"How to Practice the Guitar (part 3)"
"How to Practice the Guitar (part 3)"
"How to Practice the Guitar (part 3)"
In part 1 and 2 of "How to Practice the Guitar," we touched on a few practical ideas to get you started and pointed in the right direction with regard to getting the most out of your daily guitar practice routines. In this segment, we'll go into much more detail and even outline step by step, 2 possible practice routines that contain many important technique builders and solid strategies designed to help take your playing from beginner guitarist to the next level. So let's get started!
From Beginner Guitarist to Advanced Player
I'm often asked, "Mr. A, how long will it take until I'm really good?" Well, I consider this to be a reasonable question, which I usually answer with a question. "How good do you want to be?" In other words, how much time are you willing to devote to the goal of being good at the guitar? I ask this question of each of my students young or old, because the truth is that you will inevitably get whatever you put into it. If for example your attitude is to practice "whenever," then your playing will naturally as result of this kind of attitude, will no doubt reflect in your sound the fact that you practice wellwhenever and in order to be good, practicing "whenever," frankly will not do, nor will ithelp you to achieve your goals on the guitar whatever they may be. However, if your attitude is to practice a good consistent 30 to 45 minutes everyday for example, then your playing will reflect in a positive way both to you and to the listener, that you practice for a good consistent 30-45 minutes a day. It's a no brainer. You do the math guitarists. First and foremost, a positive attitude about practicing your instrument, will take you a lot farther than a negative one will, so get pro-active and involved in your own success. It's important to have a game plan in place, filled with working strategies that will help you to reach those goals.
Each and every one of us has the ability to be as good or as bad as we want to be on the guitar. The decision is entirely up to the individual. There is no magic or mystical guru guided, time-aged secret here to divulge; you just have to want it bad enough and be willing to put in the time and do the work and also be aware that how you deal with and feel (positive or negative) toward practice in general, can make or break you as a player. Let a positive attitude make you as a guitarist.
Managing Your Daily Practice Time
On the issue of managing your daily practice time even if on some days, you find that you only have a few minutes to spare like say for example15 or 20 minutes, it doesn't have to mean that all is lost. You can still use what little time you may have in a day to your advantage. It all depends on what you do with the time allotted. In order to make your 15 or 20 minutes count, all you have to do is zoom in on a particular lesson or area in your playing that needs practice like for example, you may choose to work on a challenging section in a new song, new chords, proper right and left hand technique, sight-reading or whatever it is that you are trying to improve on and in just 15 or 20 minutes of focused, accurate practice, you will have accomplished quite a bit in a short period of time. You'd be surprised. On days when time is not on your side, you may not be able to practice everything on your list of things to work on, but you will be able to pick at least one item on your agenda and give it your full attention and be that much closer to achieving your goal of becoming a better guitarist, as a result of strategically using your time well. Again, it's all in how you practice and not just what you practice, that can make all the difference in the world. I would rather see a student practice for a short, but consistent block of time, than to either not practice at all or to try and cram 5 hours of practice time into one sitting every once in a blue moon. Remember, you have to have a game plan and a strategy every time you sit down to practice, because "If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail."
Okay, so let's say that you are able to set aside some time for daily practice. If so, how much time should you expect to practice each day in order to see real results? You should generally plan to devote at least a minimum of 30-45 minutes a day and then as you become more and more accustomed to your daily practice routine, you can gradually increase your time to an hour or 2 a day if you like. However, if you can only spare 30 or 45 minutes a day or if you simply work best within this time frame, then this will work just fine and you will most definitely see excellent results for your efforts. Just make sure that practice is consistent and that again, you're not only focusing on the "whatto practice, but also the how." I continue to stress this very important point paragraph after paragraph, because I want it to sink in so that you can take your playing as far as you want it to go, using the right tools to do it. I wouldn't encourage you to practice any less than 30-45 minutes a day if you can spare the time; as anything less than this and progress will be very, very slow, so it's important that although time can sometimes be a rare commodity for us all, if you are genuinely serious about learning how to play the guitar, then putting aside the time to practice and then sticking to it, must also be high on your list of important priorities like anything else.
What is the Best Way to Practice?
