Ten Barriers to Practice and How to Overcome Them
My Rehearsals and Exercises method takes patience and persistence. In these articles, I encourage you to stay committed on your path to fast. Get motivated to practice guitar.
Believe it or not, turning off your cell phone is optional with my method. Using the simple practice plan, I teach in my book, Rehearsals and Exercises: A Method for Playing Speed Guitar, I practice my guitar for at least twenty minutes most days with my cell phone on and within arm’s reach. Here are ten tips to help you do the same.
- Commit! Stephen Covey, the author of Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, coined the phrase, “The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing.” My relationship with my guitar changed when I took Covey’s advice. Inspired by my guitar heroes Eric Johnson and Yngwie Malmsteen and with the groundbreaking information at Troy Grady’s Cracking the Code website and Cris Brooks’ steady diet of unique exercises for speed guitarists, about three years ago, I decided to focus solely on my guitar technique. I developed a revolutionary learning method for mastering a musical instrument. Fully committed to playing guitar at fast speeds, my method is working for me. Once you access my Quick Start videos on my website at PATH2FAST.com, I will teach you my method in about twenty minutes.
- Plan for problems. Once you commit to practicing using my method daily, decide on a backup plan when you need help with your guitar, equipment, or computer during a rehearsal. I am lucky enough to have a spare guitar. In addition, I keep a bag in my practice area that I can grab fast. The bag has guitar picks, Allen wrenches, screwdrivers, and extra strings. Most music stores carry similar rescue kits for guitars and other musical instruments. Fix the problem quickly and return to using my revolutionary practice method. I’ll cover equipment and computer problems in my next tip.
- Practice alone. Annoyed family, friends, and neighbors can prevent you from practicing where and when you want. Thankfully, getting interrupted by folks in the next room yelling, “Turn it down!” is a problem of the past. Find a way to practice quietly using headphones. Electric guitar players can use headphones with a digital audio interface. Most keyboards have a headphone jack. Digital drumsets are quiet(er). As discussed in tip #2, have a backup plan when you need help with your equipment or computer during a daily rehearsal. I recommend you use my digital tools at PATH2FAST.com, including my Two Up & One Down spreadsheet templates for planning your daily practice and my revolutionary Speed Seesaw Metronome. But keep an analog metronome and paper copies of my guitar exercises and templates nearby.
- Plan easy access to your instrument. Speaking of ‘nearby,’ if your instrument is stored in a locked case on the top shelf of a dark closet in a back room, you will never use my method daily. Keep your instrument, equipment, and headphones out in the open on a stand in a room where you spend most of your time. I keep my computer browser open and loaded with my Two Up & One Down templates and Speed Seesaw Metronome a click away at PATH2FAST.com.
- Practice at a convenient time. My method motivates me to practice most days of the week. I have practiced early in the morning, late at night after a Metallica concert, on busy yardwork weekends, holidays, and even vacations. But I’ll still admit that a consistent daily practice time is helpful. When choosing a practice time, avoid low points in your day and choose a time when you have energy. Try habit stacking. Connect your practice time to another daily habit that you already enjoy. Like Fred Flintstone, I LOVE it when the whistle blows, signaling the end of the workday, and I habitually practice most days of the week after work.
- Plan your practice time. Figuring out what to practice is a significant barrier to consistently practicing a musical instrument. My method definitively solves this problem. You will practice every day because you will know what you practiced yesterday, what you will practice today, and what you will practice tomorrow. I have found my Two Up and One Down templates, with extensive lists of simple guitar exercises, to be a powerful motivator. You can create similar templates using simple exercises for any instrument.
- Just say NO to Noodle-ing. Using my method, you will practice four exercises for about 5 minutes each for about twenty minutes daily. Combining my simple practice plan with the secrets I reveal in my book Rehearsals and Exercises: A Method for Playing Speed Guitar, ‘noodle-ing’ (mindless noise-making without reason or purpose) will magically disappear from your focused practice time.
- Just say NO to Knobs. With my electric guitar plugged into my digital music interface and connected to my computer with infinite arrays of amp modulations and digital effects at my fingertips, hours of valuable practice time seamlessly slip away, and my fingers never touch the guitar as I lose myself in the magical world of simulated sounds. Let’s promise each other that we will set up one or two practice settings, a clean and dirty sound, and keep our fingers off the knobs for twenty minutes of daily rehearsal with my practice methods.
- Ignoring the Fact that You’re Struggling. Struggling with goals currently out of reach will prevent you from practicing. I want to teach you how to find your Optimum Playing Speed for any musical exercise. Avoid frustration by adjusting your OPS as needed, and look forward to your next daily practice.
- Stop stinkin’ thinkin’. See my blog post Stop Stinkin’ Thinkin’ and Practice More. On the path to fast, we expect barriers to practice. Our thoughts either keep us on the path or knock us off the path. Read my article to learn more about these stinkin’ thoughts and ways to avoid or counter them.
I wrote my book and created my website to teach you my revolutionary rehearsal method and guitar exercises. I have yet to achieve my speed guitar goals, but my technique improves with each daily practice. I have made impressive progress with my revolutionary practice method for mastering a musical instrument. I want to show you the way and keep you practicing.