Those of you who visit this site have probably noticed a slowing down of current posts. This is due to a sense of urgency for finding a new place to live. Our landlord has sold the property we rent from and hence the new landlord is forcing everyone out. I’m bummed but not down. Therefore, other priorities have taken order.
With the above in mind, I have been pondering the sense of urgency for the guitar. Did you ever think about urgency when you were in school? Probably not, but I bet you felt the sense of urgency. Remember those assignments that you had all semester to finish? When did you begin working on them? I bet for most of you it boiled down to the last week before the due date. Even for those that worked throughout the semester, you put in longer and more intense hours the week before the due date to ensure the best results. The same applies to guitar, even when it is for enjoyment.
We all need a sense of urgency to really motivate us to finish what we start. We need it to drive use to a higher level than we would otherwise achieve. That’s why you need to create a sense of urgency when it comes to learning the guitar. There are a few ways to do this and probably many more in reference to your own life.
- Create a deadline for a YouTube video. This forces you to get your work done because it is a performance to be seen by millions of people over the web.
- Create a deadline for sending a recording to a friend. This isn’t as “out-there” as a YouTube video but still puts a sense of urgency into your practice. Another way to think of it is to record something for a birthday or anniversary.
- Schedule a live performance. This is the end all of everything you are doing to learn the guitar. The goal is to share music. Even if you are not performing to a huge audience, this type of motivation is hard to beat. Schedule a dinner party and let everyone know that you are going to perform for them after dinner and before dessert.
The above are just a few ways to encourage you to begin to create a sense of urgency in your playing. It will make you a better player and will reward you by getting feed back and giving enjoyment to those who listen.
I have to say that re-committing my time to playing has become challenging in just the first few days. Yesterday I had to squeeze every thirty minute time slot out of my day. I, unfortunately, had some down time during teaching yesterday and decided to not waste the time and put in the hours I need to get back to par. My hands are feeling quite good and I am amazed at how much I have not lost due to the time gap between now and the last time I prepared for performances.
I have found that having a baby boy, a business, and a lovely wife to fill my time has presented challenges. I many times want to be with my boy rather than just pick up the guitar. Here are few things that I keep in mind:
- I know my goal. I can see where I need to be in 30 days, 60 days, and 90 days. This forces me to always ask, “How am I doing and what do I need to do today to meet those goals?”
- I know my plan. I have a plan written out. I know what pieces I want to have finished and polished by a certain date. I have measures and tempos to meet by certain times. If I don’t meet them, then that’s o.k. But I will still be closer to my goals.
- I am preparing to perform. My goals are all focused on presenting new videos online. Therefore, I am, in essence, working towards a performance. There is no more driving factor than having to perform for others. In this case, I am not in front of them in time, but rather a recorded time.
Like I mentioned before, I may not reach these goals in the time specified. Even so, I will have made it one step closer to their accomplishment. As for you, make some goals, make a plan, and try to reach them on a daily basis. It is the only sure way of somewhat predicting success.
Last night was my first night seriously practicing in a couple of years. I have spent my time really learning how to teach the guitar effectively in the meantime. But in my inner most being, I still desire the joy of playing and performing. Therefore, I have chosen to resume my practicing and given myself deadlines to persue for performances.
Returning to a three hour practice session was quite interesting to say the least. Sitting for three hours with a guitar in my hands felt wonderful. However, I had to take a few precautions to ensure that my hands made it through the session and did not hurt this morning. I stretched very slowly before and after the session. I also took a few breaks throughout. I made myself get up every 30 minutes to stretch and refocus my mind (or to let it rest after deep concentration).
All-in-all, I enjoyed the three hours. I worked 30 minutes on technique and spent the rest of the time on new and old repertoire. I always encourage people to work on sight-reading but my goals have a different purpose at the moment. I feel that my time teaching has greatly benefited my sight-reading to a point that I am much better than when I first began teaching seven years ago.
I have much to work on, but I am delighted to see that I still have quite a bit of movement in my hands after such a long hiatus from practicing. It’s not that I have not played entirely for the past couple of years. I have spent many hours playing in lessons. But the difference, of course, is the focused work that can be accomplished during practice to reach a desired performace.
I feel good and look forward to keeping you updated as I return to my performing form.
Suggested Resources:
A Guitarist’s Guide to Better Practicing by Pete Huttlinger
I am amazed at how many guitarist, in every genre, seem to think that their health doesn’t have an effect on their playing and composing ability. It seems that they feel that playing the guitar must take less effort than playing a sport. I have to firmly disagree with this conclusion.
