Guitar Antics.com

Practice makes perfect has been preached for years and years, and it’s wrong.
I read a great replacement cliché’ the other day, ‘Practice Makes Permanent’. I totally agree. Beginning guitarists should ensure their posture, hand position, and tone are correct while practicing, or the time spent will be wasted. What use is an incorrect fingered, sloppy, “oh, that sounds fine” rendition of a piece no one can stand to listen to? How you approach your practice is how you do most things. Where can you make improvements this year? If you’re not taking private lessons, you should be. Anyone can download a TAB or buy a book. A professional teacher will advise you on the correct fingers (the ones the artist is using). They will help you to see the chords and progression. They will save you hours of time. Stop making bad habits permanent and call a professional, private guitar teacher.

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By far the best day to practice on is Sunday. Regardless of your religion or family status, Sunday’s have larger blocks of unused time, perfect for practicing your instrument.  I’ve found that if I get up early enough, I have a couple of hours to focus on new pieces, technique, sight reading, etc.

I’m amazed at how many students say they don’t have time to practice. Where do you find the time? What do you need to give up? Do you watch TV? If so, you have at least 30 minutes per day you can practice. If you’re watching TV and hoping you’ll become an accomplished player, you might as well quite now. I remember the one year we cancelled our Satellite TV. We were having some billing issues and I cancelled the service. What was the result? I released four CDs! I re-made two older recordings that had been done on a 4-track recorder, and released an Acoustic Guitar CD and an Instrumental Rock CD. I know how much time watching TV and video games wastes. Make a point to limit your wasted time; you can never get it back!

TONE; what we’re striving to obtain every time we play the guitar. How do your single notes sound? Full or plunky? How do your chords sound? Can you hear all of the notes? Are you strumming too hard? Do your friends say “sounds pretty good, so where’s the XBox?”

If you’re practicing the ’serious’ stuff while watching TV you are probably unaware of your tone. How can you hear your tone quality while watching the NBA finals? Answer is you can’t.

The first step toward obtaining excellent guitar tone is active listening. Close your eyes while you play something familiar. Are your transitions smooth or choppy? Record yourself and listen to it with headphones on. Ouch! YOu might be very surprised. Pay strict attention to every note and play SLOWER! Most would agree that a slow, smooth rendition of the song is better than a fast, choppy one. Beginners always play too fast. If you want to impress your teacher, take the slow road. The teacher can already play fast and don’t need you to.

Play an acoustic or classical guitar. How you sound on an acoustic or classical guitar is how you really sound. One famous player described this as “being naked”. There’s no hiding from a string squeak resulting from a shift in positions.

If you want to take your Guitar Tone to the next level learn how to fingerpick. Learning proper right hand technique through a classical guitar program or method can make a night and day difference in the quality of your notes. Strive to have better Tone through intelligent practice of your instrument with your ears turned up to 10. And stop pretending that your time playing Guitar Hero or Rock Band will help!

THE ART OF PRACTICE

Practice is the preparation for a specific event. It involves what you do as well as how you accomplish what you do. I believe in practicing with a purpose. One’s purpose is defined by personal goals. Without an aim, or reason for doing anything, progress will be non-existent or minimal. “Practice is an ordered activity toward the service of an aim,” Robert Fripp, The Art of Craft. I’m repeatedly asked “How much should I practice”. My response would be based on your goals. Do you want to be a professional, or just play for fun? Do you want to be in a band or record a CD? Do you want to teach or write instructional books? How do you want your audience to describe your playing as “awesome,” “incredible,” “pretty good,”or “not bad?” Your goal or reason for learning the guitar will determine your level of commitment, and your approach to practice. “Commitment is a measure of our unity, our personal integrity,” R. Fripp.

After setting goals, determining your level of commitment, and examining any time constraints (sports, clubs, activities), you devise a plan. Not having a plan and a goal for your practice sessions will achieve accidental results at best. Your practice regimen could be this simple:

1. Tune your Guitar – An important element in your ear training.
2. Warm Up – Exercises and scales, building hand/mind awareness and coordination.
3. Challenging – Whatever is the hardest, most confusing, or the newest material. Apply a targeted focus at the beginning of your practice session.
4. Fun – songs you can play or songs you enjoy. Always end on a positive note or you will be reluctant to practice tomorrow.

You should never play without tuning, and never play without warming up. Warming up has more to do with telling your hands that they’re going to play the guitar now than their temperature. Anything that is hard for you to play, or new should always be toward the beginning of your practice sessions to ensure adequate energy and attention. Your last minutes of practice should be positive and confidence building. Leave the fun songs or pieces you know well for last, so you feel good about what you’ve just done. As you become more advanced, practice sessions can be divided into Music Theory, Exercises, and Songs.

In conclusion, it’s important that you apply your full mind and body to practicing the guitar. You can’t make progress by just going through the motions. Bad habits, poor posture, poor tone, and frustration can all be attributed to a lack of attention. It is your fault and your responsibility. Where you are now, is exactly where you want to be. Change your thinking and your guitar playing will follow. “Establish the possible and move gradually toward the impossible,” R. Fripp. Decide now if you want to be a musician for life or if you’re playing the guitar as part of a phase. Life is too short to not know the answer to this question. Make yourself an assignment sheet or monthly calendar and use it to stay focused.