Repetition is one of the most effective tools in learning music. Yes, it can be boring, but it helps you memorize the technical stuff so your mind can be free to emphasize the cool parts of the music when you perform.
If you hate it, try this:
Every day set a timer for 3-8 minutes. Practice one repetitive thing until the timer goes off. Stop.
Play something fun.
So you can bring the guitar into your comfort zone.
We often approach the guitar as something we need to wrap ourselves around. We end up in awkward positions because we’re trying to hold it and play it at the same time, sidelining a lot of our energy and attention.
With a strap you can find what’s most natural to you and bring the guitar into your space, bringing it to you. Strumming, picking and fingering becomes simpler, easier and smoother and your sound gets much more expressive.
But do have them play something every day. It’s the “every day” part that does the trick.
Kids get discouraged when they have to do stuff that’s hard. If they only play every 3 days it’s always hard.
Playing London Bridge once a day starts as a small challenge. By the end of the week they’re bragging about how easy it is.
Then they get the rush that spurs them on to play longer. They are more familiar with the success that practice brings and they’re more likely to dive in on their own.
We play with our finger TIPS.
I know that seems obvious, but we often don’t do it. If we spend some time getting used to this weird use of our hand, playing guitar becomes easier. The reason is this:
The bone does 70% of the work.
When the finger gradually curves to come straight down onto the string, much less energy is needed. The bones of your finger form an arch, which taps down onto the string like a C-clamp with half the effort than if we use the padded bottom of our finger.
A player asked me yesterday if he could postpone his lesson a week because he didn’t get to play much that week. Of course, that’s fine with me, but I thought I’d share a little of what I’ve learned regarding this, both as a student and a teacher.
Consistent practice is very important but we do have times when we just can’t practice consistently. If we feel that we can’t move ahead until we make up for that lost time, we may be right, but we also may just be being hard on ourselves. This could lead to feeling a little guilty when we can’t get to the guitar and if that builds up, we may feel so bad about it that we quit playing. That’s the mistake, not missing some playing time.
One of the more powerful aspects of steady lessons is that they keep you on the path to your goals, even when you’ve had a crazy week(s) with no time to practice. If it gets to where you’re not able to practice for 6 weeks, then that may be time to reevaluate.
Well, you may have heard several reasons, but this is my favorite:
To witness what you actually do instead of what you think you should be doing.
We are usually so caught up in trying to match some ideal in our head that we can’t hear what we actually sound like.
Play slowly so you can notice what you notice. Then you can fix things.
Yeah, it’s a killer. Try this:
Don’t strum all the way to the moment that the tough chord should be played and then changing chords (that’s like pressing pause while you’re playing, and even the tone-deaf know that ain’t right).
When you’re headed straight for a tough chord, say Q#minor14 (see pic), only play on the first beat of the easy chord before it (G). Use the next 3 beats to change to Q#minor14. You’ll only hear G on the first beat beat, but if you keep the count going in your head while you change, you’ll play Q#minor14 right on time, keeping the song together.
This is a lot better than the “Wait just a, I’ve almost..I’ve…” approach.
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