. Day 2 practice might be the two songs first and then the finger exercise. Day 3 why not do one song first, then the finger exercise then the other song? Most importantly, don’t just stick to one area of your homework. Divide your time!
2. Different time and place
You’ll be amazed at how a new time and place to practice can work wonders. It can be very inspiring, and who knows? You might be feeling creative enough to be in a place where you can write a great song!
3. Extension homework
Why not visit your local music store and pick up a new book of songs? Or spend time on the net and download some new TABS? You don’t have to just stick to working on whatever your teacher gives you. Going the extra mile will get you playing more and keeping things different and fresh as you step out of your comfort zone.

It’s important to remember that effective practice is achievable by any student no matter where you are at in your musical journey. These tips also relate to other instruments as well. If you are an ambitious musician who is learning more than one instrument, then rememebr to apply what you’ve learned here about effective practice

Get practicing!

Chris Timms