Over the last 16 years of playing different musical instruments I've realised that improving doesn't happen overnight. I used to spend hours and hours with mates watching ridiculously brilliant guitar solos by Paul Gilbert and let me think, more Paul Gilbert. I spent a lot of time practicing, and not very much time enjoying my playing! Let me share with you the secret to effective guitar practice that enables you to practice a little, and play a lot!
The Law of One
Right now, wherever you are, you're only one step away from being better at playing the guitar. What are your aims? What are your goals? Instead of trying to be 'better at the guitar', why don't you be more specific? Aim to be 50% at the riff you can only play really slowly at the moment. It took me a while to get this; I kept trying to play 100 steps ahead of where I was at but now I just focus on improving one thing at the time.
Recently I went through a big phase of improving my acoustic guitar playing; fingerpicking, percussive playing and tapping but right now I'm concentrating on fast licks and shredding to build up stamina and strength. You see, the best way to learn quickly is to do one thing at a time. You'll actually find the benefits of practicing that one thing will spill out into all aspects of your playing anyways!
The problem with multitasking
The problem with multitasking is that it's physically impossible. Yes, you might think that you're multitasking when you're strumming and changing chords but actually you're flicking between both of them very quickly. The simple truth is that you lose concentration a lot quicker than you think which makes your guitar practice weak and ineffective. Let's face it, we want to practice as little as possible so we can play as much as possible. I used to practice and never really achieve anything in my practice time because I was trying to practice 10 different things. You need to stop multitasking and focus on the one thing you want to improve.
It's different for all of us; for some it might be just managing a chord change and for others it might be to learn a new riff. Your goals are going to be different to mine; that's absolutely fine! Have a think right now of the one thing you want to build up and improve!
Here's a few examples of what your one thing might be:
- Strumming in time (use a metronome)
- Alternate picking
- Chord changes
- Improvisation
- Ear training
Don't just read it; give it a try and test out what I'm saying! Happy Playing!
To increase your speed quickly try Rapidly Increase Your Guitar Playing Speed in 5 Minutes
