“Practice Makes Perfect”
“Perfect Practice Makes Perfect.”
“Don’t practice until you get it right, practice until you can’t get it wrong.”
Between work and family and just life how can you actually have time to practice that magical 10,000 hours that is supposed to give you Mastery? Do you need to practice every day for a set period of time?
As all of these questions rattle around in your head normally you end up never practicing because the goal, even if it is just playing for your family, seems out of reach. In all of my years of teaching and my personal instrument learning journey that has lead to learning over 20 instruments, I have learned a few things about the amount of time you need to practice and the things that are actually more important.
Let’s get started
Consistency vs. amount of time
I think that whenever these rules were written on practice (30 minutes every day), they got it half right. In my experience the biggest drops in my learning happened when I stopped practicing, but also the biggest breakthroughs happened when I stopped practicing.
What do I mean? When I take several days or weeks off from practice, something gets lost. It may be proficiency it may be speed, it may be relearning an entire song. Long breaks from playing have definitely been the clear obstacle to me reaching my goals on guitar.
But breakthroughs can come from breaks. Early on in my playing I was given great advice, “When you are ready to throw it out the window, put it down.” I remember trying over and over to learn this blues lick in 8th grade and I had probably been practicing for an hour when I decided to give up. I can’t remember if it was the next day or if I was so frustrated I took a few days off, but the next time I picked up a guitar, I could play the lick.
When you are thinking about approaching practice aim for consistency over an actual amount of time. It may be 5 minutes one day, 10 another, an hour a few days later, but try not to let more than a week go without playing. You wouldn’t dream of over doing it at the gym or doing other forms of exercise because you may get hurt. Guitar playing is the same, the only difference is you may not get hurt, but you may be teaching your muscles to play incorrectly because you are tired and needed to just put the guitar down. If you aren’t feeling a 30 minute practice, don’t do it. If playing daily still seems impossible still try thinking about your playing even when you are away.
The Power of thinking
There have been many studies that suggest that just thinking about doing something whether it’s exercise, playing guitar, asking for a promotion, or eating healthy prepares your body to do that thing. This can help you not only get excited about your practice time, but your body can start preparing your muscles for the activity.
Find time to think through the songs you want to learn, the things you did great on a certain song, the things you want to work on, and your goals. In the past you may have steered away from this because you got frustrated and the only thoughts coming to mind were ones about how bad you did or how you are never going to learn. As you think through what you want to learn keep it positive and realistic for where you are right now, but get excited about the future!
The Power of thinking
In order to pull the quick practice off, make sure your guitar and phone or tablet or computer are in space where you can just pop in for quick session when you get a chance. Since you have thought ahead, you should know what to practice so don’t be afraid to dive in. Don’t worry about warming up, make the goal of these really short sessions about one of two things, a quick play through of a song you know or to try to get a little bit further on a section that is challenging.
If you need help setting up a practice routine book an online lesson with me.