The best overall way to practice is in short sections of time or by breaking down each technique or lesson that you're trying to study and then learn, into 10, 15 or 20-minute intervals or segments. The reason that this approach works so well is that both the mind and motor skills need sufficient time to strengthen, develop, train and adapt to new material, as learning how to play any instrument is again a process with steps and it is not a process that you can rush or force. The more patient that you are with yourself as you expand your knowledge, hone and shape your craft, the better the pay off. Taking the time to slowly and accurately practice, will teach both your mind and hands to learn how to work together and eventually become synchronized, so much so, that as you move through your favorite songs, licks, phrases, etc, your mind together with your hands, will glide effortlessly as one fluid movement. When this happens, you become a force to be reckoned with, so watch out! Ideally as musicians, we want to train our brains and our motor skills to effectively do exactly what we want them to do musically, which is ultimately why we practice at all.
You have to keep in mind that when you introduce a new concept or idea to your brain and then expect your motor skills to follow through, that it won't happen unless the technique is there and the only way to become technically fluent, is to work through each lesson, riff, idea, etc, slowly, consistently and repetitiously, being very conscious and mindful of what you are doing and why you are doing it at all times when practicing, so that eventually all of your movements will flow naturally. I've mentioned before that it is the little things or little details that make up the big picture and it is these little details that mean the difference between being a great musician/guitarist or a mediocre one, so if you continue to approach practice with this idea in mind, you will eventually pull that great musician out from within yourself.
The Small Details
For an example of a small, but very important detail, let's first take a look at the left hand fingers or right hand if you are left- handed like me. Is your fretting hand placed directly next to the frets or are they sitting on top of the frets or between frets as your hand moves up and down the fret-board? Why does it matter how or where your fingers are placed on your guitar? It matters because if the fingers of your fretting hand are sitting on top of your frets or between frets instead of each finger sitting directly next to a fret, you'll most likely get notes that buzz or sound muted, instead of the clear and well rounded tones that you're trying to sound. Remember you are trying to develop good technique and the better your technique, the easier it is to overcome much more challenging material as you improve and progress.
Developing good practice habits such as the simple act of minding how and where your fingers are placed on the fret-board can make a significant and noticeable difference in your playing. You'll hear me say this time and time again, "The key to being a great musician in my experience is hands down, consistent, accurate daily practice with a purpose." Another example of a small, but important detail and one that many of us don't give much thought to is in how we sit and hold the guitar. Believe it or not, this fine detail really does have more to do with how we sound than you might think. For example are you sitting up straight and not only supporting your upper and lower back (very important) but are you also supporting your instrument properly or are you hunched and scrunched over paying very little attention to your posture and how you're holding your guitar at all? When mom said, "Don't hunch your shoulders and mind your posture," she wasn't just whistling Dixie, she knew exactly what she was talking about! Always make sure that you're sitting in a comfortable chair that supports your upper and lower back and that allows your feet to rest comfortably on the floor, as apposed to having them dangle and swing under you. In order to help support good posture and control of your instrument, I often suggest to my own students that they consider trying a Footrest that also goes by the name Footstool. You'll typically see Classical guitarists with a Footrest, which I suspect is also a testament in part to why most Classically trained guitarists have such great technique. However, this doesn't mean that you have to study or even like Classical guitar in order to reap the benefits of the use of one. They come in many different styles, colors and prices, but you can usually buy one for less than 20.00 or as high as 40.00 on up, depending on the style, model and of course where you purchase it from. For pricing and styles click on the following link:
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias=mi&field-keywords=Footrest
