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12 Ways to Keep You Focused at Practicing Guitar

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A lot of guitar players tend to practice less or quit practicing altogether once they get older and gain more responsibility in life.

They still play guitar (the stuff they already know) but have given up practicing to improve. There’s a huge difference.

This is unfortunate because there are so many great things to learn that many guitar players aren’t even aware of.

It would open up their way of thinking and renew their approach to guitar playing by adding valuable knowledge, developing different skills and expanding their vocabulary.

Although I teach guitar and write about guitar playing, I also sometimes have difficulty keeping up a regular practice schedule to improve my guitar skills. Guitar playing is a major part of enjoying the good life but not the only part.

Besides the busyness of commitments and obligations in daily life, I also like to keep up with my other hobbies such as spending quality time with my wife and three kids, drinking cappuccino in the backyard, running, yoga, meditation, reading and enjoying good wines to name a few.

And as much as these things are of great importance, practicing guitar may not be harmed by all of these wonderful life luxuries. To keep a safe and secure place for regular practice I make sure I follow the guidelines below.

If you also feel like your active lifestyle is keeping you from practicing then here are the keys to get you back on track.

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8 Reasons Why Learning The Blues is So Important

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My oldest brother introduced me to the music of Stevie Ray Vaughan, Eric Clapton and The Rolling Stones when I was about 8 or 9 years old. I was hooked instantly. I soon took up the guitar and started taking lessons.

Although I was happy in the beginning playing and singing songs by Bob Dylan, John Mellencamp, The Beatles and Springsteen, what I really wanted was to learn those beautiful bluesy solos that came from Stevie’s fingers and strings. It took another couple of years before I found the right teacher to teach me those skills. The blues has always been a major influence on my playing ever since.

Whatever you’re playing, whether it’s country, folk, alternative, rock, pop music or jazz it’s always great to combine these and other styles with blues elements or to lean on your blues vocabulary and skills whenever you need it.

There’s also something about the pentatonic / blues scale that no other scale has in store. It’s that raw, crying, heart aching, but also earthy, soulful, honest sound that really comes alive through playing the blues.

Now if that hasn’t convinced you to pick up your guitar and dive into the world of blues, you might want to know what reasons are so important that you do so.

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6 Exquisite Ways to Eliminate Guitar Procrastination

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We all procrastinate and so do I. Email and exercise are my weak spots and I find that improving certain guitar skills are very time consuming so I tend to procrastinate, but I have found some pretty exquisite ways to overcome that.

Yes, it’s good and healthy to procrastinate once in a while. Sometimes it’s just better to leave things alone and come back to it another time. It can do miracles.

But when putting it off becomes a habit and starts working against you, you might want to find a way to deal with it. After all you want to become a better guitar player right?

Well here are the keys to solve this procrastination issue for once and for all.

Let’s hack it!

1 – Stop thinking and start doing
If you think too much about the amount of work and effort that goes into a song, a solo, learning to play fast or mastering a particular style then that thought becomes bigger and bigger. You might worry about failure or other issues, but the more you think about it the more complex it becomes. The thought expands a little more until it becomes a beast and you don’t know how to deal with it anymore.Continue Reading

Applying The Power of Humility to Musicianship

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“And when our baby stirs and struggles to be born it compels humility: what we began is now its own.” ~ Margaret Mead

Last tuesday my wife gave birth to our third child. His name is “Jim”. I’m truly grateful for the fact Jim and my wife (and of course my two other kids) are healthy and doing great. It’s the only thing that really counts.

I’m happy and I feel blessed! Once again a lesson in “humility”.

A quality that the sage practices constantly according to Lao Tzu.

Reading and studying the Tao Te Ching written by Lao Tzu (legendary Chinese philosopher and a highly spiritual man who lived about 500 years before Christ) there are a lot of beautiful lessons that I learned.

One of those lessons is that life gets way better when you add the following ingredients to your daily life: Serving, helping out, listening, caring, loving, spreading kindness, teaching, sharing and then stepping back. And by the latter he means “not taking the credits for it”. That’s when you really apply the power of humility.

He also talks about happiness and fulfillment. And that it isn’t found in the craving for succes or becoming number one. As the old saying goes “What goes up must come down”.

Lao Tzu refers to all water on top of the highest and most impressive mountains that will eventually come down to the small lakes and rivers down below. He writes: “Those who are humble and stay under the radar will outlast all who strive to be recognized”.

Just let go of the need to be successful in the eyes of others. Let go of status and how you want te be seen as a musician. Just play, perform and share your music. Be respectful, at peace and low-key. Let others “talk” about their talent and success.

By letting go of “wanting to excel above others, to compare, compete and depending on your status” you choose to be free. Free from the madness and free to be who you really are. It will shine through in your music and you as a musician.

So in what more ways can you apply the power of humility as a musician?

Let’s take a closer look:
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