We tend to spend hours sitting and practicing and working on technique. That technique takes a toll on us physically and mentally. Our hands must be maintained by stretching and warming up before playing. Our bodies sit for hours and therefore become sedintary. The fact that a guitarist has become sedintary has a direct effect on things like weight and blood circulation. Weight has a direct affect on longevity of both the physical and mental functions. Blood circulation, obviously, is the greatest factor in making sure our entire body, including our brains, are funcioning properly.
Lastly, when we perform our bodies are under great distress. It takes a physical and mental toll like any other performance related activity. It increases our blood pressure but also releases endorphins. If you have high blood pressure due to how you eat and exercise, then performing is not neccessarily for you unless you feel like keeling over on stage. On another note, we don’t even consider how what we eat before a performance will affect our feeling on stage!
The bottom line is that you need to begin to pay attention to your health just as much as your playing if guitar is something you tend to do for life. Just because you think the two are unrelated doesn’t mean that you are correct. Take care of your body and your guitar playing will live as long as you.
It is sometimes difficult to always get guitar practice into your daily routine. Let’s face it, unless you are retired, the day is going to have many more things packed into it other than guitar. Whether it is more hours at work, a baby crying at night, or the car has to go to the shop, time is precious. Yet, we all want to keep improving on the guitar and know that consistency is the key.
If you are struggling with this very thing, then maybe you should consider organizing what I call your Worst Case Scenarios. This is a folder system (though you don’t need to use folders) to organize your best and worst days of practice. It is a system of three different scenarios wrapped into each folder. I like to divide it into 15, 30, and 60 minute increments.
Let’s say you only have fifteen minutes available one day for guitar practice. Therefore, you grab the fifteen minute folder. In it you have planned out scales and arpeggios to keep your fingers limber and moving. Another day finds that you have thirty minutes to practice. You grab that folder and you do your scales, arpeggios, and then add a piece or two. Finally, it is your day off and you have an hour or more to practice. Grab the sixty minute folder and do your scales, arpeggios, and some old repertoire and then your new pieces.
The sixty minute is the one you’d wish you could do every day. However, life does not always allow for such large chunks of time to be at your disposal. On the days you have very little time, you do maintenance. On the days you have more time, you add pieces that you are working on to your maintenance. You don’t have to organize it this way, but I have had many students give (and heard it in their playing!) me good reports of how they like using this system.
Tension causes many problems in guitar playing. However, we must focus on the harmful tension when referring to problems because no matter how good you play there will always be tension. Holding down a string creates a from of tension just as much as tightening your right shoulder to try and play fast creates tension. Therefore, we must find a balance between the normal tension of using the muscles and excessive harmful tension that can lead to injury.
If your hands are unusually sore or tired after playing, especially in a short period of time, then you are probably holding onto too much tension. It is a good idea to give your hands a break and stretch them at the beginning in the middle and at the end of a practice session. Tension in your shoulders and arms has to be consciously noticed and relaxed. Set a timer for every five minutes during random practice sessions and when it rings immediately pay attention to your body to notice any forms of tension. Then, do something to correct it.
One last note is to remember to breathe. Too many students and amateur guitarists breathe incorrectly. They hold their breath during hard sections and then gasp for air as they finish. Holding your breath actually creates more tension in your body. If it helps, then try to breath rhythmically with the piece that you are playing. I don’t mean keep the beat with your breath, but rather breath in sync with how the piece flows.
Every student that enters my studio has some idea of where they are trying to go in their guitar playing. However, many of them have a very vague idea. Many will state, “I just want to be able to play better” or “I want to play more confidently.” Though these are goals, they are very vague.
You have to make it a liitle bit more concrete than that if you want to really achieve something. You need to write it out or put it down on paper. “What to write?” you say. Put down what pieces you want to play the most, what speed you want to play your scales, or when you’d like to give your first public performance. No matter if you think they are too hard or you will never be able to achieve them, write down your goals.
You have to have something to shoot for. Whether you are a rocker or a classical nut, you know the pieces and players that inspire you to play. You need to look at this list on a daily or weekly basis. It will help you to remain focused on why you are doing what you are doing. Let’s face it, sometimes practice seems like torture. We want to get straight to the playing part. Well, having a list of where you want to eventually end up will help you maintain a focus throughout the daily work we call practice.
