How Your Favorite Guitar Players Practice Guitar
When most guitarists think about the guitar practice routines used by their favorite guitar players, they think mainly about the thousands of hours that these musicians spent with their instrument. While it is true that many of the world’s greatest guitar players did/do spend many hours every day developing their musical skills, there are other, more significant factors that enabled them to reach high levels of guitar playing ability.
Although the specifics of how the best guitarists practice differ from one guitar player to another, the most important elements that shape “the best way of practicing guitar” are universal among guitar players regardless of one’s musical style. The specifics of how these elements appear in each guitar player’s guitar practice routine are often different, but the foundation is the same.
Among the long list of common practicing approaches that the great guitar players use, the following 4 concepts are the most important elements that you should base your guitar practice routines on to see the same results as your favorite guitarists.
Practice Guitar With Clear Objectives
In order to achieve a high level of guitar playing it is very important to define in specific terms what you want to be able to do on the guitar. All great players, particularly those who are famous for developing a unique and expressive musical style practiced guitar in this way.
The most effective results from practicing guitar occur when you treat each practice session as a step towards the guitar player you want to be. This is why using effective guitar practice routines is very important. Many guitar players do not approach their guitar practice schedules in this way and instead spend most of their guitar practice time aimlessly learning random guitar licks, songs or solos, with no direction or goals in mind. While such activities can be fun, if your guitar practice routine consists of nothing else, your guitar playing progress will be much slower than it has to be.
If you want to become a great guitar player, do what great guitar players do – become very clear about what you want to be able to do on the guitar and then build your guitar practice routines around those specific objectives.
Remember also that simply “having” specific guitar playing goals is NOT the same as “practicing to reach” those goals. Simply having goals is a great start but if you do not take specific action to achieve them, the result would be the same as if you never had any guitar playing goals at all. More about this below.
Have Perseverance And Persistence
Becoming a great guitar player takes a considerable amount of time. You can greatly reduce the amount of time it takes for you to become the guitar player you want to be by learning how to practice more effectively and (to a smaller extent) by increasing the amount of time you spend practicing (or both). Nonetheless, there is no getting around the fact that becoming a great guitar player will take time even if you are following the best guitar practice routines in the world and understand the most effective way of practicing guitar. The guitar players who become great have faith in their ability to reach their goal and continue to persevere until they learn to play guitar at the level they desire.
Learn To Isolate Essential Skills From Non-Essential Ones
Contrary to popular belief, it is not necessary for you to learn all there is to know about music and guitar playing in order to become a great guitarist. Part of what goes into practicing to reach your musical goals is learning how to focus your guitar practice routines on the specific musical skills that are important for “your” goal. By directing your guitar practice time only on the musical skills that are important to your goal, you dramatically cut down the amount of time it takes for you to achieve the final results you want. All great guitar players are successful at doing this (either by discovering the most effective ways of practicing guitar on their own or with the help of a guitar teacher).
Keep Your Guitar Practice Routines Effective While Also Inspiring To Follow
The most effective guitar practice routine can and must be fun and inspiring to follow. You must balance the amount of time you spend on intense and focused practicing with the amount of time you spend playing guitar for enjoyment and fun. This will help to sustain your efforts over the long term and avoid burning yourself out. Many guitarists falsely assume that great guitar players have extraordinary amounts of discipline that allows them to practice dull and boring exercises for hours every day without getting frustrated. The truth is that master musicians know exactly how to achieve a perfect balance between serious practicing and fun playing. This is what enables them to continue making consistent progress in their guitar playing from year to year.
While there are certainly more than 4 elements that great guitar players apply every time they practice, the above tips will guide your efforts in the right direction with everything you do while you practice guitar.
Solve ALL of your guitar playing problems by learning the secrets of correct guitar practice.