The further benefits of using a Footrest or Footstool, besides encouraging good posture and helping to stabilize your instrument, which in turn will help to improve your playing, is that you have a much better overall view of the fret-board, which is sometimes a bit obstructed as we often have to sort of look over and around our guitar necks, just to see the fret-board itself and where we are as we move along it; unlike for example pianists, who are fortunate to have the keys laid out right in front of them. A Footrest allows the neck of the guitar to be lifted a bit higher and closer to eye level, allowing the entire fret-board to be seen much easier. You want to always be in complete control of your instrument and a Footrest can often help with this goal. Do you absolutely need a Footrest in order to be a great guitarist? Of course not, but it also doesn't hurt to experiment a bit and take full advantage of as many options or tools that are out there to help assist us with our ultimate goal of being the very best musicians that you can be. For some examples on how to use a Footrest both in the Classical and Casual seated positions, click on the following link: http://guitarprinciples.com/Guitar_Technique/sitting.htm
Habit Forming
It's very important to take the time to go through the motions and work on developing better practice habits, so that you excel at your chosen instrument and so that these good habits stick and transfer over into other aspects of your playing in a positive and fully musically productive way. Again, you want to develop accurate daily practice habits and to keep these good habits all your life, so that you continue to grow as a musician, until you become creatively unstoppable on the guitar! This is what it takes to be good. Training your mind and motor skills should be done carefully and with purpose. If you're practicing without any thought to what, how or why you're practicing, then you're not only wasting your time, but you are also missing the point of why we practice. We ultimately practice so that our movements on the guitar will become automatic, fluid, controlled (controlled on the technical end, but not the creative end) and of course above all, we ultimately practice in order to attain complete creative freedom to do whatever it is that we want to do musically on our instrument. This kind of freedom can only come with our complete participation in the whole process and not just half way, but all the way; and not just when it's easy, but most especially when it's kickin' our butts! Hey, if learning how to play the guitar were that easy, everybody would be doing it right? So the next time you're practicing and copping licks from one of your favorite guitarists, go ahead and pat yourself on the back and consider yourself to be in good company, because even your favorite artists have been where you are right now at one time or another working their bums off, to get to where they are today.
Practice Relaxing
Do you ever hold your breath or tighten up your whole body whenever you play? Sometimes we do it and we're not even aware of it. Many of my own students have a very hard time relaxing when they play and I can usually see it on their faces and through body language, as they cringe and hold their breath at the slightest mishap or the occasional musical imperfection. Guess what? We all make or have made the very same mistakes and nobody's perfect. Keep in mind that being accurate and perfect mean to entirely different things. So be careful not to confuse the two or trying to relax when you play, will have you climbing the walls.
Learning how to relax when we play is vitally important to how we sound. Think for a moment about all the muscles that you use to play the guitar and that you may not even realize you're using such as: your neck, shoulders, forearms, wrists, hands, fingers, abs, stomach and even your legs! All of the muscles in these areas of the body tend to tense and lock up when we play at times and when this happens, the natural flow of creativity can be hindered and remain hidden until we are able to get our bodies to relax and let go. The funny thing about it is, that our bodies can very easily become accustomed to feeling tense so much so, that we begin to think that it's natural to feel anxious and tense, when it doesn't have to be that way. I know it all sounds very Zen, but imagine being able to practice and play completely relaxed both mentally and physically and with your creative mind completely open. How much would we be able to really accomplish in this physical and mental state? Since most of us with the exception of a few, live, work and play at a break neck speed, it's very easy to forget or for that matter remember how to relax and slow down.
When we get to this point, which is a point that I imagine many of us have already reached, it's time to re-group and literally practice relaxing. That's right "practice relaxing", along with our everyday practice routines. Of course I do realize that this is a task that is for some, (including yours truly) easier said than done, but the more relaxed you are when you approach your instrument, the clearer and more focused your mind becomes, which of course then allows your body to meet your mind and soon the music that you're trying to communicate through your instrument then reflects a calmer state of being. As I mentioned, learning how to completely relax for some, actually takes practice and so we'll explore this topic more in depth and in greater detail, with more specific exercises that you can do to relax while practicing and playing your guitar, in an upcoming article. In the meantime, here is a simple, but powerful relaxation exercise to tide you over.
