How Much Should I Be Practicing?

To make steady progress everyone needs to commit to practicing. The single most important thing is to DO SOMETHING EVERY DAY! If you can only practice for 10 minutes, do it. We recommend no less than 30 minutes a day, at least 5 days a week, but we also realize that sometimes that’s just not possible.  The more days you miss the easier it becomes to not practice. Pretty soon you’ve convinced yourself that you just don’t have the time to put into learning to play. Try to set a specific time to practice each day, and if you’re on a tight schedule practice what will benefit you the most. Each practice session should consist of warmup exercises, picking techniques, working on songs and making practice enjoyable. See if you can play that difficult part 5 times in a row without a mistake, the whole song twice without a mistake, you get the idea. Remember to practice slowly so that you’re not practicing mistakes. Play through the whole song or exercise, then go to the trouble spots and work on those. Not sure what you should practice? Ask your instructor.

What's It Worth To You To Learn Guitar?

How much is learning to play the guitar worth to you?

Beginning guitar students need to consider how much they're willing to spend to get started. There are decisions to made concerning what type of guitar to buy, accessories, music, and lessons. Here are some choices in the order of their importance.

Choosing an instrument. Do you like acoustic or electric guitar better? It used to be that everyone recommended that you start on an acoustic simply because it was lot cheaper. The price gap isn't there any more, so if you or your son or daughter prefer electric guitar there's really no good reason to start on an acoustic first. The electric guitar has thinner strings so in most cases it's a little easier to play. Acoustic guitars also offer nylon or steel strings. The nylon strings are not as hard to push down, the down side being that they're harder to keep in tune since they stretch more than steel strings. Most full sized nylon string guitars also have a wider neck since they're meant to be played with your fingers instead of a pick.

How much money are we talking about? You can expect to spend around $150 and up for a decent, playable instrument. Almost all manufacturers offer a package with everything you'll need including the guitar, a case or gig bag and if it's an electric guitar, an amplifier. Some also have picks, extra strings and an electronic tuner. While you can find cheaper guitars at a big box store, if you don't know anything about guitars you're best off spending a little more and getting one from a music store.

Cases. The choices are a gig bag, which is a soft, zippered case, a chipboard case, a fancy name for cardboard, and a hardshell case, the strongest and most protective of the 3. A beginner grade guitar probably doesn't need the most expensive case, but should you choose an upgraded model, don't skimp on the case.

Instruction. There is an abundance of material to choose from. Private lessons, books, CDs, DVDs, internet courses, You Tube videos and the list goes on. Your choice should depend on how you learn, your budget, and self discipline. Our teaching studio gets lots of calls from frustrated individuals who discover that it's not as easy to teach yourself as it seems. I like to point out to them that the problem is mainly that you can't ask a video a question, nor can the video correct bad habits that you may be developing. One more thing, YOU WON'T LEARN TO PLAY IN 7 DAYS, ONE WEEKEND, OR 30 DAYS! Muscle memory simply can't be developed in a short time. Yes, more practice will mean more progress, but be realistic about how long it's going to take.

Music stands, guitar stands, electronic tuners, etc. It never fails to amaze me when I have a student tell me they practice sitting on the bed, with the book alongside them, in the living room with the book on the floor, or my favorite, with music playing in the background! Buy yourself a music stand, get a chair with no arms, and set up a practice room where there will be a minimum of distractions. A guitar stand is nice since the guitar will be calling out to you "play me, play me." Get in the habit of tuning your guitar each time you practice. While it's nice to be able to tune by ear, electronic tuners have gotten so cheap that there's really no reason to not buy one. Pitch pipes, tuning forks and tuning by ear all work, but they each depend on your ability to match sounds. That's a skill that most beginning guitar students need to develop.

Set a budget, consider the priorities, and then get busy. How you get started isn't as important as getting started. Do some research, figure out how much you're willing to spend, and then dive in. Playing guitar is a skill you can enjoy for a lifetime.

Why Do You Hate to Practice?

Finding out why you can't get yourself to practice more.

Let's say this right up front, there are times when everyone feels that way. Read that again! It can be anything from a bad mood, a discouraging session the last time, to just not feeling motivated. The first thing to do is stop and think about why you're feeling like you do. Is it the songs? Does it just seem too hard? Are you too busy?

The choice of songs can certainly make you not want to practice.

I'll have students who will work on a song for a few weeks before finally telling me they just don't like the song. If you don't tell me, I don't know. Most guitar teachers choose a particular song to teach you a technique or skill, but there are definitely more songs like that one. A beginning guitar student sometimes just bites the bullet and doesn't say anything. So, tell your teacher you don't like the song and in most cases you can learn a different one that teaches you the same skills or techniques.

Knowing that a song is too hard.

Not seeing any progress when you're putting in the time may mean that the song is just too hard for you right now. Again, tell your teacher how you feel and see if there's an alternative. He or she may suggest an easier piece or may be able to break it down into smaller parts. There are also times when you'll think a song is too hard but there's really some other reason.

Got too many things you need to get done?

We here it over and over again how a student didn't have time to practice. Yes, there are times when it's not possible, but more often it's because they didn't make time. Scheduling practice at a specific time each day will help you stay on track. Missing a practice day once in a while is fine, but just like doing exercise, the more often you miss the easier it becomes to make an excuse. We usually recommend that our students practice at least 5 days out of 7. Scheduling a day off can be as important as scheduling the days and times you practice.

Master One Thing at a Time

Multi-tasking is overrated, I repeat, Multi-tasking is overrated.

Beginning guitar players are understandably excited about learning the instrument, but that can also get in the way of progress. There are so many concepts, techniques, and skills you need to learn, it can be very hard to know what to work on first.

Mastering one thing at a time.

• There are lots of ways to get started on playing guitar, and what you learn first is at least partially decided by what you want to do with the guitar. For example, you may want to play and sing, which means you'll work on chords, then strumming techniques and then ways to spice up your playing.
• Jazz or classical guitar? You should start out by reading music, being able to play single notes, and then adding chords.

• Rock or country guitar? Chords, scales and lead guitar techniques. Every style of music has its own sound, but before you can learn that you need to build a good foundation.

Pick one aspect of playing whether it's notes, chords, scales or songs, and then concentrate on that until you're able to play and move around easily. Only after you master one thing should you think about learning something else.

If you have any questions or comments, I'd love to hear from you. For more tips about getting the most out of lessons be sure to visit my webpage: www.blguitars.net