How Much do I Have to Practice?

May 15, 2019 by Klaus Crow

                                      photo from flickr
Well, that really depends on whether you wanna become the next Eddie van Halen or if you just wanna play some nice songs with easy chord-changes. Either way practice makes perfect.

When you begin playing the guitar a half an hour a day is good to start with. But practice a half an hour with no interruptions, lock the door of your room, shut of your internet connection and put a “do not disturb” sign on the door. This is your private time to work towards something beautiful.

Concentrate fully on those yet difficult but eventually great sounding chords, that magnificent solo or that incredible song you always dreamt on playing. With a half an hour a day pure practice you can achieve a whole lot. Make sure your practice constructively. Work on your obstacles instead of just rambling away.

Sure it’s important to have fun while you practice but prioritize. First do the important stuff, the hard work and after that you play guitar as if your performing before a sold out stadium. It’s more important how your practice and what you practice then practice so much until your fingers drop on the floor.

Anyway that being said. If you wanna be like Jack Johnson good, you can add a half an hour to that. Wanna be like John Mayer add another hour to that. Wanna be the next Steve Vai focus your pretty much whole life around guitar playing’.

But of course we are all different people with different skills and talents,so it also depends really much on what it is what you want to achieve and where your strengths lie. Some people are good at chord changes, others fingerpicking or soloing, some others like blues,others prefer easy listening, jazz or rock n’ roll. Some are really focused and quick learners, others need more time but can be very creative and melodic.

If you can’t seem to find a half an hour a day in your schedule what about 2 x 15 minutes or 3 x 10 minutes. Maybe you can do 15 minutes before you’re off to work and 15 minutes before or after dinner.

So here is a summary with the most important things you need to behold to make sure you practice enough :

1 – Practice a half an hour a day or wherever you can find a minute. Do you expect more results? Practice more.

2 – How do you practice. Maybe the question is not just how much do you practice but how and what do you practice.

3 – No interruptions. Practice with close doors, be in solitude or tell people you need 30 minutes of private time.

4 – Concentrate while you practice, work on obstacles, let go, move on to the next and finally practice the whole piece.

5- Be proud of yourself for practicing and that you are one step closer to becoming the guitarist you’re aiming for.

 

 

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