Just Breathe
Make sure to do the following exercise standing and without guitar in hand. When you do this exercise, be sure to do it in a quiet place where you won't be disturbed and then as you begin the exercise, slowly and completely empty your mind of all clutter. This may seem impossible at first for some, but it can be done. Even if this exercise is hard to do the first few times that you attempt it, keep trying until you are able to at least do the first step. Eventually you'll get past that initial impatient feeling to be done with it and move on. The harder this exercise is to do, the more it proves just how much stress you might be under. Don't chicken out either, but give this exercise a good try and see if it makes a difference. When you do the exercise, close your eyes and take 5 very big deep breaths, beginning with hands touching in front of your body, beneath your navel and then as you breath in the first deep breath, simultaneously raise your arms up in an outward circular motion, until they form a circle and are up over your head. While your arms are in the air, hold your breath for 5 seconds and then slowly release and push each breath out of your body, while simultaneously lowering your arms and placing them back in the starting position and repeat. You want to gently, but purposely push each breathout to the very end. If you've ever seen a bored child sitting in a doctor's waiting room, they'll often entertain themselves by gathering as much air into their mouths as they can, so that their cheeks puff out and they look like a Blow Fish, before blowing the air out of their mouths; well, this is what you should look like while doing this exercise. This exercise should not be done quickly or without thought. You're not just taking in and pushing out air, but you're trying to release your body of creative blocking stress and fatigue. As you breath in and out, focus also on relaxing each muscle in your body, beginning with the very top of your head, to the bottoms of your feet. Let all of your stress, anxiety and inhibitions push themselves out, until your mind is clear of debris and your body becomes more relaxed. This simple exercise really does work and is one that I do before and after each daily practice session. Once you've done this exercise, slowly pick up your guitar and begin to work through your routine.
Note: Don't rush into or through your practice routine, so that you lose the calm state that your mind and your body have now reached. Take your time moving to and through each technique, riff, etc, until you've completed your practice for the day. After your practice session, try the exercise again and really gauge how you feel. See if it makes a difference and if it does, then keep it up, because the difference that you're feeling will also show in your playing.
Daily Practice Routine Examples
Okay, now let's take a look at a few possible daily practice routines that I've outlined here for your consideration. Keep in mind that you can alter or change things around to fit your own personal lifestyle or whatever you're working on, but before you do this, I do suggest that you pick one of the a routines listed and work with it as is first, for at least a month and see if it works for you. I do encourage you to do it this way at first, as each of the items to be practiced on the list are crucial fundamentals that all guitarists should know and if you find that you need practice on any one thing listed, then it's important to address it, chase it down, catch it and master it. Be objective and keep track of the progress you make and also be aware of areas in your playing that might require a little more attention. I realize that many of us musicians hate the word "routine," because it conjures up pictures of repetitious and boring scale exercises with very little creativity going on. However, the truth is that if you want to be good and free to create to your heart's desire without limitations, then you must first master the fundamentals and develop good technique. You must also be organized, which is why each example is written out the way it is. I mean what is repetition anyway? Well, it's doing something over and over and over again, until you own it. So let's begin by taking a look at a few possible daily practice routines to help get you organized and on you're way to being killer on the guitar.
Example 1.
30-45 min Daily Practice Routine
Warm-up/Stretch 5 min.
Scales 10 min.
Arpeggios 10 min.
New Chord Shapes/Chord Drills/Chord Shifting 10 min.
(Change it up each week and or practice on whichever chord technique needs work)
Sight-reading Practice 10 min. (a must)
Free unlimited time to practice tunes, licks, improvising, etc
*Remember to always use your foot and metronome together or foot and drum machine together when you practice, to help to maximize and instill good timing skills.
Note: Make sure to rest your hands and your mind whenever needed during a practice session, as you can always come back and do more practicing later if you feel like it or you can always re-convene the following day. However, I highly recommend that you don't skip practice for more than 2 days. It's very easy to skip a day or 2 or 3 and pretty soon, you've missed a whole week or more of practice. You'd be surprised how easy it can get to push practice off until tomorrow or the next day, next week and so on, even for the most dedicated guitarist, so stay on your toes and stay honest with yourself. And again, never under any circumstances should you play through pain. Remember that pain is most definitely your body telling you that something is wrong. Make sure that you pay close attention to these signs and listen!
Note: When practicing Scales, Arpeggios and Chords, make sure to gradually practice them in all keys as you progress. This sounds like a lot to cover, but if you're patient with yourself and approach everything that you want to learn thoughtfully, with goals in mind and with a positive attitude, you'll eventually own and master what you covet. Take your time, as there really is no need to rush. Make sure not to forget to enjoy the process of learning. Now when I suggest that you practice each item on the list in all keys, allow me to clarify. I don't mean that you have to do it all in one sitting (you can, but you don't have to) during a practice session. Let's say for example that you've decided to work on the C Major Scale. The next step might be to find as many C Major Scale patterns up and down the fret-board as you can, until you become fluent in this key and then move on to another key.
