In this essay, I am going to apply a number of the Principles of Correct Practice to a technical area that is of major concern to players. For beginners, it poses one of the most challenging difficulties, and an incomplete appreciation of it’s difficulties dogs many an advanced player (sometimes without them being aware of it).
So you can barely squeeze in any time at all in a day to practice, huh? There are many of us that share the same dilemma, but by knowing what to practice in those short moments of time you can maximize your effort. For example, if you only have ten minutes in between jobs, or other things you need to do, here is a list of some of the things you can do:
The first step is to stop thinking of yourself as merely a guitarist. I’ll take this one step further and recommend against thinking of yourself as a musician! You are, or are at least learning to become, an artist.
Listen to a song on a CD and jam along. This increases your ear for music, and helps to get down timing. The average song could be played through two or three times.
You should be a well rounded player and learn lots of different styles of music to become a good guitarist. This is one of the most ridiculous statements I have ever heard on the subject.
Staying with that feeling positions you in the best possible way for being able to see what your obstacles to growth really are. As soon as you think you are “complete” in some way as a guitarist, you will be unable to see your own weak spots.
Measure your progress. Document your practice time. Keep a record of how much you practice each day. For technique things, use a metronome to see how fast you are able to play a particular scale, exercise, lick, arpeggio, etc. cleanly. Write down the result, practice it all week and see if you can play it one or two beats per minute faster by next week (or next month).
They are masters of their style, they are specialists, not a jack-of-all-trades type of player. Don’t listen to people who say something like, You must learn blues before you can learn heavy metal or classical guitar.You do not have to be well rounded.
