Practice Plan
The key to reaching a long-term goal lies in a succession of smaller, short-term achievements. A practice plan not only provides you with the gratification of these smaller achievements, it helps you to move forward on those days when you're feeling uninspired or unfocused and therefore unable to decide what (or if!) to play. A well thought out and wisely structured plan has the added benefit of making your learning process highly efficient, giving you the highest return on your investment.
Warming up is essential for the mind as well as the body. It is imperative that you pay attention to your body and use it wisely when you play. Use the tips and exercises that I show in my guitar instruction video,
Comprehensive
Guitar Instruction,
to preserve your body and obtain the best sound. The technical exercises you play as you continue through your warm-up will vary as you progress, but in any case, this is not the time to practice speed, but rather to tune in to your body and your sound. Start with small, simple
exercises and progress to scales and arpeggios, using the metronome to regulate your tempo.
(Here's
the page on using the metronome. A 21-minute, downloadable video
lesson on metronome use is
available here.)
Having warmed up for at least ten minutes, you should be fluid and focused in your playing. This is the ideal time to practice sight reading. Choose music that is within your ability to perform perfectly on the first or second playing, providing you follow the instructions in the "Learning Tactics" section of the guitar instruction video,
Comprehensive
Guitar Instruction.
Finished tempo is not necessary, only accuracy. Be sure to present yourself with a variety of time signatures, keys and, when you are ready, positions. Use more difficult selections to practice rhythm reading by clapping out the rhythm as you count out loud. Finish this portion of your practice by reading some charts, using a simple strum or finger style.
Repertoire
This is the point at which you are ready to play the music that you're
the most excited about. In fact, if the music you are spending the most time and energy on is not exciting to you, you might want to look at that and make some changes. If you're feeling stagnant, spend some time during your day listening to a wide variety of music and notice what turns you on.
You could spend this entire portion of your practice time working on a single lick or small passage; you might
begin something new or polish a piece you've previously learned. If you have time, you could work on a number of pieces or even a whole set. Just be sure you have a goal and you are able to hear improvement from your time spent, even if the progress is small. It is far more efficient and gratifying to perfect a few measures than to run through a lot of material with no noticeable benefit.
Speed up your progress by
taking small bits, going slowly, and staying with it. Although it's
tempting to move on once you can play a difficult part correctly,
resist that temptation and stay with it until (ideally) it becomes natural and
fluid. Keep it slow enough so that most, if not all of your repetitions
are played correctly (again, the metronome
will help with this), and repeat it until you feel that when you pick up your guitar
again, your mental picture will be clear and your muscle memory in
tact.
In other words, think of your
practice of something new or challenging as beginning at the point
you've
managed to work through the challenge and you can play it correctly. Use the practice to
engrain the new passage or technique.
Try to throw away any expectations about how long this will take and
just stay with it as long as it takes. Remember - in order for this approach to be effective,
you must go slowly and make any increases in tempo gradual.
Enjoy yourself! After you've met your goal, spend some time discovering new sounds or remembering old tunes. You can play for hours without fatigue or injury if you will follow the tips in the video and remember to take breaks,
relax, stretch, and breathe!
Go to Guitar
Practice Part 1
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PRACTICE
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Motivation, Inspiration,
Organization, Memorization
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