Remember when we talked about long and short-term goals in part 1 of "How to Practice the Guitar?" Well, learning the C Major Scale in several patterns up and down the neck might be considered a long-term goal that could take a good full month or longer to become fluent with, but that's okay. It's important to pace yourself and take your time. I say that if you're going to do it, that is learn how to play the guitar and learn how to do it well, then why not take the time to do it right. I know that learning how to play the guitar or any instrument for that matter, can be tedious and can sometimes feel overwhelming and seem to take even longer than the second hand of a ticking clock, but don't let it discourage you, because you don't just want to learn this stuff and then forget about it, you want to master it and then put it away for safe keeping and when the time is right, be able to easily pull the information out at will whenever you need it and believe me there will come a time when you will most definitely need it. Besides, in case you didn't know it, you're in good company. The late great legendary saxophonist Charlie Parker a.k.a. "Bird," was known to work on a particular key like for example the key of C, for months and months at a time and he did this in order to gain the complete freedom to move through a key and along the fret-board, with cool ease; and that's how it's done.
With regard to the practice examples that I've outlined here, keep in mind that you're free to adjust or add to each routine as you like, so that it fits with what you're current level and goals are. You'll also want to approach the Natural, Harmonic and Melodic minor Scales and Arpeggios and new Chord shapes, in much the same way with regard to learning each new technique in all 12 keys. Just don't let it freak you out. It's not as hard as you think. We'll explore the techniques listed in greater detail in an upcoming article, so stay tuned.
Example 2:
1 hour Daily Practice Routine
1. Warm-up/Stretch 10 min. (use a metronome)
2. Scales 10 min.
3. Arpeggios 10 min. (use a metronome)
4. (Change it up each week and or practice on whichever chord technique needs work and make sure to use a metronome)
5. Sight-reading Practice 10 min. (use a metronome)
6. Ear Training Exercises 10 min.
(Ear training is learning to recognize chords, intervals, scales, musical phrases, etc, by ear and requires a lot of listening with and without your instrument in hand.)
7. Fee unlimited time to practice tunes, licks, improvising, etc
Exaple 3.
Suggested 2 hour Daily Practice Routine
7. Warm-up/Stretch 15 min. (use a metronome)
8. Scales 20 min. (use a metronome)
9. Arpeggios 20 min. (use a metronome)
10. New Chord Shapes/Chord Drills/ Chord Shifting exercises 20 min.
(Start with whatever needs the most work, then move on to the next once you've conquered one demon; and remember to always do these chop builders using either a metronome or a drum machine.)
11. Sight-reading 25 min. (use a metronome)
(A must if you ever want to play pro, TAB alone will not get you there)
12. Ear training exercises 20 min. (use a metronome)
13. Free time to practice tunes, licks, improvise, etc, to your heart's desire
I'm Bored and I'm Not Have Fun When I Practice!
If you find that for whatever reason practicing the guitar isn't fun for you, then make it fun! Don't allow a bad day to discourage you or worse don't let one convince you to call it quits either. Figure out what sort of practice routine, material, musical genre, etc, excites you and brings you the most personal satisfaction and go with it. The Practice routines that I've outlined here are meant to give you an idea of some of the more important fundamental techniques and beyond, that your daily practice should include however, nothing is written in stone with regard to the areas of study or the order in which these techniques should be practiced. You can always add something new to your routine, change it up, mix it up or rotate the order in which you practice these techniques; again, be creative and see what else you can learn not only from a musical stand point, but about yourself as a player. There is absolutely no reason why you should be bored or not be having any fun, as the possibilities of what you can do on the guitar are endless. You need only believe in yourself, be patient with yourself, experiment, investigate, create and never be afraid to take chances or make mistakes and above all never ever give in or give up! Join me for part 4 in my 6 part series on "How to Practice the Guitar," when we discuss a bit more of the "how" and also get much deeper into the "what" and finally introduce the "why." In the mean time everyday, "Take a sad song and make it better." Peace.
P.S. Please always feel free to email me with questions, answers, opinions and constructive criticism. All are welcome, because my other favorite thing to do next to playing and teaching is learning. I often tell my beloved students that, "I learn much more from them, then they could ever learn from me." How true how true. I'd love to hear from you.
"Take a sad song and make it better," from the song "Hey Jude," by Paul McCartney
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