Whether its buy better gear, build picking speed, play better solos, or start a band we all have things that we would like to achieve.
It’s one thing to talk about what we would like to do, but how exactly do we achieve our goals as guitarists? Here are some ideas that will push you in the right direction.
Write down your own personal guitar playing goals
Since I run this guitar website as well as a piano tuning and repair business, it is always helpful for me to write down my goals. When I began doing this, I found that it kept me going in one direction and from getting distracted.
But what does running a business and guitar playing have in common? They both require distraction free focus!
Write down your own goals as a guitar player. It doesn’t have to be something that you hope to achieve within the next year. The smaller the goal the better. It could be within a week, 3 months, or 6 months. After the time is up it is interesting to look back at what you have accomplished.
Achieving your guitar playing goals by focused practice
I remember when I began to learn some of Shawn Lanes material. I went through his instructional videos playing all the phrases in the basic positions that he demonstrated. Then I spent hours practicing the concepts to get them under my fingers.
I wanted to get these concepts down and incorporate them in my guitar playing. Without focused practicing I would not have been able to do this.
Picking up the guitar and randomly playing isn’t focused practice. Sorry jamming with band mates isn’t either. But this doesn’t mean it sure aint fun!:)
It is always a good idea to pick up and play but if you are serious about your guitar playing goals you must have focused practice time. This time is set aside for warmups, chord or scale practice, or transcribing music. whatever your goals are this is your time to work towards them.
Write yourself a practice schedule
We all get distracted from our guitar practicing sometimes. Writeing yourself a practice schedule can be excellent for keeping you on track.
Monday could be melting faces day where you practice your speed building exercises. Tuesday could be chord day. Wednesday could be scale day etc.
A dedicated schedule is a big part of focused practice. It is easy to create one with all this technology we have.
Use that dusty ol Metronome
You know those things that go beep beep beep beep? Or maybe click click click click? Or even boom pow boom pow if they have a built-in drum machine? Those things? You should use them. They are your friend and they just want to help you play better. Who wouldn’t want a friend like that?
Getting guitar players to use a Metronome is like trying to make a Les Paul sound like a Strat. Many guitar players have trouble making a Metronome a part of their basic practice Routine.
Metronomes are everywhere! On your smartphone, computer, and even small square boxes that can get lost in your guitar case.
Using a Metronome is extremely affective at helping you play in time or build speed and will get you closer to your guitar playing goals.
Work on the weak parts of your playing
Working on the weak parts of our playing is something that is difficult for a guitarist to do. It’s because we are good at one thing and know it very well. So, it feels like a step back when we begin to practice the things that we aren’t quite good at yet.
However, continueing to play the things that we are good at does not help us as far as our goals are concerned. But we improve our playing by focusing on the weaker parts and this makes the other parts even stronger.
For me a weaker aspect of my playing is Jazz music and phrasing. This is something I need to sit down and dedicate some focused practice time to. Without that focused time I will never improve that aspect of my playing.
So, if you want to stop playing the same pentatonic scale phrases you must practice the weaker aspects of your playing. I guarantee if you did this for a year you would be a different musician!
Take some guitar lessons
Ever feel like you hit a wall and can’t move past it? Every phrase and song you write sounds exactly like the last one. And no matter what you do you can’t seem to move past it!
The secret to getting out of this rut is to take some guitar lessons. And with all the excellent teachers on the net you can choose the exact style that suits you best.
And this brings me to my last point.
Consider buying some new guitar gear
There is something inspiring about a new guitar, amp or pedal!
I remember when I received my Shawn Lane Vigier guitar and played it for the first time how inspiring it was. In turn this inspired me to practice more and my playing improved as a result.
So, if you can’t seem to move forward with your playing, buying that guitar you’ve had your eye on could be what inspires you again!
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