The Secret to Effective Guitar Practice

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

Interacting with music

Sometimes I want to write music and I can't get myself inspired. In my experience, music takes on so many different levels. Its not just as simple as playing the guitar. I believe each level leads on to each other, its important to do it in the right order!

1. Listening to music

The obvious way of enjoying music and sadly the only step most people ever take. Listening to music is amazing, its where we all started. It can do all sorts of things, conjure up all sorts of memories and invoke all sorts of emotions and thoughts. For one, a smile, for another an unfortunate memory.

2. Seeing live music

Gigs, concerts etc. This is really just an extension of the first point. Not just listening but now we are breathing, experiencing first hand a tangible expression of music.

3. Practicing music

Listening and seeing inspires you to practice. Countless times have I seen an incredible gig and just been blown away with 2 thoughts; 1. Wow they were so amazing, I feel like my own musical abilities are terrible and 2. I have a desire to become that good, to write that well, to be involved in something similarly beautiful if not more so. The latter thought always replaces the former quite quickly! I get inspired to practice from listening to other peoples unique ideas and musical creations.

4. Playing music

This is about playing purely for fun. When you've practiced enough, your muscle memory retains everything you have learnt and you are able to truly enjoy the experience of playing your guitar without worrying about if you get it right enough because you've spent enough time doing it in the practicing stage.

5. Writing music

I find this stage comes easiest when I'm inspired, have practiced enough to put my ideas quickly onto my guitar and am in the mood for playing something. For me, this is probably one of my favourite levels of interacting with music. It's so rewarding, knowing that what you are playing is written by you, its unique, different to everything that has ever gone before it.

6. A combination of all of the above

I deliberately haven't mentioned loads of other aspects. Gigging is a mixture of writing and playing while practice prepares for all of them. Dancing is another (although definitely not a forté of mine ;))

I find that if my guitar playing is unbalanced in one of these areas I get discouraged and I'm not sure why. If I don't practice enough its easy to be frustrated by your mistakes when you're trying to apply something new to your writing and similar if all you do is practice then you get tired easily. If you're struggling with any of the areas above, just remember, go back to step 1 and get inspired. Go see some wicked bands, listen to some new music you wouldn't usually. Get inspired.

Peace.