Hammond Music

Posts Tagged ‘guitar practice’

When we begin to learn a new skill, the fact that we should practice should come as common sense. According to the old adage, “practice makes perfect”. When it comes to learning to play the guitar, which is not easy, this is never truer.

However, the fact remains that practicing incorrectly can hinder your progression more than it can improve your standard. The reason for this is that if you are getting it wrong to begin with, all you are doing is practicing the wrong way of doing things. By continuing to do it incorrectly, you just reinforce that fact.

To give an example, look at the way that you hold your hands – if your hands are in a poor or incorrect position to begin with, then the more you continue in that vein then the more reinforced and powerful that position becomes. After a while, you will find it very difficult to change. The poor hand position is a good example to use, because when it comes to playing the guitar, it is a very common problem. In some cases it can even lead to injury.

It doesn’t really matter whether you read music or not, but the ability to count the beats within any given piece of music is integral to your learning to play properly. As you can imagine, the overall importance of rhythm in music is never to be underestimated, and if you get it wrong from the beginning, it can affect all other aspects of your progression. The way that you practice rhythm is also important, and is another common problem amongst students.

Obvious you would have thought, but in order to play with other musicians, you need to be able to keep time with the music. I am constantly amazed at how few people can do this properly. It really comes to the fore when they play with other musicians in a jam session, for example.

Looking at the way that you practice and your practice schedule now, ask yourself: are my hands in the right position? Am I able to count the beats within the music? Make sure you check any bad habits you have now before they become so ingrained it is impossible to change.

Also worth considering is the speed at which you play. For the slower-paced musician, make sure that you are not sacrificing rhythm for the ability to play at that speed – this is another common problem.

A good tip which many people find incredibly helpful is to use a simple device to help you keep the tempo, such as a drum machine or a metronome. If you find that you are playing too slowly, then keep practicing. Remember the things we spoke about earlier – don’t sacrifice your good hand position in order to make the time! Slowly build up the speed until you can keep pace with the tempo.

Once you have mastered these, not only will you find your guitar practice much easier, but you will also find your standard will improve considerably. So now you have some ideas of where your priorities should be when it comes to practicing guitar. Hand position, rhythm and speed or tempo.

To play the guitar to a high standard takes a number of things – it takes commitment, determination and a lot of practice. But if you do practice, and practice correctly, you will get more out of this wonderful instrument. If someone tells you that you will be able to play the guitar like an expert after a few lessons, then be wary.

Copyright 2009 Liam Gibson (Stage Guitarist)

If you are learning to play the guitar, or you are a seasoned player, then you will understand how integral to you becoming a better player the practice actually is. The realization of the importance of guitar practice comes to every student as they begin to play.

Fitting practice schedules into everyday routines can be an increasingly difficult task. We are busier than ever these days, and guitar practice often gets shunted off to one side In favor of other pursuits. Kids too, find it difficult to fit in practice time around school and their other extra-curricular activities.

In order to improve as a player, you need to make guitar practice a priority. This might sound a little over-simplified, but it really is the bottom line. A lot of people argue that making it a priority is an impossible task because of the amount of chores that need to be completed in our busy and hectic lifestyles.

The first step to prioritizing your guitar practice is to ask yourself how important it is to you. Consider it against all of the other things that you feel are ‘priorities’ in your life, and ask yourself how important it is to you that you practice in order to become a better player. Just by completing this relatively simple step you may find that there are things on your list of ‘priorities’ that don’t mean as much to you as your guitar practice, and yet you sacrifice the playing of a wonderful instrument in order to do them.

You may think that it is one of your priorities to get a bigger house. In your mind’s eye, you will have a specific goal in mind – a bigger living space – and therefore you are more driven to achieve that goal. The priority of this in your lifestyle becomes even more pronounced. When we prioritize something in our lives, the level of commitment that we are able to give to it often depends on the goals that we associate with it.

Playing the guitar is no different. Consider the level you are currently playing at, and then think of the standard that you would ideally like to be able to play. When you have a specific goal in mind, then it becomes a lot easier to lever your guitar practice into your everyday schedule. To define it even further, think of the feeling you get when you achieve a goal that you set yourself – keep this in mind when you set yourself your goals for playing the guitar.

Bearing in mind the goals that you have, ask yourself once more how much of a priority in your life this really is. The bottom line is, quite simply, that when you practice regularly, the standard of your playing will rise massively.

The best guitarists in the world all have one thing that they hold in common: they made practice a top priority. The guitar really is one of the most difficult instruments to learn to play well, and playing properly to a decent standard requires a high level of determination and commitment. Think of the times when you practice as necessary, almost like school or work.

It really is a great challenge – but it is also supposed to be enjoyable. If you look upon your guitar practice as recreation instead of a chore, you’ll find it’s much easier to allocate appropriate time to it. One of the most important aspects of learning to play the guitar is that is has to be fun!

Copyright (c) Liam Gibson (Stage Guitarist)

The quality of your practice is much more important than the quantity. The old saying “practice makes perfect” is only true if the practice itself is perfect. Here are 7 tips to help make your practice more effective and efficient.

Practice motions slowly

The muscular memory of our bodies allows us to physically carry out patterns of motion with little or no conscious involvement. Examples of muscular memory include walking, riding a bicycle, typing, and of course playing a musical instrument.

In order to develop this memory, the muscles require training in the form of repeated conscious guidance from the mind. First the mind must learn the pattern. Muscles must learn this pattern from your mind.

All the motions of your muscles must be controlled by your mind. The more controlled and precise the motions, the more quickly the muscles will develop muscle memory.

Slow practice also allows the mind to teach “antagonistic muscles” to relax. Muscles that move in opposite directions are called antagonistic muscles. By relaxing antagonistic muscles you can reduce tension and facilitate faster and easier performance and avoid potential injury.

Practice in small cells

A “practice cell” is simply a finite series of motions. Musical cells can correspond to anything from a few notes to an entire work. The important thing is to practice small cells of a few notes at a time. Practicing small cells limits the amount of information the muscles have to learn at one time. This will also help with the mind’s concentration and focus.

Link the end of one cell to the beginning of the next

To help the muscles develop a sense of continuum throughout the piece of music, the last motion in a cell should be the first motion of the following cell.

Practice each cell in bursts

Once the muscles have learned a pattern, they will be capable of executing it without conscious control. Initiate the pattern through a conscious command and allow the muscles to execute it in a burst.

Don’t practice mistakes

For every repetition required to learn a pattern of motion, it takes 7 times the number of repetitions to change the pattern. If you mess up during your practice time , then stop and start over. Review the pattern in your mind. And further reduce the speed of your motions.

Pause between repetitions

When dealing with repetitive activities, the mind is better able to focus when the repetitions are broken up by short pauses. Pause for 30 seconds and regain focus after two or three repetitions.

Take frequent breaks and don’t “over-practice”

B.F. Skinner and other experts have found that the mind’s ability to learn drops significantly after prolonged intense concentration. Research shows that studying too long (i.e. more than four hours) can deplete chemicals in the brain necessary for learning. Therefore, it is best to take frequent breaks (a 5 minute break about every 20-25 minutes) and practice no more than 4 hours consecutively.

By applying these techniques, you can dramatically improve the quality of your practice. You’ll be able to use your time more efficiently and increase the effectiveness of your practice.