5 things that improve your Guitar playing
Write out your short-term goals which should be measurable and achievable, long-term goals should be aspirational.
Short term
Making your short-term goals measurable and achievable means that you can really get some positive traction on your progress.
Learning a musical instrument takes time but you also need to focus that time. When one practises you will see no immediate improvement. I liken this to taking a long journey, at no point on the journey have you arrived, it doesn’t look anything like the place that you are going to. However, as long as you are heading in the right direction you will arrive and suddenly you are there!
By having achievable measurable short-term targets we can take each leg of the journey in a way that is motivating, and inspires us to get on with the job.
If you make a written list, as you accomplish each item cross it off, this is very powerful. I cannot stress this enough that making something physical like a to-do list and then actively crossing off the items as you do them really motivates you.
So to achieve the items they must be measurable and achievable. For instance, play the A major scale ten times is better than saying learn the A major scale. Even if you get it wrong you can still play it ten times!
Long-term
Your long-term destination should be something that inspires you to take that journey. Going back to the old idea of a pilgrimage these were truly aspirational destinations which would involve great sacrifice both physically and financially, but the rewards were enormous. In order to gain merit in life and to enter the kingdom of heaven going on a pilgrimage was a very positive way of dealing with your sin; that is a powerful motivator.
Think of something that will be that powerful in your mind, be a rock star, travel the world, think of the great adoration of people. If that stuff doesn’t float your boat then find out what does, and make that your long term goal
Make it fun
How much of what we do is boring? When I was at school, teaching was based on the principle of boring kids to sleep in order to teach them! This does not work, make things fun and you will learn more and learn faster!
Set yourself easy achievable targets (as above) and practice while you watch a film or listen to something you find interesting such as an audio book. When you achieve something reward yourself, even if that is just having a cup of tea. Make learning into a game; in fact make life into a game.
Practicing chords can be boring, so find a song that has those chords in it and have some fun learning! Same with scales, make everything meaningful and fun; having something musical to learn is much easier than playing something that is a boring exercise.
Leave the guitar out of its case
‘Out of sight, out of mind’. This could not be any truer when it comes to learning a musical instrument a guitar in its case, under a bed will never be played. So make sure the guitar is on a stand in the way or in a place that can be seen, for you to develop the habit of picking up and playing, the instrument needs to be at hand.
Train yourself to use downtime to practice the guitar, so if the guitar is out of the case and in your hands as much as possible, you could play while watching TV programmes, YouTube clips or listening to a podcast; it’s a really good way of finding extra time for practice.
The more you can do multitasking, for want of a better term, and it really is a case of finding certain things that can happen at the same time. I was taught this by my guitar teacher when I was in my teens, to watch a film and practice the boring bits of the technique such as scales, fast fingerpicking or chord changes whilst watching something on the television, to take me away from the boredom of doing the same thing over and over again.
Over the years I actually learnt that this was a really powerful way of getting information into my unconscious; whilst the conscious part of my mind was watching something I was building muscle memory. It was like these techniques were slipping in through the back door. However, you won’t be able to do these things unless your guitar is readily available somewhere in the room.
Practice every day
If you practice every day you will make more progress than doing a lot of practice on one day during the week .This is because the mind needs revision; to bring memory patterns forward from the back of the mind to be re seen, literally revisioned.
Getting into the mind-set of building a habit is one of the most powerful ways of becoming a good musician. I often tell my pupils that everybody can play a musical instrument ,and the skills that are required are not musical they are physical and mental.
These are the same skills that you would require to be a good sportsman or a good artist or good at languages, because you are dealing with your mind and your muscle memory.
In the case of music there are no special skills or talent other than the fact that we are all geniuses potentially. Build this habit of practice into your daily routine, and you will see incredible results.
If you play the guitar for a little period of time after you’ve cleaned your teeth or just after a mea; building a habit by practising guitar is easier if you link it to another habit or ‘ritualistic behaviour’, hence choosing cleaning your teeth or eating a meal is something that is baked into our day.
If the guitar is in the way and visible, that will help, but I cannot stress enough that the frequency of practice is the most important thing. So practise which happens more than once a day and certainly happens every day, are the surest ways to become an accomplished player.
Relax it’s a journey
Practice is a journey and like any other journey it looks nothing like the end, until the arrival. So keep going until you get there, every step however wrong it might seem at the time is correct, as long as you keep the end in sight. Also there is on any journey constant adaptations to the plan to cover deviations caused by events, same with practice. The British army moto of ‘no plan survives first contact’ also applies to you keep adapting to how you learn.
It is one of the most important skills in learning, just putting one step forward at a time and keep doing it. You can master anything this way; remember that the way to eat an elephant is one bite at a time!
Look forward to seeing you for the Bluescamp Q&A on Tuesday 23rd June at 7.30
Make sure you send an email to confirm so we can send you a Zoom link
Remember to send any questions that you might have
Vic and the team
